Press Release: Northern Ballet announces stylish new season for autumn 2016

[Jan McNulty]

 

 

Northern Ballet announces stylish new season for autumn 2016

 

Northern Ballet has announced details of its autumn 2016 season which includes revivals of David Nixon OBE’s chicBeauty & the Beast and Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Les Ballets de Monte Carlo production of Romeo and Juliet. The Company will also perform Wuthering Heights in Leeds as well as touring popular children’s ballet Tortoise & the Hare,before holding the World Première of new children’s ballet Goldilocks & the Three Bears.

 

Northern Ballet will commence its season with Wuthering Heights at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds from 6 – 10September 2016. One of the Company’s most popular productions and Artistic Director David Nixon OBE’s first creation following his appointment in 2001, Wuthering Heights has not been performed in Leeds for over 10 years. Featuring an original score composed by the inimitable Claude-Michel Schönberg (Les Misérables, Miss Saigon), Wuthering Heightsis based on Emily Brontë’s literary masterpiece, telling the story of Cathy and Heathcliff whose doomed love is as unruly and dangerous as the Yorkshire moors that surround them.

 

Starting off the Company’s national tour, Northern Ballet will head to Sheffield Lyceum Theatre with Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Les Ballets de Monte Carlo’s Romeo and Juliet from 14 – 17 September 2016. Performed to the famous Prokofiev score, in 2015 Northern Ballet were the first company to perform this stylish version to audiences in the UK. This interpretation captures the essence of what it means to be young and in love, and tells of the devastating tragedy that unfolds when tenderness and naivety is met with violence and pride. Northern Ballet will also tour this production to Canterbury, Woking, Bradford and Belfast between September and October 2016.

 

Heading into winter Northern Ballet will revive its chic production of Beauty & the Beast for the first time since its 2012 World Première tour. Choreographed by David Nixon OBE and featuring haute couture-style costumes in a kaleidoscope of colour, this classic story unfolds in an enchanting world of fairies, sprites and goblins as we discover that beauty is only skin deep. Accompanied by an infectious score, including music by Saint-Säens, Bizet and Debussy, Beauty & the Beast tours to Norwich, Nottingham, Newcastle and Leeds between October 2016 and January 2017.

 

Continuing with its popular children’s ballets, the Company will perform Tortoise & the Hare in Woking and Bradford before holding the World Première of a new ballet for children in Leeds. Recently announced Goldilocks & the Three Bears will première at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre on 24 October 2016. Choreographed by Nicola Gervasi, the adorable new production will tour to Nottingham, Newcastle and Southampton in November and December 2016 before an extensive UK tour the following year.

 

Tickets are on sale now for most of Northern Ballet’s autumn 2016 tour, for more details including booking information, please visit northernballet.com/whatson.

 

-ENDS-

  

Notes to Editors

 

For more details of Northern Ballet's tour, on sale dates and booking information, please visit northernballet.com/whatson.

 

Nominated for Outstanding Company at the 2015 National Dance Awards and voted Best Company at the 2014 TaglioniEuropean Ballet Awards, 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 32 weeks of the year. The Company of 46 dancers tours a combination of full-length new work and established repertoire to cities throughout the UK. Northern Ballet also tours widely with its ballets for children, the first three of which were adapted for TV by CBeebies, and also performs a mixed programme showcasing the versatility of its dancers.

 

Visit northernballet.com for more information on the Company and tour. 

 

Autumn 2016 Tour Listings

 

Wuthering Heights

Leeds, West Yorkshire Playhouse

6 – 10 Sep 2016

Box Office 0113 213 7700

wyp.org.uk

 

Romeo and Juliet

Sheffield, Lyceum Theatre

14 – 17 Sep 2016

Box Office 0114 249 6000

sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

 

Canterbury, Marlowe Theatre

20 – 24 Sep 2016

Box Office 01227 787 787

marlowetheatre.com

 

Belfast, Grand Opera House

28 Sep – 1 Oct 2016

Box Office 028 9024 1919

goh.co.uk

 

Woking, New Victoria Theatre

4 – 8 Oct 2016

Box Office 0844 871 7645

atgtickets.com/woking

 

Bradford, Alhambra Theatre

11 – 15 Oct 2016

Box Office 01274 432 000

bradford-theatres.co.uk

 

Tortoise & the Hare

Woking, New Victoria Theatre

7 Oct 2016 (12pm & 2pm)

Box Office 0844 871 7645

atgtickets.com/woking

 

Bradford, Alhambra Theatre

14 Oct 2016 (12pm & 2pm)

Box Office 01274 432 000

bradford-theatres.co.uk

 

Goldilocks & the Three Bears

Leeds, Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre (World Première)

24 – 29 Oct 2016

Box Office 0113 220 8008

theatreleeds.com

 

Nottingham Theatre Royal

4 Nov 2016 (12pm & 2pm)

Box Office 0115 989 5555

trch.co.uk

 

Newcastle Theatre Royal

11 Nov 2016 (12pm & 2pm)

Box Office 0844 811 2121

theatreroyal.co.uk

 

Southampton, Mayflower Theatre

2 Dec 2016 (12pm & 2pm)

Box Office 02380 711 811

mayflower.org.uk

 

Beauty & the Beast

Norwich, Theatre Royal

26 – 29 Oct 2016

Box Office 01603 630 000

theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

 

Nottingham Theatre Royal

1 – 5 Nov 2016

Box Office 0115 989 5555

trch.co.uk

 

Newcastle Theatre Royal

8 – 12 Nov 2016

Box Office 0844 811 2121

theatreroyal.co.uk

 

Southampton, Mayflower Theatre

30 Nov – 3 Dec 2016

Box Office 02380 711 811

mayflower.org.uk

 

Leeds Grand Theatre

15 Dec 2016 – 7 Jan 2017

Box Office 0844 848 2700

leedsgrandtheatre.com

 

Information correct at the time of printing. Productions and dates are subject to change without notice. 

 

*Calls to 0844 numbers are charged at up to 7p per minute plus your phone Company’s access charge.

 

 

 

[Don Q Fan]

I find it extremely ironic that "Northern" Ballet rarely visits the great northern cities of Manchester or even more rarely Liverpool. It's bizarre.

[Jan McNulty]

But they do tour extensively in the North - Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Nottingham, Newcastle.  They usually go to Hull but I understand that the theatre is currently closed for refurbishment.  They have been coming to Manchester too - this is the first year they have missed in a while.

 

I would love them to come to Liverpool too but their touring venues are governed by their ACE grant (as with BRB and presumable ENB).

[Don Q Fan]

So do ACE dictate who goes where?

[Jan McNulty]

Largely yes - as far as I am aware the ballet companies are given target areas to cover.  If they add in other venues they are "at risk" and not covered by the ACE grant.

 

Since the changes a couple of years ago companies have to apply for a special grant to cover cross-border funding - e.g. BRB going to Cardiff.

[Jacqueline]

Thanks for the info Janet. I will be interested to see their R&J at Sheffield. Whenever I see Monte Carlo I can't help thinking of the Trocks tho'! I see the info is up on the Lyceum website. Can you tell me who the dancers are in the picture please. Rather difficult in Juliet's case I know.

[Jan McNulty]

It's Kevin Poeung and Antoinette Brooks Daw.  This is the original publicity shot from 2015 although neither Kevin nor Antoinette made their debuts in role.  I live in hopes...