Delving into the archives An insight into the Company’s first tours

plusMaking dance accessible to all

The Great Gatsby in China tour diary

Mariana Rodrigues on creating a new work

INSIDEThe magazine from Northern BalletIssue 18, spring 2016

WelcomeINSIDEIssue 18, spring 2016

4 Delving into Northern Ballet’s archives

8 Interview Mariana Rodrigues

9 News in brief

10 Making dance accessible

12 Academy update

13 The Great Gatsby in China

The triumphant return of The Nutcracker in November and December gave us our most successful Christmas season to date and rounded off a busy year for Northern Ballet in style. We immediately welcomed in the New Year with preparations for our trip to China, taking The Great Gatsby to eager audiences in Shanghai and Beijing. You can read more about our exciting run of sold-out performances on page 13.

We returned after Christmas to the devastating news that our Stourton storage facility for costumes and sets was badly damaged by the flooding, affecting dozens of our productions and more than two decades of work. As always, the Company has rallied magnificently and the lengthy clean-up operation is well underway thanks to the hard work and dedication of our technical and wardrobe teams. I would like to extend my sympathy to those around the country who have been affected by the floods.

In February, six of our dancers showcased their choreographic talent as part of a special collaboration with the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate, alongside a new exhibition from Yorkshire-based artist Tom Wood. These new works were exceptionally well received by audiences at three sold out performances, and you can discover how Northern Ballet dancer Mariana Rodrigues approached choreographing her piece on page eight.

Our spring season has begun in earnest with Swan Lake, and I am thrilled that by the end of April our interpretation of this classic tale will have be seen by audiences in Leeds, Sheffield, Norwich and Milton Keynes. Swan Lake is an essential work for any ballet company, and although our version takes the work in a new direction, I feel it pays homage to the original and is true to the inventive identity of Northern Ballet.

We also continued touring the critically-acclaimed 1984 by Jonathan Watkins in Edinburgh, with performances still to come in Southampton and Sadler’s Wells in London. I was delighted that 1984 was broadcast on BBC4 at the end of February, bringing this powerful dystopian work to an even wider audience and highlighting the diverse skills of our internationally respected dance-actors, as well as the talents of Northern Ballet Sinfonia in performing Alex Baranowski’s gripping score.

I am very pleased that the Company is once again working with Cathy Marston on her new production Jane Eyre. The work receives its World Première performance at CAST in Doncaster on 19 May to a new score by Philip Feeney, before touring to Richmond, Aylesbury, Wolverhampton, Stoke and Leicester. Our dancers have been hard at work in rehearsals, and I hope you will share my enthusiasm for seeing this classic tale of romance and dark secrets brought to life on stage.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your continued dedication and support of Northern Ballet. Your commitment to the Company and our work is greatly appreciated, and I look forward to welcoming you at one our performances in 2016.

David Nixon OBE Artistic Director

David Nixon OBE Photo Simon Lawson.

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Welcome

Friends and Patrons Events

Welcome to the spring 2016 edition of Inside magazine. Since joining the Company six months ago as Development Officer, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the depth and breadth of work Northern Ballet undertakes by seeing a number of performances and finding out more about the important work of our wonderful Learning and Academy teams. Personal highlights have included the thrilling and visceral 1984; the delightfully colourful world of Tortoise and the Hare and our original take on the well-loved classic story of The Nutcracker. With a packed 2016 now in full swing, I hope you’ll agree that there is a lot to look forward to in the rest of the year.

Northern Ballet is proud to be a touring company, spending many months each year on the road bringing ballet and dance to audiences across the UK and abroad. In this issue of Inside, we take a look at what life was like back when the Company was first starting out, from the perspective of one of the founding dancers, Jennifer Goss. We were very sorry to hear that Jennifer sadly passed away recently and our thoughts are with her family at this time. I am very grateful for the work of our Archiving Group and in particular Sheila Cross for pulling this interview together. A longer version of the article on page four will be featured in the June edition of Dancing Times, so do keep an eye out for this.

The huge, modern theatres found in China are about as sophisticated as touring can be. On page 13 you can read about Northern Ballet’s recent adventures in Shanghai and Beijing where we gave the first international performances of The Great Gatsby.

Ensuring as many people as possible have access to dance is a major part of Northern Ballet’s work and Acting Head of Learning Jo Dean, celebrating ten years with the Company this year, talks us through a number of projects we deliver that allow audiences to enjoy ballet who might not otherwise be able to do so. You can read more on page ten.

All of this work wouldn’t be possible without the crucial financial support and enthusiasm of all our Friends and Patrons. As well as watching Company Class on most Saturdays when we’re on tour, annual Open Rehearsals are a great way for you to engage with the heart of our work and get closer to the dancers. Booking information for Open Rehearsals taking place in August can be found on this page.

Thank you for all your support. I look forward to meeting you at a Northern Ballet event this year.

Alex Wright Development Officer: Friends, Patrons & Legacies

Alex Wright Photo Kamilla Vinter.

Open RehearsalsWednesday 24 August 2016

10.00am – 6.00pm

Northern Ballet, Quarry Hill

Tickets: Patrons free; Friends £12

To book, please visit: northernballet.com/forfriends or call 0113 220 8000

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As part of our preparations for Northern Ballet’s 50th anniversary, an archiving group has been formed. Meeting

every fortnight, this group of dedicated volunteers has been sorting through the many materials relating to the history of the

Company which were sitting in boxes for some time.

One obstacle faced by the group is that after a fire some years ago, much of the early material relating to the Company has been lost. When Northern Ballet discovered that one of the first dancers with the Company, Jennifer Goss, was attending 1984 in Manchester in October 2015, the archiving

group jumped at the chance for an interview and to discover more about the life of a dancer at the very start of the Company.

Inspired by Jennifer’s stories, Sheila Cross reports on the formation of the Company which would become Northern Ballet, and how the dancers

adapted to challenges of life in a touring ballet company.

DELVING INTO THE

ARCHIVES

Photos courtesy of Ian Goss.4

Jennifer was one of the first dancers recruited by Laverne Meyer, the Company’s founding director, when he was tasked with forming a regional touring company in 1968. Her mother spotted an advert in the Manchester Evening News for dancers, and Meyer subsequently went to London to watch her in class at the Maria Fay studio, where she trained on the advice of Ninette de Valois. Jennifer’s audition was successful and she was offered a position in the Company on the provision that funding could be sourced. Later that year, she performed in Meyer’s Christmas show and reminisces how she relished her first experience of being on stage.

Northern Dance Theatre, as the Company was originally known, took class together for the very first time in October 1969. The ten dancers had been recruited from a variety of dance backgrounds and many had never performed in a professional company before. Seven weeks later on 28 November, they gave their inaugural performance in Manchester, accompanied by musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music.

Establishing their home at the Zion Institute (a former church hall which they shared with the Hallé orchestra) Jennifer recalls how it was in the middle of a building site, difficult to access and with no proper dance floor. The dancers sometimes had to assist with building make-shift studios around the building, before Meyer eventually secured funding to have a dance floor laid and barres installed.

If their base seemed unconventional for a fledgling dance company, so too were the venues in which they initially performed. Northern Dance Theatre toured from the start, performing across the country in village halls, schools, libraries and universities. Some members of the archiving group even remember seeing them in the Rowntree’s factory hall in York. Jennifer fondly remembers some of these performances, including the magical experience of dancing Death and the Maiden in Ripon Cathedral with the light pouring through the stained glass windows.

Even the theatres the Company visited presented some interesting challenges. Many were small with very limited backstage space, often meaning costume changes took place in the wings. Jennifer remembers bitterly cold walks to reach theatres in small villages, and highly polished stages causing dancers to slip on more than one occasion. To combat the cold and warm themselves up, the dancers once even ordered a hearty English breakfast at a nearby cafe, to the horror of their ballet mistress. At another early performance, the dancers were so cold that they went on stage wearing coats covering their costumes, and were aghast when the curtain was raised before they could change.

Delving into the Archives

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Delving into the Archives

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Delving into the Archives

Sheila Cross is a Friend of Northern Ballet and Archiving Group member.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Archiving Group or you have any memorabilia from the earliest days of the Company, please contact Matt Lawn, Executive Assistant, on 0113 220 8000 or matt.lawn@northernballet.com

Photos courtesy of Ian Goss.

Touring life during the Company’s formative years was frequently far from comfortable. With the only company vehicle being a van for the costumes, the dancers often travelled by public transport. Some senior dancers, including Jennifer, eventually got their own cars and organised car sharing to and from the performances, making the most of their modest salaries and touring allowances.

As the repertoire of the Company expanded, so too did the opportunities for Jennifer. She danced the role of the Duck in Peter and the Wolf, a regular ballet in the Company’s early tours. She vividly remembers performing German choreographer Kurt Jooss’ anti-war dance drama The Green Table, which made a deep impression on audiences. Playing the role of a politician, each dancer was given a shotgun, with the added tension of none of them knowing beforehand if they held the starting pistol which would go off. Roles were created on her, such as a ruby in Aladdin. In 1973, as the reputation of the company grew, Northern Dance Theatre even shared the stage with dancers from Netherlands Dance Theatre and the Royal Danish Ballet for a gala performance.

The Company went through significant changes shortly after, with Meyer resigning as Artistic Director in 1975. A year later, Jennifer also decided to leave the Company in order to spend more time with her husband. She speaks passionately about her time at Northern Dance Theatre and the joy of working closely with Meyer. From its humble beginnings, the Company had developed a wide repertoire and almost doubled in size with 18 full time dancers by the time she retired. What Jennifer remembers best is how inspired the dancers were in those early years by Meyer’s missionary zeal to take ballet to the people – the ethos which continues with Northern Ballet’s extensive touring today.

We were saddened to hear that Jennifer passed away in April 2016 after recently re-connecting with the Company. We are very grateful that she took the time to share her memories of the early days with us. As one of the founding dancers, her contribution to the life of the Company was immeasurable.

“Touring life during the Company’s formative years was frequently far from comfortable”

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Which artwork by Tom Wood did you choose, and what attracted you to this particular one?

The painting I chose to base my work on was inspired by a dream Tom had of a boy walking on a beach trying to balance and control a large, unwieldy basket on his head. The boy was completely focused on keeping this basket balanced, but it kept tipping and slipping so no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep the basket under control. I was attracted to this idea of trying to control something that didn’t appear to be controllable.

How did you approach choreographing your piece, and did things change as rehearsals started?

I had a very clear idea for the structure of the piece and how it was going to unfold. It was a very flexible process; I’d made up a few phrases of movement to teach the dancers, and they had a lot of input too. I had the idea of using two girls to represent baskets and gradually become more alive and hard to control. I also used two male dancers: one representing the boy and one the dreamer. The piece kept changing and developing throughout the rehearsals, but it stayed pretty faithful to my initial ideas.

How was the music chosen, and how does it relate to the artwork?

I wanted to pick music that was different and had some percussion to it. I ended up combining two pieces from Uakti’s Experimental album. Uakti are a Brazilian instrumental group known for using custom-made instruments built by the group itself, which makes their sound very unique.  The first piece of music I chose is played by an instrument mimicking water and I thought that would relate with the idea of the boy walking along a beach. The second piece of music is more melodic and very upbeat and that fitted into the idea of the baskets becoming more active and harder to control.

Is this your first time choreographing, and were there any challenges in creating the work?

I had a few opportunities to create short pieces at school but this is the first time I’ve had a chance to choreograph my own piece as a professional dancer. Choreography is something I really enjoy. I have a large imagination and I get a great feeling from turning my ideas into dance. There weren’t any particular challenges, although I would say time management and trying to be objective watching the work as it unfolds would be the two most challenging parts of the process for me. 

How did you find the collaboration?

Tom’s complete lack of ego and his generosity in sharing his work with us was really amazing. He gave me insightful information about his painting, details about the dream he was inspired by and what he thought it meant. It has been a pleasure to work with Tom and to be able to merge the world of painting and dance.

And finally, how did it feel to see your work performed in front of an audience?

I was nervous at first, because you develop a sort of attachment to your work. It’s almost as though you’re showing everyone a very intimate part of yourself, your creative ideas. Once the show started it was all quite exciting. I felt very happy to share it with everyone.

Interview: Mariana Rodrigues

BALLET AT THE

GALLERYInspired by Yorkshire artist Tom Wood’s new exhibition

at the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate, six of Northern Ballet’s dancers were invited to create short dance pieces in response to his portraits. The new works were premièred in February, in the intimate setting of the gallery and received a rave review from the Yorkshire Post declaring it ‘one of the best artistic

events in Harrogate in the last 25 years’.

We caught up with dancer Mariana Rodrigues to discuss choreographing her new work, Basket People.

Northern Ballet dancers in Basket People. Photo Lauren Godfrey.8

News in brief

Hello and goodbye

We said fond farewells to dancers Sebastian Loe and Isaac Lee-Baker at the start of 2016, and wish them well in their future endeavours. The Learning team said goodbye to Director of Learning Selina McGonagle in February, after eight years at Northern Ballet. Selina has gone on to lead the Geraldine Connor Foundation. We are pleased to announce that Leanne Kirkham will take up the position of Director of Learning from August.

We have welcomed a number of new faces to the team in the last six months: Communications has been bolstered by Kathryn Piekarski, Communications Assistant and Rachel Evans, Communications Officer. Philippa Ranger joined the Learning team as Dance Education Officer and Eloise Bailey recently started as the Technical Theatre Apprentice, working with the Studio Technical team.

We also say farewell and good luck to Keisha Hamilton, our first Dance Education Apprentice, after 18 months with the Learning Team. Reflecting on her experiences, Keisha said: “I am so appreciative of the opportunities that I have been able to experience and the support I’ve had in developing skills to deliver high quality dance to a diverse range of people. My Northern Ballet journey has been second to none and everything I have achieved I hope to be able to re-create in my future career path.”

Weddings and babies

Many congratulations to Lauren Prydderch (née Houghton) in the Learning Team, who tied the knot in February and recently returned from her honeymoon in Sri Lanka.

Catherine Worthington, Director of Academy Operations, is expecting her third child very soon and has just left on maternity leave. We wish Catherine and her family all the very best and look forward to meeting the new arrival.

New Children’s Ballet announced – Goldilocks and the Three Bears

We are delighted to announce that the next children’s ballet, premiering in Leeds in October 2016, will take inspiration from the well-known story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Choreography will be from Northern Ballet dancer Nicola Gervasi, with a new score by John Longstaff and set design from Jane Cecchi.

Full tour dates and ticket information is available on our website now.

Academy Dance-A-Thon!

On the 8 December 2015 the Academy of Northern Ballet held its first ever Dance-A-Thon event to raise money to support students in need of assistance across all the Academy’s four main training programmes and to enable the Academy to buy new equipment for all students to use.

Academy staff, students and their families and friends took part in a sponsored four hour continuous dance. The day also included face painting and lots of fun stalls, including a tasty cake stand.

The event was a great success and raised more than £1500. The Academy hopes to make the Dance-A-Thon an annual event in the future.

A Step Closer events

Our Learning team run a series of A Step Closer events at many theatres across the country, allowing audiences to gain a unique insight into the life of a touring ballet company. As supporters of Northern Ballet, Friends and Patrons often get free or reduced price access to these opportunities, which include:

Northern Ballet Revealed:Discover more about the Company and observe dancers taking class.

Over 55s Workshops:Learn some steps from the show, perfect for a ballet lover or first time participant.

Production Events: Hear from those who work behind the scenes about their role in bringing performances to life.

Post-show talks: A chance to ask questions and find out more about the production from our artistic team.

For details of events at a theatre near you visit northernballet.com/astepcloser or call the Learning team on 0113 220 8000.

New Production

Northern Ballet’s new production for March 2017 will be announced in late May. Keep an eye on our website for further details!

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Jo Dean has been working in the Learning Department at Northern Ballet for 10 years. Here, she shares with us information about some of the programmes we currently run which enable disabled people to enjoy our performances and take part in ballet classes.

Making dance accessible to all

In MotionIn Motion is our annual course for young wheelchair users, enabling them to explore the principles of ballet technique in a wheelchair. Taking traditional ballet steps, such as a plie which means ‘to bend’, and modifying them to suit the body of a wheelchair user, participants explore movement within their individual capabilities.

‘It was just so inspiring and moving and to see our son dancing when he has so many physical limitations.’ Mother of In Motion participant

AbilityOur Ability course for adults with learning disabilities focuses on improving dance skills, using regular ballet technique classes and Pilates to improve their strength, flexibility and coordination, as well as enabling participants to develop their creativity and expression by devising dance pieces for performance. Participants perform annually in the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre as part of Expressions. Hosted by Northern Ballet, Expressions brings together inclusive dance groups from across the north of England to showcase their skills to an audience on a professional stage.

Paul has attended Ability for four years and performing at Expressions is a highlight of his year.

Paul said ‘I feel on top of the world when I’m performing. When you perform as a group you have to work together as a team. By doing lots of rehearsals you become more confident and this rubs off on other people in the group, which pays off in the performance.’

Relaxed performancesWhile our audio descriptions open the world of live performance to blind and visually impaired audiences, our relaxed performances enable those with learning disabilities, autism or a sensory impairment to watch a performance in the knowledge that they won’t be judged or made to feel different. The adaptations to lighting and sound and the relaxed attitude to noise in the auditorium make a less intimidating and more welcoming environment for those who struggle with new situations.

We were able to offer two relaxed performances of Tortoise & the Hare at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in 2015, and four on the spring 2016 tour which is a first for us and something which we look forward to expanding in the future.

Photos Gavin Joynt, Tony O’Connell, Jo Dean and Tim Smith.

The reason I love my job is because the work that we do enables everyone to enjoy ballet, regardless of their age, ability or cultural background. If they aren’t able to participate in our Academy classes due to their disability, we have programmes which are structured to meet their needs and develop their dance technique to its full potential.

Jo Dean Photo Anthony Farrimond.

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Making dance accessible to all

Hospice projectFamilies who take part in our Hospice project enjoy the relaxed performance as it is often the first time that they have been able to go to the theatre as a family. The unique project, delivered in partnership with Martin House Children’s Hospice, enables families who have a child with a life limiting condition to access arts activity, and provides them with the chance to have fun together and make special memories, away from the demands of their daily lives.

‘This project took us away from the often stressful demands of our daily routine. Through each of our 5 wonderful days on the project each session was fully inclusive and adaptable to meet our needs and all cares for Olivia were met by the care team so that we could focus on spending time relaxing with our children.’Siobhan, whose daughter uses Martin House

Audio Described performancesThese performances enable those with a visual impairment to listen to a live description of the ballet, bringing this visual artform to life. The accompanying touch tour insight allows them to feel the props, costumes and quality of the dancers’ movement to help in their understanding of the audio description. Although many people use the audio description service on their TV, I often meet people who used to love going to the theatre but thought that they couldn’t anymore since losing their sight as they don’t realise that live theatre and dance is audio described too.

‘“Back in the land of the living” is what I said after seeing my first accessible ballet. The touch tour, unique workshop and the audio description are all vital elements to help me attend the theatre, even after being registered blind.’ Audio description attendee

To find out more about accessible performances and specific projects for disabled people near you, please visit northernballet.com/learning

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Academy Update

The Academy of Northern Ballet is more than half way through the academic year and continues to grow from strength to strength.

Holocaust Memorial Day Students from The Academy of Northern Ballet’s Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) programme were selected by Leeds City Council and the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, to perform at Leeds Town Hall in late January at ‘Don’t Stand By’, a civic event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2016.

Small Steps, choreographed by Academy teacher Cara O’Shea, took inspiration from the Kindertransport, an organised rescue effort that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, involving almost 10,000 children. The performance told the inspirational stories of bravery in the face of adversity and the goodbyes said between parents and their children as they escaped persecution on the Kindertransport.

The Academy’s older students danced the roles of the parents who said heart-breaking goodbyes to their children, danced by the younger Academy students. The piece ended with hope. Children’s lives were changed forever, but each of them given the gift of life by parents who selflessly refused to be bystanders.

In preparation for the performance the Academy students had the opportunity to meet with Lilian Black, Chair of Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association and Judith Rhodes, whose mother travelled to safety on the Kindertransport in the lead up to the Second World War. Judith met with the students to tell them her family’s courageous story and even showed them her mother’s ‘Little Suitcase’ that she had travelled with. Members of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, along with Holocaust survivors, also attended a performance of The Nutcracker at Leeds Grand Theatre in December where they had the opportunity to watch some of the Academy students performing alongside the Company.

David Nixon OBE said, ‘Small Steps gave our Academy students the opportunity to draw inspiration from the storytelling strengths of the Company and what they produced was something very special and incredibly moving. As an Academy we were proud to stand united to remember the victims and the families of those who suffered unimaginably during the most terrible atrocities, events which must always be remembered.

I felt very proud of Cara and our students and the way in which they approached and prepared for the performance. They represented the Academy to an exceptional standard and took the responsibility they were entrusted with in performing amongst Holocaust survivors with a great amount of maturity and respect. The performance gave us all an opportunity to reflect on the events of history and how some of the themes still have resonance today.’

Photos: Zagny Photography.12

Northern Ballet returned home to Leeds in early February following a sell-out tour to China that saw the Company

perform to over 10,000 people, giving the first international performances of our smash hit production The Great Gatsby.

Northern Ballet’s IT Director Neil Jarman accompanied the dancers to Shanghai and Beijing and shares his tour diary

with us.

GATSBY IN CHINA

Gatsby in China

Photos Neil Jarman.13

Days one & twoIt’s my sixth elective journey to this mysterious country and I’m just as excited as my first time to be travelling eastwards to Shanghai, in advance of the dancers who will follow a similar trajectory later that same day. 

Unfortunately our A380 is a victim of the weather so we are diverted to Beijing overnight. Obtuse scheduling means we give up our onward connection and take the 1350 km journey to Shanghai by train, a useful dry-run for our return as it turns out, but ultimately we are a day late to greet the dancers! Oh, the best laid plans eh? Meanwhile, the dancers arrive safely and head off to enjoy their first night in this exciting city.

After checking in we head directly to the Shanghai Grand Theatre to see how the Northern Ballet technicians are managing the “get-in” of scenery, props and equipment associated with bringing The Great Gatsby to life. It is with horror that we learn that the lighting specifications agreed in advance have not really been provided. Some instructions are not understood at all whereas others receive a nod and are then interpreted with flair and imagination, but little respect for accuracy. For example, the lighting desk might ask for 40% brightness and an angle of 30 degrees in white, but the light responds with full brightness and a 90 degree throw in red! The solution is time consuming: to re-plot the entire lighting plan from start to finish, a stressful process in the time available. Thank goodness we have incredible technicians. 

Days three & fourThings are beginning to take shape as the rigging of the stage continues alongside the slowly-resolved lighting issues. Meanwhile the dancers arrive onstage for the first time and are preparing for the necessary technical rehearsal, essential in every new venue to ensure positions are correct, locations are understood and dancers, stage staff and technicians all understand how the parts of the production interact with each other and the venue. The tech run goes ahead without proper lighting, running well over time, but everyone copes astonishingly well (although the ever-patient lighting technicians continue until curtain up). 

Despite the pressure and technical problems, the opening night performance is wonderful and we play to a packed house of 1500 people.

Gatsby in China

Photos Neil Jarman.14

Gatsby in China

Day fiveAfter a second sold-out Shanghai performance, we move on the next morning to Hongqiao Railway Station to catch the train back to Beijing. Our unexpected trial-run means a briefing is appreciated by all and everyone is stocked up with food and drinks in advance of the five-hour journey. Many exhausted technicians and dancers sleep the journey away, missing the scenery flying by at 300 km/h.

On arrival, we set off in the direction of Tiananmen Square, close to where we will be performing. It’s only two years since we last performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), so it feels familiar now, but nevertheless it’s an exciting rush as we gain entry via the subterranean rear entrance for performers. Even the public enter underground, walking below the glass bottomed lake (which mysteriously doesn’t freeze, even though it’s minus 5 outside) although the front entrance is far more glamorous than the stage door. Re-emerging into the giant titanium half-egg is an experience at some 243 meters wide. It houses three halls - opera, concert and theatre, and a total capacity of 5500 people. We are in the central opera hall which can seat 2400 and we’re amazed to hear that all three performances are now sold out.

Sadly once again our beleaguered technical team are having all sorts of trouble with the lights, so it’s back to the drawing board and they re-plot all the cues for the entire production. Luckily all the other teams are able to work around this and the scenery is erected, wardrobe and props all set up. 

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Days six & sevenToday is a free day for the dancers and 28 of us take the bus tour to the Great Wall. It’s a cold but crisp day with blue skies and the excitement of being on The Wall soon makes it possible to forget the freezing conditions. We’re back at the hotel by mid-afternoon and there’s time for more sightseeing at Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City.

The next day is back to work for all, the dancers taking class followed by technical rehearsals. That evening we open in Beijing to a full house of 2417. Of course, the recent film with Leonardo Di Caprio had world-wide success, so our audience was probably one of the most clued-up we have ever played to. Nevertheless they keep their emotions close, never breaking into applause at the usual moments after pas-de-deux or party numbers. At the final curtain a full half of the audience whip out their phones and start taking photos - this is audience appreciation China style. Eventually the applause grows in crescendo as more people put their phones down. It’s a strange few minutes as we clap like crazy to keep the momentum, but our promoter grins wildly - he knows the audience loves the production. 

Days eight & nineOn Thursday and Friday the company does class as usual, as well as continuing rehearsals for forthcoming productions of Swan Lake and Jane Eyre. We perform once again to a sell-out audience on both remaining nights. On the last night we even get impromptu applause during the performance, which is a lovely moment for the Company, along with bouquets for the leading dancers.

As I fly back, with two additional suitcases full of morning suits required for Swan Lake (last tour I had 24 tutus - that would have been hard to explain!), I reflect on the success and joy of the performances, and wonder when the next one will be…

Gatsby in China

Photo Neil Jarman.16

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1984Southampton Mayflower Theatre Wed 4 – Sat 7 May 02380 711 811 mayflower.org.uk

London Sadler’s Wells Tue 24 – Sat 28 May 020 7863 8000 sadlerswells.com

Jane EyreWorld Première Doncaster Cast Thu 19 – Sat 21 May 01302 303 959 castindoncaster.com

Richmond Theatre Tue 31 May & Wed 1 Jun 0844 871 7651 atgtickets.com/richmond

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Leicester Curve Theatre Fri 17 & Sat 18 Jun 0116 242 3595 curveonline.co.uk

Wuthering HeightsLeeds West Yorkshire Playhouse Tue 6 – Sat 10 Sep 2016 0113 213 7700 wyp.org.uk

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Canterbury Marlowe Theatre Tue 20 – Sat 24 Sep 2016 01227 787787 marlowetheatre.com

Belfast Grand Opera House Wed 28 Sep – Sat 1 Oct 2016 028 9024 1919 goh.co.uk

Woking New Victoria Theatre Tue 4 – Sat 8 Oct 2016 0844 871 7645 atgtickets.com/woking

Bradford Alhambra Theatre Tue 11 – Sat 15 Oct 2016 01274 432000 bradford-theatres.co.uk

Beauty & the BeastNorwich Theatre Royal Wed 26 – Sat 29 Oct 2016 01603 630 000 theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

Nottingham Theatre Royal Tue 1 – Sat 5 Nov 2016 0115 989 5555 trch.co.uk

Newcastle Theatre Royal Tue 8 – Sat 12 Nov 2016 08448 11 21 21 theatreroyal.co.uk

Southampton Mayflower Wed 30 Nov – Sat 3 Dec 2016 02380 711811 mayflower.org.uk

Leeds Grand Theatre Thu 15 Dec 2016 – Sat 7 Jan 2017 0844 848 2700 leedsgrandtheatre.com

Tortoise & the HareTouring nationally in 2016 See northernballet.com/tortoise for details.

GoldilocksWorld Première Leeds Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre Mon 24 – Sat 29 Oct 2016 0113 220 8008 theatreleeds.com

Touring nationally in 2017

Northern Ballet Tour Spring/Autumn 2016

Calls to 0844 numbers cost up to 7p per minute plus your phone company’s charge.

Audio Described performance available at this theatre.

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