Jump to content

Press Release: Northern Ballet announces Promotions, Joiners and Leavers


Recommended Posts

A close up of a logo  Description automatically generated

 

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

 

A screenshot of a cell phone  Description automatically generated

National Stage & Screen Sponsor

A close up of a sign  Description automatically generated

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...