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Press Release: English National Ballet School's virtual Summer Performance


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English National Ballet School

Virtual Summer Performance & Graduation Ceremony

Saturday 11 July 2020

From 7.30pm 

www.enbschool.org.uk

 

English National Ballet School is delighted to announce that this year its Summer Performance and Graduation Ceremony will be streamed online for the first time in its history via the School’s website on Saturday 11 July from 7.30pm (BST) and for 30 days after. 

 

Edited by the BalletBoyz, the virtual Summer Performance gives audiences all over the world the chance to witness the future stars of ballet showcase their talent and celebrates the Third Year Students who are about to embark on their professional careers.

 

In the first Summer Performance under the direction of internationally celebrated dancer Viviana Durante, students will perform three new works from some of the world’s leading choreographers created through virtual classes and rehearsals throughout lockdown across four different time zones.

 

Award-winning choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has used her Memorias del Dorado as inspiration for a piece for the School’s First Year students. Lopez Ochoa’s recent choreography has included Broken Wings for English National Ballet, Red Riding Hood for Ballet Black and earlier this year premiered Frida for Dutch National Ballet.

 

Third Year students will perform a new creation choreographed by rising star Andrew McNicol. McNicol has previously choreographed for the Joffrey Ballet, The Royal Ballet, BalletX, NYCB’s Choreographic Institute, Royal Ballet of Flanders and McNicol Ballet Collective, among others. Last year he created two works for the schools Winter Showcase, Splendourand Grand Finale, hailed as a ‘classical blowout’ (Dance Europe).

 

The Summer Performance is completed by renowned choreographer Didy Veldman who has created a new work, Not so Strictly. Inspired by our continued need to move and connect but with the limitations of lockdown, Not so Strictly features the music from social dances including the waltz and foxtrot. Veldman’s career has seen her create over 45 works for 27 international companies including Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert, Goteborg Ballet, Introdans and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal.

 

With its building closed until further notice, English National Ballet School has been operating online since March for the first time in its history. Its online learning platform is constantly growing in order to provide support and teaching that matches as closely as possible the range of provision at the School, ensuring students stay fit, positive and engaged during this time.

 

- ENDS -

 

Notes to editors

 

The Summer Performance will be streamed from 7.30pm on Saturday 11 July on the School’s website and will be available for 30 days. Admittance to the Graduation Ceremony is by invite online. 

 

About English National Ballet School

English National Ballet School prepares the finest young ballet dancers for a lifetime of achievement. Our state-of-the-art facilities are matched by world-class training, education, pastoral care and performance opportunities. We provide our students with the confidence, creativity and skills for a career as a professional dancer with the major international companies, and for a future beyond performing. We aspire to be the school of choice for the next generation of ballet artists and to pioneer the future of dance education. www.enbschool.org.uk

 

 

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa 
The Colombian-Belgian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (1973) completed her dance education at the Royal Ballet School of Flanders in Belgium. After a 12-years long dance career, where she danced in various European dance companies such as the Scapino Ballet, she decides in 2003 to focus her energies solely on choreography. In that same year she is hailed “rising star of the Dutch dance scene” (NRC newspaper).
 

In her 16 year career the award-winning choreographer Annabelle has carved a position of sought-after choreographer who has created around 100 works for more than 60 companies around the world such as the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, Ballet de Genève, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Gothenburg Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, BalletX, BJM-Danse Montreal, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Ballet National de Marseille, Saarbrucken Ballet, Jacoby & Pronk, Chemnitzer Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Morphoses Wheeldon Company, Whim W’Him, IncolBallet de Colombia, Finnish National Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza Madrid, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Scottish Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Ballet Nacional Dominicano, Ballet Saarbrucken, Augsburg Ballet, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Moscow, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, West Australian Ballet, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Ballet Nacional Chileno, Ballet Staatstheater am Gartnerplatz Munchen, Ballet Manila, Daniil Simkin Intensio Project, 59°North Stockholm, Cincinnati Ballet, Silicon Valley Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, English National Ballet, Ballet Black, Tulsa Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Estonian National Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, Ashley Bouder Project, Kansas City Ballet, Taller Coreografico UNAM Mexico, Dance Theater of Harlem, Sacramento Ballet, Chamber Dance Project, Joss Arnott Dance, and BalletMet.


Mrs. Lopez Ochoa is a versatile choreographer who has also created for theatre, opera, and musical theater and for fashion events such as for the celebrated Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf’s project in the Van Gogh Museum.

 

Andrew McNicol

British choreographer Andrew McNicol trained at The Royal Ballet School and completed his formal studies through Ballet Central’s professional choreographic programme. (MA) He has been noted as “a rising star” BBC News and “really someone to watch” Sir Peter Wright. Andrew has created works for major companies and organisations such as the Joffrey Ballet (Chicago) The Royal Ballet (London), The Royal Ballet of Flanders (Belgium), BalletX (Philadelphia), The New York Choreographic Institute (New York) The Royal Ballet School, New English Ballet Theatre, Ballet Central, Images Ballet Company among others. Andrew was the recipient of the 2018 BalletX Choreographic Fellowship and created Requiem. The NYTimes wrote “abounds in dramatic situations, McNicol has plenty of formal skill” Main Line Times hailed it as “powerful and sensitive” In 2019 he created Yonder Blue for Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet receiving critical acclaim; “gives a sense of awesome wonderment” Chicago Tribune “A rare gem of a ballet that transcends the here and now” “Achingly gorgeous duet”Lynn Colbert Shapiro. Andrew is a versatile choroegrapher. Alongside creating narrative and abstract ballets for the stage he has also created dance works for film, site specific work most notably for The London Olympics and collaborated with acclaimed opera trio Juice. Andrew launched his company The McNicol Ballet Collective working with dancers from some of the worlds leading ballet companies to create ambitious new ballets, original dance films and special collaborative projects. In 2019 Andrew was invited as choreographic mentor for The Royal Ballet Upper School. www.mcnicolballetcollective.co.uk 


Didy Veldman 
Dutch artistic director, choreographer and contemporary teacher Didy Veldman was trained in Amsterdam. She danced with Scapino Ballet, Bal-let Genève, Rambert and co-founded Alias Company in ’92. She began choreographing in ‘87, creating work for all four companies. Didy left Rambert in 2000 to concentrate on her choreographic career and has cre-ated over 45 works for 27 international companies including, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Cedarlake, Goteborg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal.

In 2016 Didy started her own Company ‘Humanoove’. Her first independent production ‘The Happiness Project’ premiered in Nov. ’16 followed by 14 performances in England, Scotland with a London premiere at The Place in May ’17 and a tour to Sweden. In Nov. ’17 she cre-ated her 2nd production ‘The Knot’ for Humanoove with support from the Arts Council Eng-land, Wayne McGregor Free Space Scheme, The Place, Dance East, Linbury Trust, The Mas-ter-Charitable Trust-The Marina Kleinwort Trust, Beth Krasna and an anonymous donor. Working with her long-standing collaborator Ben Ormerod light design, Joana Dias set and costume design and composer Ben Foskett. This successful production toured throughout the UK in Nov/Dec 2018 and finished in Copenhagen. Humanoove was invited to perform at Ja-cob’s Pillow in the summer of 2019 with The Happiness Project. She is currently preparing her 3rd production for Humanoove called @Home.

Didy was awarded a Dance East choreographic development award in 2015 and was selected for the 8th rural retreat for future leaders in dance at The Jerwood Dance House. She has been appointed in 2018 as Program Director of the contemporary department at the school of Jacob’s Pillow, USA. In 2019, she created a new work ‘Sense of Time’ for Birmingham Royal Ballet with composer Gabriel Prokofiev as well as ‘Made in Holland’ for the Dutch National Bal-let School and ‘Is to B’ for the Choreographic Project of the Prix de Lausanne. In 19/20 she is choreographing for the opening of the Youth Olympic Games, she has been invited for a 2-week residency with her Company at Jacob’s Pillow and is working with The Royal Ballet School, the ENB school, Palucca Hochschule in Germany and the Rosella Hightower school in Cannes. She is also creating a new Carmen for Natalia Osipova, from the Royal Ballet, which will premiere in September of 2020.

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