Trusts and Foundations

Northern Ballet is the UK’s widest-touring ballet company, bringing the joy of dance to thousands of people every year.

Northern Ballet is a registered charity and our latest audited accounts are available to view.

Our aim is to bring world class ballet to as wide an audience as possible and we strive to break down barriers and engage diverse audiences through our varied artistic programme and ambitious education and outreach work. Through our Academy we train and nurture the dancers of tomorrow.

The support of Trusts and Foundations support is vital to Northern Ballet and without this many of our innovative and inspiring projects simply could not go ahead. 

Areas where we seek and gratefully receive support from Trusts and Foundations include: 

Artistic Programme  

Our programme includes ambitious new large-scale productions, mixed programmes featuring the exciting work of emerging choreographers, existing pieces from our repertoire retold for new audiences and our acclaimed children’s ballets, which give thousands of young people across the country their first introduction to ballet.

Inclusive Dance 

We believe everyone can enjoy participating in and watching dance and our aim is to push the industry forward, increasing access, employment, training and performance opportunities for disabled people within classical ballet. Whilst all our workshops and projects are fully inclusive, our dedicated inclusive dance programme includes a range of activities specifically designed for disabled people:

• Ability: for adult dancers with additional learning support needs (ALSN)
• In Motion: creative movement course for wheelchair users
• Expressions: annual festival showcasing disabled dance groups from Yorkshire and beyond
• Audio Described performances and Touch Tours for vision impaired audiences, with dedicated workshops and bespoke digital resources to support engagement with our children’s ballets
• Relaxed Performances & digital resources for those with sensory or communication difficulties, or a learning disability

Education & Outreach

Our work aims to reach young people who may not have the opportunity to experience ballet or live theatre, through a range of programmes: 

• Rise: our flagship schools programme engaging with Year 5 pupils in West Yorkshire primary schools serving areas of high socio-economic deprivation. Sessions support communication skills, teamwork, resilience, self-expression and body confidence. 
• Children’s Ballet Outreach: each children’s ballet tour is accompanied by free workshops delivered at each location, reaching over 1,000 children across the country every year.
• Early Years: introducing under 5s to dance through free sessions at children’s centres in socio-economically deprived areas of Leeds and Bradford.

Academy 

Our purpose-built home in Leeds City Centre also houses the Academy of Northern Ballet, the leading centre for classical ballet education in the North of England. The Academy plays an instrumental role providing talented young people with the highest quality training.  

Our Academy Spotted! programme is key to breaking down barriers to ballet training in the region, delivering free workshops in primary schools, targeting those in areas of high deprivation where access to the arts is often limited. Each year, over 1,000 children take part and young dancers identified as having potential are invited to continue dancing with the Academy. 

We work closely with the many Trusts and Foundations who choose to support our work, offering opportunities to come and see supported projects and providing robust reports throughout the grant period.

Get in touch 

For more information on how your Trust or Foundation can support the work of Northern Ballet please contact: 

development@northernballet.com | 0113 220 8000