Jan McNulty Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 For immediate release Monday 24 June 2019 Northern Ballet announces promotions and joiners for 2019/20 season Northern Ballet will welcome five new dancers for its 50th anniversary 2019/20 season and has also announced promotions for existing members of the Company. Joining the Corps de Ballet are: Wesley Branch (English National Ballet School); and Alessandra Bramante (John Cranko School). Aurora Piccininni and Albert Gonzalez Orts join as Apprentices from the Academy of Northern Ballet’s Professional Graduate Programme, whileLeandro Olcese also joins as an Apprentice from English National Ballet School. In addition, many of Northern Ballet’s existing company dancers have been promoted: Antoinette Brooks-Daw to Premier Dancer; Hannah Bateman, Ashley Dixon and Abigail Prudames to Principal Soloists; Joseph Taylor, Mlindi Kulashe and Ayami Miyata to Leading Soloists; Matthew Koon, Kevin Poeung, Sean Bates, Nicola Gervasi, Rachael Gillespie, Sarah Chun, Minju Kang and Dominique Larose to First Soloists; Riku Ito, Matthew Topliss, Jonathan Hanks and Nina Queiroz da Silva to Soloists; Filippo Di Vilio and Lorenzo Trossello to Junior Soloists; Gavin McCaig, Miki Akuta and Mariana Rodrigues to Coryphée; and Matthew Morrelland Julie Nunès to Corps de Ballet. Premier Dancer Pippa Moore has retired from performing after 23 years with the Company but will remain working with Northern Ballet to support Company rehearsals, educational outreach and the Academy of Northern Ballet. Northern Ballet has also said goodbye to Teresa Saavedra Bordes, Adam Ashcroft, Eneko Amorós Zaragoza and Conner Jordan-Collins who move on to new challenges. Northern Ballet’s new season will commence in September with Three Short Ballets followed by tours of David Nixon OBE’s Cinderella and Dracula. In the meantime, audiences can enjoy the Company’s first full-length cinema screening with Cathy Marston’s Victoria for one night only on 25 June 2019. For more information see northernballet.com/whats-on -ENDS- Northern Ballet Northern Ballet is one of the UK’s leading ballet companies and the widest touring ballet company in the UK. Bold and innovative in its approach, Northern Ballet is prolific at creating new full-length work with a unique blend of strong classical technique and world-class storytelling. Northern Ballet’s repertoire embraces popular culture and takes inspiration from literature, legend, opera and the classics, pushing the boundaries of what stories can be told through dance. A champion for the cultural exports of the North, Leeds-based Northern Ballet is dedicated to bringing world-class story ballets to as many people and places as possible, under the leadership of Artistic Director David Nixon OBE. Northern Ballet performs a combination of its full-length ballets and specially created ballets for children at more than 40 venues annually. For more details of Northern Ballet's tour, on sale dates and booking information, please visit northernballet.com/whatson National Stage & Screen Sponsor 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 Huge congratulations to all the promotees! Very best wishes for the future to the dancers who have left. Welcome to the joiners. Roll on September! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Wow! That's a lot of promotions! Congratulations to all. I'm delighted about Antoinette Brooks-Daw. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Goodness, that seems like an even more complex hierarchical structure than ENB's! Presumably it's good news all round, though, so congratulations to all! And Victoria is in cinemas tomorrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 17 minutes ago, alison said: Goodness, that seems like an even more complex hierarchical structure than ENB's! Someone else has noticed… (Maybe scope for a new thread.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Northern have a seriously bonkers structure with more soloists then corps... Northern Ballet Premier Dancers - 2 dancers Soloist levels (Junior Soloist, Soloist, First Soloist, Leading Soloist, Principal Soloist) - 20 dancers Coryphées - 3 dancers Corps de Ballet - 15 dancers Apprentices - 3 dancers Total Dancers = 43 over 9 ranks Northern seem reluctant to promote to Principal level - why I don't know, but it feels a shame. For comparison... Scottish Ballet Principals - 5 dancers Soloists - 12 dancers First Artists - 8 dancers Artists - 12 dancers (+1 Senior guest) Total = 38 dancers over 4 ranks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Perhaps everybody in NB could become a soloist... Premier Soloists Principal Soloist Leading Soloist First Soloist Soloist Junior Soloist Minor Soloist Trainee Soloist Possible Future Soloist... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Bruce said: Perhaps everybody in NB could become a soloist... Premier Soloists Principal Soloist Leading Soloist First Soloist Soloist Junior Soloist Minor Soloist Trainee Soloist Possible Future Soloist... I've heard several times over the years that the company structure was going to be flattened... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 3 hours ago, Jan McNulty said: I've heard several times over the years that the company structure was going to be flattened... That was a point made to me only recently by an NB dancer! I suspect any change will only come when David Nixon decides to retire. I actually hope that does not come too soon - of all the English companies NB now seem to be doing the best job on commissioning new narrative work. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 14 hours ago, Bruce said: - of all the English companies NB now seem to be doing the best job on commissioning new narrative work. I’d say that ENB doesn’t seem to be doing too badly either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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