Jan McNulty

Great news for BRB and Northern Ballet and also for Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and Re-Bourne who join the ACE Nationla Portfolio.

Great news from the New Adventures website: NEW ADVENTURES JOIN ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND’S NATIONAL PORTFOLIO We are delighted to announce that Matthew Bourne's NEW ADVENTURES and RE:BOURNE join the ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND NATIONAL PORTFOLIO New Adventures & Re:Bourne are delighted to have been announced as joining Arts Council England’s national portfolio. The company will receive an annual grant of £1,294,000 between 2015 - 2018. This support will enable Matthew Bourne’s production company and charity to work together strategically for audiences, artists, young people and emerging talent. The organisations will join the portfolio in the South East and will work closely with venues and organisations across the region, and with the local authority in Brighton, to deliver regional programmes with national reach. Following the continued success of the current tour of Lord of the Flies, a national programme for emerging community dance artists will be based in the South East region. As a national dance company, New Adventures and Re:Bourne will continue to build on their important touring relationships with Sadler’s Wells and our expanding partner venues from Aberdeen to Plymouth with our current and future repertoire. Matthew Bourne, Artistic Director says “After 26 years of making work for audiences across England, todays announcement is a timely endorsement of all we have achieved and all we can achieve in the future. Our aim is to continue to make world-class productions and projects for audiences, young people and emerging artists in the South East, across England and around the world. We will do this with the exceptional team of collaborators and dancers that make New Adventures and Re:Bourne unique organisations dedicated to creating work that strikes the balance between the highest artistic standards and an experience that is inspiring and accessible.” Robert Noble, Director of New Adventures says “Arts Council England have been a major partner of New Adventures for many years and today’s announcement provides the stability and security for us to realise Matthew’s ambitious projects for the next three years. Joining the national portfolio also indicates our role as a national dance company and our strategic importance to the dance landscape in England.” James Mackenzie-Blackman, Executive Director, Re:Bourne says “All of us at New Adventures & Re:Bourne believe dance-theatre is for everyone and want to encourage audiences and communities from all backgrounds to experience our work. Our current production of Lord of the Flies, that brings together professional dancers from our company with young people, is exceeding all our expectations in terms of audiences, participation and reach. By the end of the current tour, it will have engaged approximately 10,000 boys and young men as participants and performers and 60,000 people as audiences. We look forward to creating more work of this kind over the coming years.” Arts Council England has been a vital supporter of our work over many years. Today’s announcement packages together funding at a similar level to that we have received through project grants in recent years. Joining the national portfolio is an endorsement of our strategic importance to the dance landscape in England and our critical role as a major developer of dance audiences. Over the last decade, Matthew Bourne has created 11 full-evening programmes of ambitious revivals and new works for New Adventures. Since 2003, New Adventures has performed to over 4 million people across the world. New Adventures tours from Aberdeen to Plymouth, reaching more places and more people than any other dance company in the UK. Between 2008 and 2013, the Company gave 1,600 performances, averaging 35 weeks of performances a year. Re:Bourne, the charitable arm of New Adventures, invests in the future of dance and is a crucial mechanism for finding and nurturing the next generation of dancers, choreographers and audiences. Re:Bourne runs the bi-annual New Adventures Choreographer Award that is establishing itself as one of the sectors most sought-after opportunities for finding, mentoring and developing new choreographic talent. Since the inaugural award in 2012 applications for subsequent awards have increased by over 200%. Established in 2008, Re:Bourne has delivered over 700 workshops to more than 22,000 young people across the United Kingdom and around the world. In addition, it has delivered over 25 bespoke projects in partnership with venues, dance companies and community organisations.

Northern Ballet endorsed as key organisation in Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Northern Ballet has received a 23% increase in its funding from Arts Council England and has secured a place as a National Portfolio Organisation for 2015-18. The increase represents an additional £550,000 for the Leeds-based company. Northern Ballet currently tours full-length ballets, mixed programmes and ballets for children to more than 30 venues across the UK reaching in excess of 146,000 people. From 2015, as the Company celebrates its 45th anniversary, the increased funding will allow Northern Ballet to extend its tour to include nine additional venues, adding a further 55 performances, with the potential to reach more than 36,000 additional people. In 2015/16 Northern Ballet will give more than 220 performances reaching almost 200,000 people. The additional strand of touring will target mid-scale venues to complement the already established large scale and small scale tours. The artistic programme will include a one act version of a narrative ballet coupled with a short contemporary ballet piece. Performances will take place in theatres in geographical proximity to venues where Northern Ballet tours its full-length narrative ballets. It will aim to develop audiences for the Company’s established artistic programme as well as contribute to audience development for dance throughout the different regions of the UK it tours to. In addition the Company is establishing an annual programme of new choreographic laboratories. This programme will provide opportunities for a number of international choreographers, at the start of their choreographic careers, to work with Northern Ballet dancers to explore creativity in narrative dance without the pressure to create a finished work. Mark Skipper DL, Northern Ballet’s Chief Executive says, “We are delighted to have received a significant increase in funding from Arts Council England and to remain a National Portfolio Organisation for a further three years. We received substantial cuts in the last spending round but over the past three years we have shown how resilient we are as a company. Since 2011 we have transformed our fundraising strategy and worked with a consortium of trusts and foundations to ensure we continue to create new full-length ballets: Beauty & the Beast, The Great Gatsby and Cinderella. We launched a new fundraising campaign, Sponsor a Dancer, to protect the 40 dancers we employ. Sponsor a Dancer has raised in excess of £600,000 for the Company. The ballet and opera analysis carried out by Arts Council England confirmed that we were a lean company with a robust business model. This increase in funding represents an endorsement from Arts Council England of both our business model and our artistic programme. With the funding in place we can now look to the future with a great deal of certainty and we will not rest on our laurels. In addition to our NPO funding, we will also increase our fundraising to more than £1 million annually by the end of the three year funding period and earn more than £3 million in ticket sales at the box office each year. I would like to thank Arts Council England for their continued support of the Company.” Sir David Wootton, Chairman of Northern Ballet adds, “Northern Ballet’s ethos of taking high quality dance to places which otherwise would not have access to it, and of making ballet accessible through the reimagining of popular stories, has inspired generations of dance fans and has undoubtedly contributed to the growth of dance audiences in the UK as well as its profile on the world stage. The Company has historically been funded at a lower level than its contemporaries, the other large ballet and opera companies. The increased funding for 2015-18 will go some way to redress this imbalance. Most importantly it will ensure that the Company is able to inspire many more people and continue its role as a cultural ambassador for Leeds, the north and the whole of the UK. I would like to add my thanks to Arts Council England and to all the businesses, trust, foundations, fans and audiences who continue to support this wonderful company.” In March this year Northern Ballet spearheaded the campaign for Leeds to become the best city for dance outside London (www.cityofdance.co.uk). The increase in funding to Northern Ballet is an indication that Arts Council England recognises the importance of dance in the city as well as the contribution it makes to the wider region. In January 2014 city development agency Leeds and Partners supported Northern Ballet’s international tour to China and the Company became the first cultural organisation to tour the country following the signing of a cultural agreement between the UK and China. In October 2010 Northern Ballet opened its world-class headquarters in Leeds, purpose built for the Company and Phoenix Dance Theatre. The building has seven large dance studios and a studio theatre in which it performs its children’s ballets and mixed programmes and also presents performances by a range of dance companies such as Ballet Black and National Dance Company Wales. The Academy of Northern Ballet provides open dance classes for hundreds of children and adults each week as well as training for young people who wish to pursue a professional dance career. In 2013/14 Northern Ballet’s programme of education and engagement reached 36,000 people and included opportunities for people with disabilities and for the visually impaired to experience high quality dance as well as communities around the country to get closer to the work of the Company. ENDS. Notes for editors Northern Ballet is one of the UK’s five large ballet companies. Based in Leeds it performs throughout the UK as well as overseas. Northern Ballet’s productions mix classical dance and theatre, embracing popular culture and taking inspiration from literature, opera, or reimagining popular classical ballets. In the past 12 months Northern Ballet’s work has been recognised through a raft of awards and nominations. Artistic Director David Nixon OBE was nominated for a National Dance Award, Best Classical Choreography for The Great Gatsby. He was also nominated for a UK Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance. The Communications campaign for The Great Gatsby won the UK Theatre Award for Achievement in Marketing. The Company received the 2013 White Rose Tourism Award for Arts and Culture organised by Welcome to Yorkshire. The Company was described as “great ambassadors for Yorkshire.” The CBeebies television adaptation of Northern Ballet’s Ugly Duckling received a Children’s BAFTA in the Pre-School Live Action category and was nominated for a Royal Television Society award in the Children’s Fiction category. The Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre was voted as the Netmum’s Best Family Friendly Theatre in Yorkshire. Northern Ballet received a Best Family Venue Award, Best Family Event Award and Best Family Welcome Award for the 2013 Family Arts Festival, with their performances of Three Little Pigs at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre. November 2014 marks the start of Northern Ballet’s 45th anniversary year. In March 2015 the Company will give a Gala performance at Leeds Grand Theatre. Guest artists from dance companies around the world will be invited to join Northern Ballet dancers for a unique performance.

Another film of the curtain calls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHYpyKVq_Iw&feature=youtu.be

i-tunes. I cannot cope with this extremely user-unfriendly software at all!!!

I know loads of people who go to Glasto who are all in their 40s and older! I saw Pink Floyd when I was 16 or 17 (or both!) pre DSOM! At the second gig, they performed DSOM in its entirety pre-vinyl release. I don't do camping and mud for anyone!!!

Of course there is such a word Alison - I made it up years ago!! Re Celine: I too believe she should be a principal by now. The trouble is there are so many people deserving IMHO promotion that it must be really hard to select the promotees within the budget available. Surely Mathias Dingman and Maureya Lebowitz should also have been promoted. But as B3 says, if everyone I thought should be promoted was promoted BRB would be a company consisting entirely of principal dancers!

Huge congratulations to all the promotees!

Ballet with bite: Northern Ballet’s Dracula returns to West Yorkshire Playhouse This autumn prepare for a performance with a dramatic bite that will leave you thirsty for more as Northern Ballet resurrects Dracula at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Created by Northern Ballet’s Artistic Director, David Nixon OBE, Dracula returns exclusively to Leeds from 5 – 13 September 2014. Last performed by Northern Ballet in 2009, Dracula is an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s legendary novel first published in 1897. The ballet reveals the tormented world of the immortal Count, a creature who should inspire repulsion in every living thing but has instead seduced countless generations with his mesmerising sensuality. This dark and sinister tale is played out through Northern Ballet’s unique blend of dance, gripping theatre and gothic sets and costumes. David Nixon said: ‘The popularity of Bram Stoker’s Dracula has not only outlived its author but also gained popularity and many new interpretations. What would you give to live forever rather than facing the unknown of death? To what ends are we prepared to let our bonds of friendship and love take us? These are among the questions that fascinated me when I approached the ballet. Dracula is often viewed as an evil, preying character but he knows love and will act upon it. All creatures need to be loved and Dracula is no exception, the love he shares with Mina transcends the boundaries of good and evil.’ David Nixon’s choreography and costume designs are complemented by Ali Allen’s set designs which bring the Gothic style of Victorian England and the mysterious medieval world of Transylvania to the stage. Music by Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Michael Daugherty and Sergei Rachmaninov complete this spectacular tale of love and immortality. If you think you know what to expect from ballet, think again. Dracula will take you on a dramatic journey as the hunter becomes the hunted. Tickets for Dracula at West Yorkshire Playhouse are on sale now at wyp.org.uk or by calling the box office on 0113 213 7700. Age guidance 12+. -ENDS- Notes to Editors Northern Ballet is one of the UK’s five large ballet companies. Based in Leeds it performs throughout the UK as well as overseas. Northern Ballet’s productions mix classical dance and theatre, embracing popular culture and taking inspiration from literature, opera, or giving a unique interpretation of popular classical ballets. Northern Ballet is the busiest touring ballet company in the UK and is typically on the road for around 24 weeks of the year. The Company of 40 dancers tours a combination of new works and established repertoire to cities throughout the UK and is the only large scale ballet company to do so. Visit northernballet.com for more information on the Company and tour. Production images and information are available via the online media centre. Production credits Choreography & Direction David Nixon OBE Set Design Ali Allen Lighting Design Tim Mitchell Costume Design David Nixon OBE Dracula – Tour Dates 2014 Leeds, West Yorkshire Playhouse 5 – 13 Sep 2014 Box Office 0113 213 7700 wyp.org.uk On sale now Age guidance 12+ Dracula – A Step Closer Events Leeds, West Yorkshire Playhouse Post show talk - Fri 12 Sep 2014 30 minute talk on the Company and production, delivered by a member of the Artistic Team. Free to ticket holders.

Anjuli, would you moisturise before you started laying on the base?

Very true TQ. Some years ago I was telling a work colleague about a young girl I knew who was being bullied at school and my colleague got very upset. It turns out she had been very badly bullied at school and 30-odd years later she was still affected by her experiences. I think that the positive side of this thread is the vast amount of practical advice that members have given.

I think anyone not on cable directly, or indirectly, pays BT because the landlines belong to them. We are on cable and, as far as I am aware, that precludes us from using most ISPs because if you read the small print they require you to have a BT landline.

I've just watched the broadcast. What a powerful piece Dust is - it worked just as well on the open stage at Glasto as it did at the Barbican earlier in the year. Goodness me Erina Takahashi and James Streeter were awesome in the duet.

Welcome to the Forum from me too, Harwel. Congratulations to your son! I am sure you will find all our other "Doing Dance" members a great source of both information and support.

Unbelievable!

Daria has posted some curtain call clips and photographs on her own website: http://dariaklimentova.com/

Hello parkersages and welcome to the Forum. Belated thanks for your BT update.

Welcome to the Forum, Barnes2 and thank you for telling us about the Fille performances this week. Yes, Thursday evening's performance was her second in the role. I loved her debut and she has deepened her interpretation in just 2 weeks and 3 performances. She was incandescent at the matinee this afternoon! I do hope we will hear more from you.

I fully agree with what Ribbons said as I have had personal experience in work. One of my colleagues was making my working life unbearable in very subtle ways. In the end, I was the one who snapped and looked bad. Everyone saw her crying at her desk but noone saw my hysterical sobs in the Ladies. Sadly this type of behaviour occurs in all walks of life.

Good luck CharlieChuck! Please let us know how you get on...

Congratulations to Shiori and all the other medal winners. Interesting demographic.

The view from Nottingham

But it is about the number of school places, however they are filled.

Yes, living in the centre of the universe has the slight downside that most of seem to have sinus problems of one sort or another. I think it's because Liverpool is low-lying and the air can be damp. The late, great Victor Spinetti once described the Liverpool accent as Irish with catarrh!

Sympathies Taxi. As a Liverpolitanian, I know all about sinusitis! I hope you are feeling better soon.