Download the Beauty & the Beast programme as - Northern Ballet

world première 

david nixon’s 

beauty 

& the beast 

TV Media Partner 

Tour programme Leeds 2011 

production sponsors 

‘A star Company’ 

Sunday Express 

‘A Company that 

boasts the best 

dance-actors in 

the world’ 

Dance Europe

02 

Photo Jonathan Taylor 

Take your business to the ballet 

Located in the heart of West Yorkshire and the cultural hub of Leeds, Northern 

Ballet’s new award-winning home offers conference, performance, event and 

exhibition space over 6 floors in a stunning glass-fronted building. Our city centre 

location is easily accessed by rail and road, with parking available nearby. 

We offer: 

• Superb conference facilities 

• Free WiFi throughout 

• Latest AV technology and presentation facilities with expert technical support 

• Team building days and energiser sessions 

• In-house catering 

• Special rates available for charity organisations 

For a tour of the building or information on rates and availability contact 

Shaun Daniels, Operations Manager on 0113 220 8000 

or email shaun.daniels@northernballet.com or visit northernballet.com

eauty 

& the beast 

Martha Leebolt as Beauty and Ashley Dixon as the Beast Photo Jason Tozer. 

03

04 

The international dance magazine is now available in a digital page 

turning format as well as in the traditional printed paper version. 

Back issues and subscriptions at 

www.danceeurope.net 

Martha Leebolt 

and Tobias Batley 

in David Nixon’s 

Cleopatra 

Photo: E. Kauldhar/Dance Europe

Welcome 

It is with great excitement that I welcome our home audience 

to the world première of our new Beauty & the Beast this 

holiday season. 

It has been an exciting year for the Company with two world 

premières after an overly long hiatus without new work. 

Cleopatra, which premièred in February, received wonderful 

support from audiences in Leeds and now our new telling of a 

timeless fairytale for the whole family arrives just in time for 

Christmas. 

Beauty & the Beast is a new addition to our holiday 

repertoire, which includes A Christmas Carol, Peter Pan and 

The Nutcracker. I wanted to find a way of telling this story 

that was new and magical without losing its charm and its 

important message. I chose Duncan Hayler to design the sets 

as he has an incredible imagination and sense of fantasy, as 

demonstrated by his sets for our production of A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream. I wanted to involve Julie Anderson – one of our 

main costume makers – more closely in the design process, 

which she agreed to, bringing her cleverness and creativity 

to the project. As is explained on page 14, we decided with 

both the sets and the costumes, not to be limited by a 

period but to be led by the story and characters and to be 

as imaginative as possible. I asked Tim Mitchell once again 

to bring his brilliant lighting to the production. Finally, John 

Longstaff has orchestrated some challenging music within 

our compilation of mainly French composers for our small but 

brilliant orchestra. 

Our new building at Quarry Hill, which has just won a National 

Lottery Award in the category of Best Arts Project, continues 

to offer us new possibilities. In June we held our first 

choreographic workshop collaboration with Phoenix Dance 

Theatre and we will perform the first mixed bill in our studio 

theatre in February. This is an opportunity to see great dance 

in a very intimate setting. 

Northern Ballet Royal Patron 

HRH the Earl of Wessex KG GCVO 

Photo Richard Moran 

I am thrilled that Ballet Master Daniel De Andrade has 

been awarded a dance fellowship on the Clore Leadership 

programme. This is great recognition of his talent and 

great recognition of our Company. I am also pleased that 

Tobias Batley has been nominated for the second time as 

Outstanding Male Performance (Classical) in the Critics’ Circle 

Dance Awards. 

During these challenging times for all, we are very 

appreciative of your continued support, through attending 

performances and the many other ways you can and do 

support us. You may have noted that we are currently trying 

to ensure that we can continue to perform the ballets we 

love and keep our full complement of dancers through our 

Sponsor a Dancer campaign. Please help us keep our dancers 

by donating in any way you can. Nothing is too small and 

details can be found on the postcard in the programme. 

Once more thank you, have a great holiday season and may 

we wish you health and good tidings for the New Year. 

David Nixon OBE 

December 2011 

05

Martha Leebolt as Beauty Photo Jason Tozer. 

06

Creative team 


Choreography, Direction, 

Costume Design. See page 27 

Duncan Hayler 

Set Design 

Child soloist Glyndebourne Opera The 

Cunning Little Vixen, Rattle/Miller 1977. 

Member of The National Youth Theatre 

of Great Britain. Degree in Theatre 

Set and Costume Design, Wimbledon 

School of Art. Winner Thames TV 

Design Bursary. 

Engagements include amongst others: 

State Opera Berlin, Royal Opera House 

Covent Garden, Wielki Opera Warsaw, 

State Opera Prague, State Theatre 

Munich, Polish State Opera, Deutsche 

Opera Berlin and “The Ring” tour to 

Tokyo, Yokohama, Washington DC 

and London. Krakow Opera, Vienna 

Chamber Opera, Berlin Chamber 

Opera, Musikwerkstatt Vienna, 

Friedrichstadtpalast Berlin, Vienna 

Volksoper, VBW Raimund Theatre 

Vienna (musical Romeo und Julia), 

BEMUS Festival Belgrade, Opera North, 

Theater Gera and Altenburg, Nantes 

Opera, State Opera Luxembourg, 

Bregenz Festival, Opera Sao Carlos 

Lisbon, Garsington Opera, Northern 

Ballet (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), 

State Theater Bielefeld. 

Duncan Hayler has worked with: Rudolf 

Nureyev, David Pountney, David Nixon, 

Nicola Raab, David Freeman, Gotz 

Friedrich, Craig Revel Horwood, Kay 

Kuntze, Ansgar Weigner, Waut Koeken, 

Steven Edwards, Emmanuelle Bastet 

and Henry Akina. 

Duncan has designed numerous world 

premières from composers ranging 

from H. Gorecki (Warsaw Opera) to 

Isidora Zebeljan (Bregenz Festival) to 

the recent internationally acclaimed 

world première of William Ward Murta’s 

musical The Birds of Alfred Hitchcock, 

Theater Bielefeld. 

After David Nixon’s A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream this is his second design 

work for Northern Ballet. 

His most recent work includes the 

musical Chess for Theater Bielefeld and 

Lucia di Lammermoor for State Theater 

Bern (première 28 Jan 2012). 

Tim Mitchell 

Lighting Design 

Tim has previously lit Cleopatra, 

Hamlet and Dracula for Northern Ballet; 

other dance and opera credits include 

productions for Sadler’s Wells, Royal 

Opera House, Birmingham Royal Ballet, 

Mariinsky Theatre and Welsh National 

Opera. 

Recent theatre includes: Crazy For 

You, Singin’ In The Rain, Rosencrantz 

and Guildenstern are Dead, Lend Me a 

Tenor, Yes Prime Minister (West End); 

Earthquakes in London (Headlong 

Theatre); Smash (Menier); Racing 

Demon (Sheffield Crucible); The Three 

Musketeers (Rose Theatre); The Cherry 

Orchard (Birmingham Rep); Dirty 

Dancing (West End & International 

productions); Master Class, Tell Me on 

a Sunday, The History Boys (Tours); 

Filumena, Becky Shaw, The Knot of the 

Heart (Almeida). 

International productions include: The 

Secret Garden (Edinburgh/Toronto); 

Sleeping Beauty (New York/Barbican/ 

Young Vic); Henry IV Parts I & II 

(Washington Shakespeare); Hamlet 

(Japan/Sadler’s Wells); The Play What I 

Wrote (Broadway/West End). 

Tim also works extensively for the 

Royal Shakespeare Company and is an 

associate at Chichester Festival Theatre, 

where he has lit numerous productions 

including Sir Trevor Nunn’s Cyrano De 

Bergerac. 

09

Julie Anderson 

Costume Design Assistant / 

Costume Production 

Julie trained at Loughborough College 

of Art and Design and Wimbledon 

College of Art and Design. 

For 25 years Julie ran a successful 

bridal shop while also working 

freelance on ballet, film, theatre and 

opera. For the past two years she has 

concentrated solely on her career in 

costume work with Northern Ballet 

and Northern School of Contemporary 

Dance. 

Previous film work includes Spielberg’s 

Back to the Future, Elizabeth R, Ken 

Russell’s Rainbow, Disney’s Jungle 

Book. TV includes Fat Friends, My 

Mother’s an Alien, Emmerdale and 

The Body Farm. Opera work includes 

Cameron Mackintosh’s Carmen at 

Earl’s Court, Showboat, The Merry 

Widow and Carmen for Opera North. 

Julie’s work on dance includes Michael 

Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, Feet 

of Fame and Spirit of the Dance in 

New York, China and Vegas and the 

world tours and Northern School of 

Contemporary Dance’s Verve 2011 tour. 

She has been involved in all Northern 

Ballet’s new productions over the 

past 12 years, where her heart lies in 

creating costumes that are technically 

challenging and verge on defying 

gravity. 

10 

John Longstaff 

Music Arranger 

Born Lancashire. 

Education Girton College, Cambridge; 

Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 

Companies/Organisations Kiel Opera 

House, Germany (conductor and 

rehearsal pianist); Northern Ballet 

(conductor and rehearsal pianist); 

Sheffield Symphony Orchestra (artistic 

director); Leeds College of Music (opera 

conductor), English National Ballet 

(guest conductor The Nutcracker and 

Giselle). 

Previous Work Romeo & Juliet, Swan 

Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, Carmen, 

Great Expectations, Madame Butterfly, 

I Got Rhythm, Beauty and the Beast, A 

Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Traviata, 

The Three Musketeers, The Nutcracker, 

Cleopatra for Northern Ballet. Other 

ballet scores and arrangements include 

Dorian, La Sylphide, Eugene Onegin, 

Hansel and Gretel (chamber versions), 

The Coronation of Poppaea. 

Career Highlights Second Prizewinner, 

Leeds Conductors’ Competition; editing 

Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus in the 

orchestration attributed to Mozart 

found in Halifax and televised on BBC 

4; producing Northern Ballet’s CDs 

of Great Expectations, A Streetcar 

Named Desire, Peter Pan and The Three 

Musketeers. 

Personal Enjoys playing the organ for 

services at St. Peter’s, Harrogate. 

Organ recording by 

Acoustic Solutions Yorkshire 

Read full biographies for Beauty & the Beast creative team at 

northernballet.com 

Production Credits 

Wardrobe Supervisor 

Kim Brassley 

In-house Making Team 

Carley Marsh 

Paula Grosvernor 

Leonie Willett 

Assisted by 

Mikhaila Pye 

Jessica Wood 

Freya Crowley-Bennett 

Lorna Clayton 

Work Placement Students, 

Huddersfield University 

Natalie Lawson 

Karen Sellers 

Jessica Bull 

Dyeing & Painting 


Wigs / Make-up supervisor 

Helen Russell 

Wigs made by 

Cath Newton 

Goblin Masks and Headwear 

Helen Russell 

Assisted by 

Jessica Wood 

Pointe shoes made by FREED of 

London and The Suffolk Pointe Shoe 

Company Limited. 

Production Manager 

Andy Waddington 

CAD Drawing 

Steve Wilkins 

Set Construction 

Q Division 

Set Construction Bramley 

Jonnie Mills 

Tony Brookes 

Ian Robinson 

John Hudson 

Alex Gillan 

Simon Wright 

Scenic Painting 

Dave Gillan 

Jan Breider 

Fabrics by Whaleys 

Printed stage fabrics by 

Service Graphics

The Story 

ACT I 

In a mirrored room of a castle, Prince Orian surveys his 

image with delight. So pleased is he with what he sees, he 

barely notices the arrival of his manservant. Irritated by the 

interruption he begrudgingly follows him to the dining room 

where the Prince’s friends await him. 

The group of young people amuse Orian, only because they 

adore him and flatter his appearance, feeding his massive 

ego. So involved in his self-gratifying indulgence is he, the 

Prince does not notice the huddled figure that has entered 

the room. 

Angered by such an outrageous intrusion, he refuses the 

woman’s request of food and mocks her appearance. In the 

midst of the laughter she discards her cloak to reveal she 

is an exotically beautiful woman – none other than La Fée 

Magnifique. Stunned, the onlookers become wary and start 

to distance themselves, all except Orian who realises fear 

for the first time. The enraged fairy tells the Prince that his 

bad manners do not match his beautiful appearance so to 

teach him a lesson she casts a spell upon him, transforming 

him into a wild beast. 

A second fairy enters the melee – she is La Fée Luminaire, 

sister to La Fée Magnifique. She approaches the Beast and 

drops a rose in front of him. She lifts his face to hers and 

places her hand upon his heart – a gesture of love. She 

tells the Beast that her sister’s spell can be broken if he 

can learn to love and be loved in return. The fairies depart, 

leaving the Beast alone with his manservant, wailing at his 

reflection. 

Elsewhere in the Kingdom lives a wealthy man and his 

three daughters, Isabelle, Chantelle and the youngest – his 

favourite – Beauty. Beauty has a gentle spirit. Every day she 

picks roses from her garden and serves her father breakfast. 

Isabelle and Chantelle, on the other hand, are socialites. 

They spend their father’s money as quickly as it is earned. 

Unlike Beauty, they wear outrageous fashions and their 

appetites for new clothes are never satisfied. 

One day they arrive home from shopping and prepare for 

their friends to arrive. The guests are the normal crowd of 

trendsetters. The men are always most interested in Beauty 

even though she discourages their attentions. The party is 

interrupted by several men in black who confront Beauty’s 

father with an enormous bill to pay and an official paper 

notifying him that he no longer has any money and all the 

possessions and the house must be surrendered. 

The men begin to load up all the family’s belongings into 

a removal truck, before taking down the very walls of 

the house. The party guests offer no help to the family, 

departing quickly. The sisters’ tantrums, as they are 

stripped of their beautiful clothes, can be heard for miles. 

Beauty tries to comfort her family as they stand alone with 

the trees around them. 

The family wanders through the forest, desperate until 

the discovery of suitcases filled with useable clothing and 

a broken down tour bus. Beauty and her father gratefully 

accept this stroke of good fortune and Beauty starts to 

make a home. Her sisters offer little help – they cannot bear 

to work and miss their beautiful possessions. 

Their father leaves the girls and ventures into the forest to 

seek food. Soon he becomes lost. Despairing at his lack of 

skills he wanders farther into the woods. He suddenly finds 

himself in an enchanted garden in which he sees the most 

beautiful rose. Unable to resist, he plucks it as a gift for 

Beauty. 

Immediately he is set upon by a hideous creature. Certain 

that he will die, his thoughts turn to his daughters. His 

vision stops the Beast who offers to spare the man his life if 

one of the girls comes to live with him. In weakness and fear 

the father agrees and the Beast gives him a key that will 

guide him back to the Beast’s castle. 

Beauty continues to make the best of the new home and 

tries to help her sisters. She sits down from her work and 

while day dreaming falls asleep. La Fée Luminaire sends a 

vision of the Prince to Beauty’s dreams. Beauty is awoken 

by the reappearance of her father. He shares his sad tale 

with the girls. Isabelle and Chantelle blame Beauty saying 

that had their father had not picked the rose for her all 

would be well. Their father quiets them and says he will 

return himself but he just wanted to say goodbye. Beauty 

encourages him to rest and while he sleeps she takes the 

key and the rose and runs into the night. 

11

The Story 

ACT II 

Beauty arrives at the castle and her new life begins. Her 

first encounters with the Beast are frightening but she soon 

learns that he will not harm her. The Beast tries to behave 

like a human but cannot help frightening and repulsing the 

young woman. He becomes despondent. Beauty witnesses 

this sad moment and understands that she needs to help 

him. Although the Beast offers her freedom she chooses to 

remain with the creature and care for him. As the day draws 

to an end Beauty prepares to sleep and uses the key to 

unlock the massive door, shaped like a broken heart. 

12 

Ashley Dixon as the Beast Photo Jason Tozer. 

ACT III 

The Beast remembers his face as the Prince. If only he 

looked like that now he thinks he would have a chance at 

winning Beauty’s love. He gazes upon the sleeping woman 

and dreams of what life could be like. 

Calling up his own image he soon sees his old arrogance. 

He wants to change, to lose his conceit and listen to his 

heart. He imagines life and love with Beauty but he finally 

despairs, thinking it will never be, and watches his dream 

fade. 

The castle transforms into a place of joy and magic – the 

atmosphere changing to reflect the new feelings of the 

Beast. Beauty finds herself oddly attracted to this strange 

character that treats her with kindness and generosity and is 

even playful with her. She begins to understand that it is the 

heart that calls forth love and that the outward appearance 

is not necessarily reflective of the person within. 

The Beast is content to just be with his Beauty but she 

becomes distracted with an image of her father unwell. 

She tells the Beast that she must go to see him but will 

return. The Beast sadly agrees but as soon as she leaves he 

despairs of her return, and becomes desperate. 

Suddenly Beauty comes running back – having realised 

she wants to tell the Beast she loves him. In the instant 

she speaks the words, the spell is broken and the Beast 

transforms back into the Prince, a new man. Surprised, 

Beauty now understands that this is her Beast and 

embraces him. 

They celebrate their marriage and live happily ever after – as 

people do, in fairytales worth telling!

The Music 

ACT I 

Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre 

Bizet: Seven movements from Jeux d’enfants 

(Children’s Games) 

i. L’escarpolette (The Swing) 

ii. March (Trumpet and Drum ) 

iii. Saute-mouton (Leap-frog) 

iv. Colin-maillard (Blind Man’s Buff) 

v. Les quatre coins 

vi. La toupie (The Top) 

vii. Galop (Le Bal) 

Debussy: Dialogue du vent et de la mer (from La Mer) 

Debussy: La fille aux cheveux du lin (from Préludes, book I) 

Debussy: Clair de lune (from Suite Bergamasque) 

Bizet: Petit mari, petite femme (from Jeux d’enfants) 

Debussy: The Snow is Dancing (from Children’s Corner). 

ACT II 

Francis Poulenc 

Concerto en sol minuer pour orgue, 

orchestre a cordes et timbales 

Property of Editions Salabert Paris 

(Universal Music Publishing Group) 

By arrangement with G. Ricordi & Co. (London) Ltd. 

ACT III 

Saint-Saëns: Introduction and Poco Adagio 

(Symphony no.3 ‘Organ’) 

Glazunov: Introduction to ‘Winter’ 

(The Four Seasons) 

Glazunov: ‘Autumn’ 

(The Four Seasons) 

Saint-Saëns: Conclusion of Scherzo and Finale 

(Symphony no. 3 ‘Organ’) 

Acts I and III orchestrated by John Longstaff. 

Nicholas organ of Southwell Minster played by Darius 

Battiwalla and recorded by kind permission of the Dean and 

Chapter. 

The rich tapestry of Northern Ballet’s productions over 

the last decade or so illustrate the various ways of using 

music available to a choreographer. There have been new 

productions of traditional ballet scores (The Nutcracker, 

Giselle); newly commissioned scores (Wuthering Heights, 

Peter Pan, Hamlet, A Tale of Two Cities, Cleopatra); dance 

re-workings of operas (Madame Butterfly, La Traviata), and 

the usage of already composed music which originally had 

nothing to do with the subject matter of the ballet but was 

found to be dramatically suitable (Dangerous Liaisons, The 

Three Musketeers, and Beauty & the Beast). 

For the last procedure to be successful musically, some 

unifying factors are desirable. In The Three Musketeers 

the music was entirely by Malcolm Arnold. In Beauty & the 

Beast, all but one of the pieces has French connections, and 

was composed within the period c. 1870 – 1938, the earliest 

music being the pieces by Bizet and Saint-Saëns, and the 

most recent being the Poulenc Organ Concerto. 

Each piece of music chosen for Beauty & the Beast falls into 

one of four categories. 

1) Piano music – the works by Bizet and Debussy (Children’s 

Corner) were all originally written for solo piano or piano 

duet. The French never had a strong symphonic tradition, 

preferring operas, ballets and smaller character pieces – 

also there is a peculiarly French habit of writing for piano 

first and producing orchestral versions almost as an 

afterthought. Bizet orchestrated four of our selection from 

Jeux d’enfants himself – Debussy’s friend André Caplet 

orchestrated Children’s Corner, and as well as adapting 

these pieces to suit the forces of the Northern Ballet 

Sinfonia I’ve had to start from scratch with the remainder of 

these pieces. 

2) Orchestral programme music – Danse Macabre and the 

‘Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea’ from La Mer are both 

splendid examples of evocative programme music, though 

what they depict in our production may be subtly different 

from what the original composers had in mind! 

3) The organ – the arresting opening of Poulenc’s Organ 

Concerto is an ideal sound for introducing the Beast into 

the story; and the subtly shifting moods of the concerto - 

sometimes frightened, sometimes angry, at other moments 

tender, and at times happy - are well suited to depicting 

the emotions of the leading characters. The triumphant 

conclusion of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony is a fitting 

end to this fairytale, as the re-emergence of the organ at 

the wedding scene shows that this most magnificent of 

instruments can enhance the depiction of true happiness as 

well as the unpleasantness earlier. 

4) Glazunov’s ‘The Four Seasons’ – this is the odd one out; 

we’ve tried hard to find a connection between it and the 

other music in the ballet, and apart from the fact that the 

Russian composer Glazunov died in Paris, unfortunately 

there isn’t one. However it is the one piece of genuine ballet 

music in the programme, and as we are extremely unlikely 

to stage ‘The Four Seasons’ in the form it was written 

to a commission by Petipa for the Mariinsky Theatre in 

St. Petersburg, here is a little more than a quarter of this 

enchanting score, which we hope you will enjoy along with 

the rest of the music in the ballet! 

John Longstaff 

Music Arranger 

13

The Set The Costumes 

My first contact with the visual direction of the production 

came through David’s costume designs which for marketing 

purposes had to be realised well in advance of my work. 

My initial impressions of the costumes which contained the 

textures of reptile skin, semi-transparent featherlight chifons 

and shiny flowing metallic fabrics gave me insight into a 

highly tactile and atmospheric world. 

David’s beautiful costumes and the story inspired me for the 

set design which, taking the subject of outer appearance 

and inner desire, developed into an ever transforming space 

of exterior and interior atmospheric locations. 

Having established the maximum danceable space its 

‘function’ and its ‘look’ developed. The space contains the 

‘illusion of mirrors’, a spell is then cast cracking the glass, 

leaving shattered emotional fragments, a look beneath 

the skin and the inner discovery of a magical and illusory 

world which has a dark side and a light-hearted side, which 

contains the mystery of the search for ones true self, which 

brings about a manifestation of love and the breaking of 

the spell. The broken heart is healed and its reflective 

fragments appear reassembled in a wholly surprising and 

triumphant fashion. 

Duncan Hayler 

November 2011 

Photos Martin Bell 

14 

After my most recent co-design which was Cleopatra with 

Christopher Giles, I was very inspired by the beautiful 

aesthetic we had created together, most of which was 

constructed by our in-house wardrobe team. The questions 

at the start of designing for Beauty & the Beast were how 

to build on these recent achievements and how to create a 

new and unusual look for the ballet. The costumes always 

play a key role for me in how I create the dances and the 

way in which the characters move so it is an important 

process for me. 

I decided to involve Julie Anderson, who worked with us on 

Cleopatra, in more of the whole design process. This, along 

with the costumes being created by our in-house team 

led by Kim Brassley, would allow us to follow the process 

more intimately and give greater time for construction and 

experimentation. 

I have worked with Julie since my very first production with 

Northern Ballet, Madame Butterfly, and it has been with her 

clever ideas, skills and imagination that we have realised 

so many wonderful costumes together, that have combined 

period silhouette with freedom of movement. 

I spent some time thinking about a period in which to set 

Beauty & the Beast but soon realised that most children 

do not relate to specific periods but imagine each scene 

or character to take on a look that expresses an action or 

feeling. I decided to let my imagination fly and as the story 

has a great deal to do with outward appearance and wealth, 

I allowed myself to be led by the extreme clothing of haute 

couture and the catwalk and to be inspired by fashion icons 

such as Armani, Mugler and Miyaki.

This was embraced and encouraged by both Julie and 

Kim and I set off to find fabrics to capture the magic of 

the designs. Colour was a key concern – it needed to be 

vibrant and the fabrics needed to move and change colour 

under the light with a life of their own. I was looking for a 

contemporary feel with a reference to past glamour and 

even medieval fairytales. 

The scenes each took on their own look: the Prologue with 

the women’s costumes referencing the Fifties in vibrant 

silk taffetas while the men are more futuristic with curved 

lines and metallic fabrics. The wealthy family costumes, 

which are a construction miracle, became an abundance of 

pleats and architectural shapes taking the Fifties look to the 

Eighties and beyond with even a hint of cartoon elements. 

The fairies became the most glamorous beings with multipanelled 

evening wear and exotic head dresses and wigs 

with reference to old movie glamour but in contemporary 

fabrics. 

Beauty’s costumes remained the simplest – closest to 

what could be expected as romantic dress – allowing her 

character to be the most believable. This transforms in the 

castle to something more magical with a hint of medieval 

fairytale coming through the metallic sequins of the bodice. 

The split of the dress allows the audience to see more of the 

body while adding to the flow of the movement. The final 

scene sees the ensemble in unison with the simple elegance 

of Beauty. 

The most challenging costume to create was that of the 

Beast. My desire was to develop a costume that showed 

the wild character while still allowing us to see the dancer’s 

expression and movement. I wanted to stay away from fur 

and horns and clothing, and create a look of realism and 

transformation. I came upon some fantastic black beaded 

fabric that had a reptilian and scaly look and some shredded 

silk that hinted fur but was another texture. Julie and her 

team carefully constructed a slightly exaggerated torso. 

They then laid and shredded the beaded fabric onto the 

torso and legs, peeling back some to create the appearance 

of transformation from man to animal. Helen Russell used 

elements of the fabrics to create the head dresses and 

make-up that transformed the face but left the expression. 

I hope you will enjoy these costumes as much as I have 

enjoyed watching them come to life. They have inspired 

the choreography and been a labour of love from Julie and 

all our wonderful seamstresses. I am very thankful to Julie, 

Kim, Helen and all our magical team at Northern Ballet. 

David Nixon 

November 2011 

15

Beauty and the Beast – Through the Ages 

The story of a Prince transformed into a beast and a young 

maiden whose heart is pure enough to see through his 

frightful exterior first appeared in 1740. Gabrielle-Suzanne 

Barbot de Villeneuve published La Belle et la Bête in La 

jeune américaine, et les contes marins. This is the earliest 

known example of the tale we know today. Here the beast is 

genuinely savage and not only feral in appearance. Similarly, 

the Beast has not been cursed for an unkind gesture, 

rather for resisting the advances of the evil fairy. Belle, the 

vision of humility and simple beauty, transpires to not be a 

merchant’s daughter at all, rather the offspring of the king 

and a good fairy disguised as a merchant’s daughter to 

evade that irksome evil fairy. Blue blood, however, will out. 

Beauty and her Beast/Prince live happily ever after. 

The version which contains most of the elements we 

recognise in the tale today appeared in 1756 by Jeanne- 

Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Beaumont distilled the tale 

to its beguiling core. Here we find the dual-natured Beast, 

cursed for his lack of charity towards a witch. Here, too, is 

the rustic ideal of the pure peasant girl who sees beyond 

the shallow externalities of the world, whose love is so 

genuine for all living things that the Beast’s beastliness 

is, frankly, not such a problem. Her tears do, however, 

transform him back into the handsome Prince in the end. 

Beaumont’s tale set the bedrock for all ensuing adaptations. 

The archetypal components were there to make this tale 

endure: charity versus self-interest, aristocracy versus the 

bourgeoisie, vanity versus empathy, the feral versus the 

civilized. These themes would be variously extrapolated 

over the next two hundred and fifty years and make the tale 

applicable to almost any epoch or culture. 

16 

There have been countless adaptations for stage and 

screens both big and small. However, the most iconic for our 

times was Disney’s 1991 re-telling which transferred onto the 

stage in 1999 with additional lyrics by Tim Rice. It continues 

to tour. 

Jean Cocteau made a dense, beautiful film in 1946 with 

Jean Marais as the eponymous “Bête”. The affecting 

cinematography in La Belle et la Bête is meant to evoke 

the engravings of Gustav Doré and Jan Vermeer’s intense 

mundanities of peasant life. Cocteau was a poet as well as 

a film-maker and these are supremely lyrical evocations of 

those old Beaumont themes – the household, the peasantry 

and the aristocracy, the feral and the civilized. 

The most recent incarnation, Beastly, starring Vanessa 

Hudgens, sets the action in an American high school where 

the themes of vanity and superficial beauty are played out. 

Robert Beaucage’s 2008 film, Spike, warps into a tale of 

beastly obsession. 

Wherever its setting, Beauty and the Beast remains robust 

and pertinent. Like all great fairytales it is a story with all 

kinds of possibilities depending on how you look at it. We 

can enumerate the story’s conflicts and speculate about 

its continuing appeal, but ultimately its endurance and its 

continuing relevance are, in fact, something magic. 

Aled Roberts 

Illustrations by Walter Crane (left) and Warwick Goble.

Northern Ballet Academy is a different kind 

of dance school. We train the professional 

dancers of the future and we also open our 

doors to welcome everyone who wants to 

dance. 

Our Academy includes the professional programme – the first 

and only Centre for Advanced Training for classical dance in 

the UK; the associate programme, International Easter Course 

and Summer School, and open classes. 

We provide training that is second-to-none, enabling our 

students to develop unrivalled technical mastery and artistic 

skills. Our teachers are ex-professional dancers and we offer 

world-class, non-residential training where students can 

remain at home while achieving their ambitions. 

We follow the Ichino method, advocating healthy training for 

happy bodies and provide performance opportunities both 

within the Academy and with Northern Ballet. 

Dance classes for everyone 

Develop your passion for dance and movement. We offer 

classes for all ages, from tiny tots to over 55s, in ballet, 

contemporary, popular dance, fusion fitness, ZUMBA Fitness ® 

and Pilates. Whatever your interest, Northern Ballet has a class 

for you. 

Northern Ballet Academy students Photos Martin Bell. 

dance 

classes 

2012 

Register now to book your place. 

Find out more at northernballet.com/academy 

or speak to us on 0113 220 8000. 

17

18 

ballet parties 

for children who love to dance 

A Northern Ballet party includes: 

• A mini ballet class 

• Games 

• Party tea 

• A performance of work created by the children 

• Party bags with Northern Ballet goodies 

For further information please contact our Events team on 

0113 220 8000 

or email info@northernballet.com 

or visit northernballet.com/parties 

etterhead:Layout 1 7/4/08 13:49 Page 1 

Turning 

print around for 

Taking the hassle out of 

Axis Ad 

printing.......... 

mailing.......... 

distribution.......... 

01484 722 732 

info@axisonline.co.uk 

www.axisonline.co.uk 

follow us on twitter @axisprinting 

AxisAd.indd 1 06/10/2011 08:59

Support Northern Ballet 

Northern Ballet would not be the exciting, innovative and unique company it is today without 

the generous help of our supporters. Their vital financial assistance enables us to continue 

our work. 

We would welcome your involvement too. We value the contribution of everyone who becomes part of the Northern Ballet 

family – whether as an individual donor or a corporate partner – and you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are helping to 

secure the future of one of Britain’s best loved companies. 

We would like to invite you to support the following campaigns: 

Sponsor a Dancer 

Northern Ballet is responding positively to the cuts in 

government funding with a campaign to support our greatest 

asset; our dancers. We have been highly successful at developing 

talent, nurturing young students with potential and ensuring that 

they grow technically and artistically into world-class dancers. 

We want to continue to recruit young talent and maintain our full 

complement of 40 dancers needed to perform major productions 

like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and future new ballets. We 

welcome your donations and would urge you to work with us 

and organise your own fundraising events to help us in any way 

you can. The campaign has got off to a terrific start and we have 

raised over £25k since it launched in October. 

Please see the postcard in this programme for further information. 

Become a Friend or Patron 

You can become a Friend of Northern Ballet for less than £1 a 

week and play a major role in securing the long term future of 

our Company. The benefits range from meeting the dancers to 

seeing sneak previews of new ballets and receiving generous 

ticket discounts. 

Become a Patron and you will also receive two tickets for the 

première of a Northern Ballet production plus an exclusive post- 

performance reception and backstage tour at a venue of your 

choice and a range of premium benefits. 

By adding less than 50p a week to your membership, you can also 

help support Northern Ballet Academy which inspires and trains 

the professional dancers of the future. 

To find out more contact our Fundraising team on 0113 220 8000 

or email fundraising@northernballet.com or visit our website northernballet.com 

Northern Ballet Soloist Martin Bell with Friend Andrea Scargill Photo Justin Slee. 

Join the Directors’ Circle 

Members of our Directors’ Circle have the opportunity to form 

a closer relationship with Northern Ballet. You’ll enjoy a series 

of exclusive events that provide a special insight into the 

choreography, music, costume and set design that makes our 

Company unique. You’ll also be able to get closer to the dancers 

and creative team, enabling you to engage on a more personal 

level with our work. 

The support of Directors’ Circle members is invaluable to us, 

providing an important contribution towards our ability to grow 

and thrive into the future. 

19

Directors’ Circle and Patrons 

We are grateful to the following individuals for their support, please join them 

Platinum member 

Mrs Patricia Swallow 

Gold Members 

Mr & Mrs Alan Harrison 

Mr & Mrs Phil Swallow 

Mr & Mrs Peter Terry 

Mrs Sheila Wainwright 

Silver Members 

Sir Norman Adsetts OBE 

Mr & Mrs Geoffrey Armitage 

Mr & Mrs Terry Bramall 

Mr Michael Bryan 

Mr & Mrs Jeremy Burton 

Mr Stephen Donohue 

Mr & Mrs Peter Farmer 

Dr & Mrs Keith Howard 

Mr & Mrs Christopher Kinder 

Mrs Ann Meyrick 

Mr & Mrs Bruce Noble 

Mrs Janice Reeds 

20 

Patrons 

Mr & Mrs George Armitage; Miss Denise Ashworth; 

Mrs Dianne Balmforth; Mr J Bingham; Ms Janet Bruce; 

Mr & Mrs Peter Carroll; Mrs Miranda Chisenhale-Marsh; 

Mrs Susie Cookson; Mr Tim Collins; Mrs Pauline Cope; 

Mr John Andrew Coutts; Mr Christopher Curry; Mrs Sheila Dann; 

Mr & Mrs Mike Dean; Judith Donovan CBE; Mr & Mrs Robert Ellis; 

Mrs Linda Fenwick; Mrs Susannah Frieze; Dr Paul Goulden; 

Mr Ronald Gray; Mrs Wendy Hall; Mr Jon Hammond; 

Mr Richard Handby; Mrs Avril Handscombe; Mr David Heal; 

Mrs Kathryn Heaversedge; Mr Patrick Hibbin; Mrs Jennifer Hignell; 

Mrs Jane Ingham; Mr & Mrs Michael Introna; Mrs Juliet Jowitt; 

Mrs Min Keating; Mrs Julie Kenny; Dr Peter Alister Knappett; 

Mr Stephen Knight-Gregson; Mrs Catherine Lawrence; 

Mrs Louise Leach; Mrs Judith Macdonald; 

Mr & Mrs Christopher Makin; Miss Janet McNulty; 

Mr Michael Moss; Northern Society of Costumes & Textiles; 

Mrs Hayley Nottingham; Mr Malcolm Oliver; Mr Keith Parsons; 

Mrs Amanda Pickavance; Mr & Mrs Donald Rastrick; 

Mr Stuart Rhodes; Mr Mark Roberson; Mrs Susan Robinson; 

Mrs Rebecca Rooney; Miss Rachel Salmon; 

Mr & Mrs Jonathan and Katie Sharp; Mrs Andrea Shelley; 

Mr & Mrs Martin Sherwin; Mr Peter Simpson; 

Mr & Mrs David Sterry; Dr Judi Sture; Mrs Carey Tebby; 

Dr Michael Ward; Mr Philip Webb; Mr Harry Wells; 

Mr & Mrs Graham Wilson 

Northern Ballet Academy students Photo Megan Mcloughlin Northern Ballet in Leeds Photo Jonathan Taylor

Partners 

Thank you to all our partners for their support of Northern Ballet. To find out more about partnership opportunities please 

contact Janet Myers on 0113 220 8000 or email janet.myers@northernballet.com 

Northern Ballet is grateful to everyone who supported the momentum campaign for our new building and those who 

support the ongoing success of the Company. 

Production Sponsors 

Sponsor a Dancer Apprentice Sponsor 

Education Sponsor 

The Audrey & Stanley Burton Charitable Trust 

Gold Level 

Silver Level 

Sponsorship-In-Kind 

Trusts and Foundations 

• The Audrey & Stanley Burton Charitable Trust 

• The Biffa Award 

• The Calmcott Trust 

• Charities Committee of NM Rothschild & Sons 

• The Coutts Charitable Trust 

• The Follett Trust 

• The Foundation for Sports & the Arts 

• The Garfield Weston Foundation 

• The GC Armitage Charitable Trust 

• The GF Armitage Charitable Trust 

• The Harriet Burton Charitable Trust 

• The Holbeck Charitable Trust 

• The Idlewild Trust 

• The J G Graves Charitable Trust 

• Jimbo’s Fund 

• The Lawrence Family Charitable Trust 

• JSF Pollitzer Charitable Trust 

• The Kenneth Hargreaves Charitable Trust 

• The Liz & Terry Bramall Charitable Trust 

• Lord Barnby’s Foundation 

• The Mercers’ Company 

• The Monument Trust 

Mr & Mrs T Jowitt 

GF Armitage Charitable Trust 

Mrs Susan Robinson 

Season Sponsor 

TV Media Partner 

• The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts 

• The RE Chadwick Charitable Trust 

• The Rhododendron Trust 

• Sir George Martin Charitable Trust 

• The Sir James Reckitt Charity 

• Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement 

• Wade’s Charity 

• The Wates Family Enterprise 

• The Wolfson Foundation 

21

22 

Mint. We’re at the 

heart of civic tradition. 

Mint Hotel is a group of modern, fresh and 

contemporary hotels, located in vibrant city 

centres where arts and culture thrive. We’re 

delighted to support the Northern Ballet as part 

of our wider Arts and Culture Programme that 

includes changing art exhibitions and a range 

of initiatives made possible through a network 

of partners who represent the very best in 

contemporary culture. 

www.minthotel.com 

Amsterdam | Birmingham | Bristol | Glasgow | Leeds 

Tower of London | London Westminster | Manchester

Keep in step with 

the world of dance 

Get in touch 

now for your 

free 

introductory 

magazine 

From ballet to 

contemporary dance, 

musical theatre to hip 

hop, every issue of 

Dancing Times and 

Dance Today is packed 

with news, reviews, 

features and 

interviews 

For your free magazine call 020 7250 3006 (quoting NB11) 

or email free@dancing-times.co.uk 

Photograph © Alexander Yakovlev - Fotolia.com 

23

NBT Spring 2011 149 x 210 v7.0_A4 Display Copy 08/07/2011 16:48 Page 1 

Central 

School of Ballet 

Professional Performers Course 

A full-time three year course leading to a BA (Hons) 

degree in Professional Dance and Performance. 

Central Dance Days 

Held throughout the year, across the UK, these 

workshops are designed to inspire your training 

and help you discover more about life in full-time 

ballet tuition. 

For more information please visit our website: 

www.centralschoolofballet.co.uk 

Central School of Ballet 

10 Herbal Hill, Clerkenwell Road 

London EC1R 5EG 

Tel: 020 7837 6332 

info@csbschool.co.uk 

www.centralschoolofballet.co.uk 

Sky Arts At 

Northern Ballet 

Sky Arts goes behind the scenes of 

Northern Ballet’s brand new production 

of Beauty & the Beast. Get the inside 

view on Sky Arts 1 HD and online at 

sky.com/arts from January. 

Photo: Jason Tozer 

TV MEDIA PARTNER 

9739 Sky Arts Northern Ballet Ad v2.indd 1 01/12/2011 15:42 

25

26 

Enjoy dance, comedy, live music and more in Leeds’ newest venue based at 

Northern Ballet, Quarry Hill. With its own café bar serving a range of pre-show and 

interval food and drink, it’s the perfect place to enjoy an evening out. 

Highlights of spring 2012 include 

Comedy 

The Boy with Tape on his Face Friday 9 March 

Robin Ince Wednesday 18 April 

Last Laugh Comedy Club Monthly from January 

Dance 

Northern Ballet Perpetual Motion 

Thusday 9 – Sat 18 February 

Short works from a range of new and established 

choreographers 

New Art Club Quiet Act of Destruction 

Friday 23 March 

Dep Arts in association with Northern Ballet 

Contemporary dance season 

Tuesday 27 March Double Bill Joss Arnott & James Wilton 

Friday 27 April Rosie Kay Dance Company 

Double Points: K & Asylum 

Wednesday 23 May Pair Dance Duality 

Live music 

Northern Ballet Ensemble 

A series of performances from members of Northern Ballet’s 

exceptional Sinfonia 

Friday 24 February Clarinet Trio 

Friday 18 May Clarinet/Saxophone Recital 

Friday 21 September Piano Recital 

Friday 14 December Wind Quintet 

Find out more and book 

Box Office 0113 220 8008 

Online northernballet.com/boxoffice 

In Person Northern Ballet, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PA 

Join our mailing list to receive what’s on emails and our 

season brochure, as well as competitions and special offers. 

Sign up now by visiting northernballet.com/signup 

Northern Ballet’s Hannah Bateman Photo Jason Tozer. 

Robin Ince. New Art Club Photo Amy Brammall. 

Concept Design IT. 

Book now 

Box office 

0113 220 8008 

Book online 

northernballet.com/boxoffice 

Rosie Kay Dance Photo Matt Timbers. 

Join us on facebook search for 

Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre.

Our People 


Artistic Director 

David Nixon has been Artistic Director of Northern Ballet 

since 2001. 

David trained as a dancer, first in his hometown of Chatham, 

Ontario and then at the National Ballet School of Canada 

where his training began in earnest. It was during his time 

there that he first became interested in choreography, helping 

to revive a choreographic workshop with the approval of 

school director Betty Oliphant. After further training in Europe 

he returned to Canada to train with Erik Bruhn and the great 

Russian teacher, Eugene Valukin. 

David’s career began at the National Ballet of Canada where 

he progressed rapidly through the ranks to become a principal 

dancer, dancing lead roles in the classical and contemporary 

repertoire. In 1985 he joined the Deutsche Oper Ballet in Berlin 

as principal dancer where he won the Critics’ Award for Best 

Male Performance (1987) and continued to increase his own 

choreographic output. This included producing and directing a 

successful mixed programme – David Nixon’s Liaisons – at the 

Hebbel Theatre, Berlin in 1990. 

David left Berlin for a series of principal guest artist positions 

with National Ballet of Canada, Bayerisches Staatsballett, 

Munich and Royal Winnipeg Ballet before returning to 

Deutsche Oper Ballet in 1994 as first ballet master. His guest 

artist credits also include: Birmingham Royal Ballet; Komische 

Oper; Deutsche Staatsoper; Hamburg Ballet and Sydney City 

Ballet. 

In 1994 David became Artistic Director of BalletMet in 

Columbus, Ohio USA. During his six years with the Company 

he added 16 world and 15 Company premières to the 

Photo Brian Slater 

repertoire. Companies in Canada, the USA and South Africa 

have since staged David’s productions. Recently David 

has reproduced The Nutcracker in Slovenia, The Three 

Musketeers in Tallin, Estonia and Dangerous Liaisons in 

Ohio. 

Since joining Northern Ballet David has added an impressive 

array of new works to the repertoire including the hugely 

popular Madame Butterfly, Wuthering Heights, the Gershwin 

extravaganza, I Got Rhythm, Swan Lake, A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream, Peter Pan, Dracula, The Three Musketeers, 

A Sleeping Beauty Tale, The Nutcracker, Hamlet and 

Cleopatra. 

His work has received recognition: A Midsummer Night’s 

Dream and The Three Musketeers were nominated for an 

Olivier award; The Three Musketeers won a Manchester 

Evening News (MEN) Theatre Award and Madame Butterfly 

and A Midsummer Night’s Dream were nominated for an 

MEN Award; David was voted Director of the Year by readers 

of Dance Europe in 2003 and 2006; and Northern Ballet 

received the audience award at the Critics’ Circle National 

Dance Awards for three successive years (2004, 2005, 2006), 

and the Patron’s Award in 2009. 

In January 2010 David was awarded an OBE for his services 

to dance in the Queen’s New Year Honours list. 

27

Music Staff 

John Pryce-Jones 

Music Director 

John has been with Northern Ballet since 

1992. Originally from South Wales, he has 

conducted throughout the UK with many of 

the major orchestras and overseas in twelve 

different countries. 

Read full biographies at northernballet.com 

Northern Ballet Sinfonia 

Orchestra 

1st Violins 

Geoffrey Allan (Leader) 

Susan Hall (Sub-Leader) 

Stella Hartikainen 

Helen Boardman 

Raimonda Koço 

2nd Violins 

Position Vacant 

Laura Concar 

Ian Flower 

Northern Ballet Sinfonia will give a number of ensemble performances 

over the coming months in the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre at 

Northern Ballet on Quarry Hill in central Leeds. 

For more information or to book tickets visit 

northernballet.com/boxoffice 

The Sinfona’s recording of Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Cleopatra is 

available to buy on CD from Northern Ballet on 0113 220 8000. 

For more information about Northern Ballet Sinfonia, please contact 

Barry Collarbone, Orchestra & Concerts Manager 

Tel 0113 220 8000 

Email barry.collarbone@northernballet.com 

28 

Violas 

Rosalyn Cabot 

Hannah Horton 

Cellos 

Sasha Volpov 

Tom Rathbone 

Double Bass 

Steve Costello 

Flute/Piccolo 

David Sumbler 

Sarah Bull 

Geoffrey Allan 

Orchestra Leader 

Geoffrey was born in Ayrshire, Scotland 

and joined Northern Ballet in 1993. He 

has given solo performances with the BBC 

Scottish Symphony Orchestra in broadcasts 

of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Lalo’s 

Symphonie Espagnole and has performed 

with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as 

soloist and Guest Leader. 

Oboe/Cor anglais 

Mary Gilbert 

Clarinets 

Joanne Rozario 

Alan Asquith (Bass Clt) 

Bassoon 

Paul Boyes 

Horns 

John Thornton 

Ben Jones 

Vasilis Tsiatsianis 

Guest Conductor 

Vasilis Tsiatsianis was born in Athens, 

Greece. He began to study the piano and 

the French Horn at the age of 8, and at 16 he 

made his debut recital as a solo pianist. 

Some of his most renowned collaborations 

include Karole Armitage, Germinal Casado, 

Pierre Lacotte, Lorca Massine, Mark Morris, 

Lynn Wallis, Igor Zelensky, the Lincoln Center 

of Performing Arts N.Y. , the Mariinsky (Kirov) 

Ballet, Theater an der Wien, National Opera 

of Greece and Royal Academy of Dance. His 

compositions have been broadcasted by ORF 

(Austrian Broadcasting Company). 

Trumpet 

Position Vacant 

Gary Ritson 

Trombone 

Rick Scoates 

Timpani/Percussion 

Ian Hood 

Percussion 

John Melbourne 

Harp 

Celine Saout

The Dancers 

Leading Artists 

Hannah Bateman First Soloist 

Hannah is from Surrey and trained at the Susan 

Robinson School of Ballet and Central School 

of Ballet. She joined Northern Ballet in 2002 

having previously performed with The Israel 


Tobias Batley First Soloist 

Toby trained at the Hammond School of Dance 

and the Royal Ballet School. Before joining 

Northern Ballet in 2004 he danced with Cannes 

Jeune Ballet. Toby is from Manchester. 

Julie Charlet First Soloist 

Julie was born in Lille, France and trained at the 

National Conservatory, Rouen and the National 

Superior School, Marseille. She joined Northern 

Ballet in 2003. 

Darren Goldsmith Premier Dancer 

Darren is from Rochford. He trained at the Royal 

Ballet School. He has been performing with 

Northern Ballet since 1993. 

Martha Leebolt Premier Dancer 

Martha is from California and trained at the 

Black Mountain Dance Center and at BalletMet 

Columbus. She joined Northern Ballet in 2001. 

Martha won the 2010 National Dance Award for 

Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) for 

her performance as the Marquise De Merteuil in 

Dangerous Liaisons. 

northernballet.com/sponsoradancer 

Georgina May First Soloist 

Georgina is from Worcestershire and joined 

Northern Ballet in 2004. She trained at the 

Royal Ballet School. 

Pippa Moore Premier Dancer 

Pippa trained at the Hammond School of Dance, 

Chester and the Royal Ballet School. Originally 

from Liverpool, she has danced with Scottish 

Ballet, Wiener Ballet Theatre and The Royal 

Ballet and joined Northern Ballet in 1996. 

Hironao Takahashi Premier Dancer 

Hironao is from Hokkaido, Japan. He trained at 

the Hisatomi Ballet Studio; the Royal Ballet Upper 

School and the Central School of Ballet, London. 

He has performed as a guest of Hisatomi Ballet 

Studio, Cape Town City Ballet, Lausanne Gala in 

Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. He started dancing with 

Northern Ballet in 1992. 

Kenneth Tindall Premier Dancer 

Kenneth was born in Dundee. He trained at 

the Central School of Ballet in London and has 

performed with The Israel Ballet and K Ballet 

and as a guest artist at the XIII International 

Ballet Festival of Miami. He started dancing with 


Javier Torres Premier Dancer 

From Cuba, Javier trained at the National School 

of Ballet, Havana, and has performed with 

Ballet Nacional de Cuba. 

29

The Dancers 

Soloists & Coryphée 

30 

Martin Bell Soloist 

Martin joined Northern Ballet in 2003. He 

trained at the Central School of Ballet in London 

and performed with their company Ballet 

Central. Martin is from London. 

Ashley Dixon Soloist 

Ashley is from Hull and trained at the Central 

School of Ballet. He joined Northern Ballet in 

2004. 

Christie Duncan Coryphée 

Christie, from Portsmouth, joined Northern 

Ballet in 2004 having trained at the Royal Ballet 

Lower School and the Central School of Ballet. 

Lori Gilchrist Coryphée 

Lori is from Bradford, West Yorkshire. She 

joined Northern Ballet in 2004 having 

completed her training at the Northern Ballet 

School in Manchester. 

John Hull Soloist 

John is from Sydney, Australia. He joined 

Northern Ballet in 2003. He was trained at Ecole 

Ballet Studios and the English National Ballet 

School. 


Ayana Kanda Soloist 

Ayana, from Tokyo, trained at Kishibe Mitsuyo 

Ballet School and the Central School of Ballet. 

She joined Northern Ballet in 2003. 

Sebastian Loe Coryphée 

Sebastian was born in London and trained at 

the Royal Ballet School. He joined Northern 

Ballet in 2004. 

Michela Paolacci Soloist 

Michela joined the Company in 2003. Originally 

from Rome, she trained at Centro Danza La 

Sylphide, Rome; Royal Ballet Lower School; 

National Ballet Academy of Rome; Centro Studi 

Danza Laura Morandini and English National 

Ballet School. 

Victoria Sibson Soloist 

Victoria joined Northern Ballet in 2003. Born in 

Leicestershire she trained as a Northern Ballet 

Associate before taking up full-time training at 

the Central School of Ballet. She has previously 

performed with Ballet Central. 

Yi Song Soloist 

Yi was born in Qing Dao, China and trained 

at the Beijing Dance Institute. He performed 

with Singapore Dance Theatre before joining 

Northern Ballet in 2005.

The Dancers 

Dancers 

Thomas Aragones 

Thomas is from Toulouse, France and joined 

Northern Ballet in 2008. He trained at the 

Centre des Arts et de la Danse and Terpsi 

Danse (Toulouse, France). He has previously 

performed with English National Ballet, 

Bordeaux Opera Ballet and with Ballet David 

Campos, Spain. 

Josh Barwick 

Josh is from Leeds where he trained as a 

Northern Ballet Associate. He went on to train 

at Elmhurst School for Dance. Josh joined 


Dreda Blow 

Dreda joined Northern Ballet in 2007. Born in 

Toronto, Canada, she trained at the National 

Ballet School of Canada and later at the Royal 

Conservatory, The Hague. Previous companies 

include Het Nationale Ballet, Amsterdam. 

Matthew Broadbent 

Matthew was born in Zevenaar in the 

Netherlands. He trained at the Royal Ballet 

School (Lower and Upper). Matthew joined 

Northern Ballet in 2010 


Antoinette Brooks-Daw 

Antoinette joined Northern Ballet in 2008. 

She trained at The Trull School of Dancing 

in Taunton and was a Junior Associate of the 

Royal Ballet School before joining the Royal 

Ballet Lower School and then the Royal Ballet 

Upper School. 

Giuliano Contadini 

Giuliano is from Rimini in Italy. He joined 

Northern Ballet in 2007. He previously danced 

for Ballet Ireland and English National Ballet. 

Jeremy Curnier 

Jeremy is from Surrey and joined Northern 

Ballet in 2009. He trained at the Patricia Ellis 

School of Dance and the Royal Ballet School, 

Lower and Upper Schools. 

Isabella Gasparini 

Isabella is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She joined 

Northern Ballet in 2007 having trained at 

Canada’s National Ballet School, Ballet Marcia 

Lags and BTK, Brazil. 

31

The Dancers 

Dancers 

Apprentices 

Read full biographies at northernballet.com 

Biography photos Justin Slee 

32 

Nicola Gervasi 

Nicola is from Todi in Italy where he trained 

before joining English National Ballet School. 

He joined Northern Ballet having previously 

performed with Peter Schaufuss Balletten. 

Nicola joined Northern Ballet in 2010. 

Rachael Gillespie 

Rachael is from Swindon and joined Northern 

Ballet in 2008. She trained with the Judith 

Hockaday School and later the Central School of 

Ballet. Her previous companies include Scottish 

Ballet and Ballet Central. 

Graham Kotowich 

Graham is from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. 

He joined Northern Ballet in 2008 having 

trained at the Conservatory for the Performing 

Arts, the University of Regina, the Royal Ballet 

School and the National Ballet School of 

Canada. 

Toni-Michelle Dent 

Toni-Michelle joins the Company this year 

having previously danced with Ballet Central 

and as a swan in Northern Ballet’s Swan Lake. 

Abigail Prudames 

Abigail is from Harrogate in North Yorkshire and 

joins Northern Ballet in 2011. She trained at the 

Royal Ballet Lower School and Elmhurst School 

for Dance (upper school). 

Benjamin Mitchell 

Benjamin was born in Germany and trained at 

the Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst School for 

Dance. He joined Northern Ballet in 2008. 

Jessica Morgan 

Jessica is from Newcastle, Australia and joined 

Northern Ballet in 2008. She trained at the 

Marie Walton Mahon Dance Academy and 

Elmhurst School for Dance. 

Teresa Saavedra Bordes 

Teresa is from Spain where she trained before 

heading to the Royal Ballet Upper School. She 

previously worked with Birmingham Royal 

Ballet on Cinderella. 

northernballet.com/sponsoradancer

Ballet Staff 

Daniel De Andrade 

Ballet Master 

Daniel joined the Northern Ballet in 

1995 as a Principal Dancer. He became 

Ballet Master in 2003. 

Born Brazil. 

Trained Musika Centro de Estudos, 

Hammond School of Dancing. 

Previous Companies National Ballet of 

Portugal, London City Ballet, Zurich 

Ballet, Scottish Ballet. 

Favourite Roles Heathcliff in Wuthering 

Heights, Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, the 

Count in Dracula and Basilio in Don 

Quixote. 

Career Highlights Creating the role of 

José in Carmen. 

Guest Performances Three 

commemorative galas in Brazil to 

celebrate the Royal Academy of Dance’s 

75th Anniversary. 

Guest Teaching Worked with the 

Brazilian Deborah Colker Dance 

Company during their 2006 and2010 

UK tours, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Bern 

Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance and 

Central School of Ballet among others. 

Choreography Regular participant 

of the Zurich Ballet Choreographers’ 

workshops; organiser of the 1994 

Dancers’ Choreographic workshop for 

Scottish Ballet; in 2009 choreographed 

the fight scenes for David Nixon’s The 

Three Musketeers for the Estonian 

Ballet. For Northern Ballet he has 

choreographed Glass Canon for the 

2010 mixed program, Danzando Felini 

for the UK/Italy Trades award ceremony 

in Milan in January 2011 and Untainted 

Parallel for the choreographic 

showcase in June 2011. In August 2011 

he also choreographed Simply Playful 

for the Woking Initiate Festival. 

Daniel has been awarded the 

Dance Fellowship on the Clore 

Leadership Programme of 2011/12. 

Personal Daniel lives in Cleveland 

with his wife Pamela and their five 

children Dale, Lewis, Kieran, Ellise 

and Madeline. 

Yoko Ichino 

Ballet Mistress & 

Academy Associate Director 

Born Los Angeles. 

Trained Trained with Mia Slavenska in 

Los Angeles. 

Previous Companies American Ballet 

Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, 

Stuttgart Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. 

Guest Performances Joffrey Ballet, 

Tokyo Ballet, Ballet de Monte Carlo, 

Australian Ballet, Sydney Ballet, Royal 

New Zealand Ballet, the Deutsche Oper 

Ballet, Berlin, Bayerishes Staats Oper 

Ballet, Munich and Birmingham Royal 


Career Highlights Becoming the first 

American trained, and American 

woman, to win a medal at the 

prestigious Third International Ballet 

Competition in Moscow in 1977; 

dancing opposite such artists as Rudolf 

Nureyev, Helgi Tomasson, Anthony 

Dowell and Fernando Bujones. 

Personal Yoko is married to Artistic 

Director David Nixon. She was Director 

of the Professional Training Programme 

at BalletMet (1996 – 2001), has been 

invited to be a guest teacher in schools 

and companies around the world and is 

delighted to be working with Northern 

Ballet whilst continuing her successful 

international teaching career. 

Charlotte Talbot 

Guest Ballet Mistress 

Charlotte is a former Northern Ballet 

Principal Artist who originally joined the 

Company in 1992 under the direction 

of Christopher Gable. She created title 

roles in many of Northern Ballet’s ballets 

including: Estella in Stefano Giannetti’s 

Great Expectations; Lucille in Massimo 

Morricone’s Jekyll & Hyde; Blanche 

DuBois in Diddy Veldman’s A Streetcar 

Named Desire and Cathy in David 

Nixon’s Wuthering Heights. 

David Paul Kierce 

Guest Teacher 

Raymond Smith 

Guest Teacher 

Chris Hampson 

Guest Teacher 

33

Board and Staff 

Artistic 

Artistic Director 


Ballet Master 

Daniel De Andrade 

Ballet Mistress 

Yoko Ichino 

Guest Ballet Mistress 

Charlotte Talbot 

Guest Teachers 

Chris Hampson 

David Paul Kierce 

Raymond Smith 

Dramatic Associate 

Patricia Doyle 

Business 

Chief Executive 

Mark Skipper DL 

Finance Director 

Judith Hartley 

Business Development 

Manager 

Alison Murfin 

Operations Manager 

Shaun Daniels 

Finance Manager 

Joanne Gomersall 

Finance Officer 

Kath Holliday 

PA To The Directors 

Diane Tabern 

Caretakers 

Robert Cordingley (Senior) 

Austin Coldwell 

Communications 

Director of Communications 

Laraine Penson 

Head of Communications 

Ruth Burke-Kennedy 

Communications Manager: 

Marketing 

Emma Mooney 


Media & PR 

Catherine Mullaney 

(maternity leave) 

Communications Officer: 

Media & PR 

Kathy Burke (maternity cover) 


Web & Social Media 

Phill Garnett 

Communications Officer: 

Marketing 

Rachel Poole 

Communications Assistant 

Eloise Williamson 

34 

Receptionists 

Aled Roberts 

Karen Dixon 

Carol McCarthy 

Fiona Heseltine 

Rosita De Souza 

Eloise Williamson 

Fundraising 

Director of Fundraising 

Jon Ingham 

Corporate Fundraising 

Manager 

Janet Myers 

Friends & Events Manager 

Judith Baker 

Individual Giving Manager 

Hannah Chapman 

International Tour 

Consultant 

Steve Hughes 

IT Director 

Neil Jarman 

Learning 

Director of Learning 

Selina McGonagle 

Project Manager 

Jo Dean 

Dance Education Officer 

Sophie Alder (maternity leave) 

Medical 

Physiotherapy Services 

Sport & Spinal 

Physiotherapy Ltd, Leeds 

Liz Atha 

Adam Rowland 

Company Doctor 

Dr Sarah L Lawton 

MA (Cantab), MBB, CHIR. DRCOG 

Company Counsellor 

Lynne Jackson 

Company Masseur 

Harriet Morgan 

Music 

Music Director 

John Pryce-Jones 

Guest Conductor 

Vassilis Tsiatsianis 

Orchestra & 

Concerts Manager 

Barry Collarbone 

Company/Orchestra Pianist 

Grant Green 

Orchestra Pit Manager 

Steve Costello 


Academy 

Director 

David Nixon 

Associate Director 

Yoko Ichino 

Deputy Associate Director 

Viki Westall 

Academy Manager 

Hannah Kirkpatrick 

Academy Co-0rdinator 

Faye Cardwell 

Academy Assistant 

Emma Rodriguez Saona 

Full-time Academy Teachers 

Simon Kidd 

Cara O’Shea 

Academy Pianists 

Richard Kenwood-Herriott 

David Plumpton 

Northern Ballet Café 

Café Manager 

Sarah Hick 

Café Staff 

Sophie Bond 

Jonathan Faull 

Nicole Iveson 

Ben Preston 

Peter Riley 

Hannah Robbens 

Sarah Shaw 

Stage Management 

Company Stage Manager 

Lily Amy 

Deputy Stage Managers 

Chun-Yen Chia 

Brianna Bourne 

Assistant Stage Manager 

Heidi Thornton 

Technical 

Technical Director 

Andy Waddington 

Technical Manager 

Steve Wilkins 

Chief Electrician 

Alastair West 

Deputy Chief Electrician 

Martin Smith 

Assistant Electricians 

Laura Sprake 

Abigail Wilkins (maternity leave) 

Brendan Gage (maternity cover) 

Deputy Chief Stage 

Technician 

Sid Taylor 

Flyman/Rigger 

Joe Strange 

Stage Technician 

James Mustow 

Transport 

Stagefreight 

Wardrobe & Wigs 

Head of Wardrobe 


Touring Wardrobe Manager 

Mikhaila Pye 

Deputy Touring 

Wardrobe Manager 

Jessica Wood (Acting) 

Wardrobe Assistant 

Freya Crowley-Bennett 

Wigs Manager 

Helen Russell 

Board Of Directors 

Dr Jo Butterworth 

David Forbes (Chair) 

Alan Harrison (Vice Chair) 

Denise Jagger (Vice Chair) 

Cath Lennon 

Councillor John Procter 

Maxine Room 

Terry Smith 

Phil Swallow 

Victoria Tomlinson 

Veronica Wadley 

Honorary President 

Councillor Bernard Atha CBE 

Senior Vice Presidents 

Sir John Manduell CBE 

Gurth Hoyer Millar 

Sir Simon Towneley KVCO JP 

Vice Presidents 

Tim Collins 

Judith Donovan CBE 

David Heal 

Malcolm Oliver 

Juliet Jowitt 

Jon Hammond 

Observers 

Matthew Sims, Leeds CC 

Councillor June Drysdale, 

West Yorkshire Grants 

Assessors 

Pam Johnson, Arts Council 

England, Yorkshire

Northern Ballet Spring Tour 

2012 

Mixed Programme 

Thu 9 – Sat 18 Feb 

Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, 


0113 220 8008 

Madame Butterfly 

Wed 29 Feb – Sat 10 Mar 

Leeds Grand Theatre 

0844 848 2701 

Beauty & the Beast 

Thu 15 – Sat 17 Mar 

Edinburgh Festival Theatre 

0131 529 6000 

Tue 20 – Sat 24 Mar 

Sheffield Lyceum Theatre 

0114 249 6000 

Tue 27 – Sat 31 Mar 

Hull New Theatre 

01482 300 300 

Tue 17 – Sat 21 Apr 

Milton Keynes Theatre 

0844 871 7652 

Tue 24 – Sat 28 Apr 

Cardiff New Theatre 

029 2087 8889 

I Got Rhythm 

Wed 23 – Sat 26 May 

Leeds Grand Theatre 

0844 848 2701 

Tue 29 May – Sat 2 June 

Norwich Theatre Royal 

01603 630 000 

These dates may be subject to change. 

northernballet.com 

Registered charity no 259140. Company registration no 947096. 

VAT no 146630766. 

Northern Ballet Theatre Ltd trading as Northern Ballet. 

Registered in England and Wales. Company limited by guarantee and share capital. 

The information contained in this programme is correct at the time of printing. 

Northern Ballet reserves the right to make alterations where necessary without prior notice. 

Design Design IT. Print Axis. 

Martha Leebolt as Beauty and Ashley Dixon as the Beast Photo Jason Tozer.

Download the Beauty & the Beast programme as - Northern Ballet

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?