Tag Archives: Northern Ballet

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Director: David Nixon Reviewer: Dawn Smallwood To mark the festive season of shows at the Leeds Grand Theatre, Northern Ballet brings its much loved The Nutcracker. This 2007 version has been especially refreshed for one to appreciate and love this classical ballet even more. It certainly has a modern feel but does not compromise at all the classical elements ...

Director & Choreographer: David Nixon OBE Scenario: David Drew MBE Music: Sir Malcolm Arnold Reviewer: Beverley Haigh The Three Musketeers is the latest storytelling ballet in Northern Ballet’s repertoire. Having recently deviated from this winning formula to bring a successful contemporary Mixed Programme, they are now back to doing what they are renowned for and do so well. Originally conceived ...

Artistic Director: David Nixon OBE Choreography: Morgann Runacre-Temple, Mlindi Kulashe, Kenneth Tindall Reviewer: Beverley Haigh Northern Ballet’s latest Mixed Programme deviates from their usual signature character ballets, which are largely narrative based. Showcasing new work from three emerging choreographers, instead, the programme focuses on more abstract themes and allows scope for innovative and explorative work to come through, highlighting the ...

Choreography: Cathy Marston Reviewer: Peter Jacobs Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre is a game-changing work of literature, introducing character-based internalisation of the action previously largely the domain of poetry, and creating faction that explored social realism and critique, sexuality, religion and proto-feminism. It was a novel that redefined the possibilities of fiction in a way that makes it still relevant ...

Choreographer: Cathy Marston Composer: Philip Feeney Designer: Patrick Kinmouth Lighting Designer: Alastair West Reviewer: Leah Tozer Balancing Brontë and ballet is brave: poised between prose and pas, pathetic fallacy and precise footwork, narrative voice and choreographic action, Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre is a bildungsroman of a ballet that’s as brave, and beautiful, as Brontë’s novel. Following the ‘poor, obscure, plain ...

Director and choreographer: David Nixon Music: Sally Beamish Reviewer: Maggie Constable At Milton Keynes theatre this week Northern Ballet follows last year’s wonderful Casanova with yet another superb production: The Little Mermaid. This is a re-working of the famous and much-loved Hans Christian Andersen classic. However, this is no Disney story but a very poignant one, much more akin to the original tale. ...

Music: Frank Martin, Dmitri Shostakovich, Francis J.M. Poulenc Producer: Antony Dowson Reviewer: Dawn Smallwood To celebrate the late Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Northern Ballet presents a triple bill of his works, Las Hermanas, Concerto and Gloria this season. The audience has an opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary choreographer whose works continues to inspire many today. The programme opens with ...

Writer: Hans Christian Anderson Director, Choreographer & Costume Designer: David Nixon Composer: Sally Beamish Reviewer: Holly Spanner Originally published in 1837, the Hans Christian Anderson fairy story has been adapted on countless occasions for film, television, print and theatre over its 180-year history. The most famous of these, of course, being the Disney 1989 animated movie. David Nixon’s version with ...