English National Ballet
| English National Ballet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General Information | |
| Name | English National Ballet |
| Previous Names | The Festival Ballet London Festival Ballet |
| Year Founded | 1950 |
| Founders | Dame Alicia Markova Sir Anton Dolin |
| Patron | HRH The Duke of York |
| Location | Markova House 39 Jay Mews London England SW7 2ES  UK |
| Website | http://www.ballet.org.uk |
| Senior Staff | |
| Director | Craig Hassall |
| Artistic Director | Wayne Eagling |
| Musical Director | Gavin Sutherland |
| Repetiteurs | Antony Dowson Maina Gielgud Yuri Uchiumi Kerry West Rosalyn Whitten |
| Other | |
| Associate School | English National Ballet School |
| Formation | Senior Principal Principal First Soloist Soloist First Artist Artist |
| Click here for the Ballet Portal | |
The English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. One of three major ballet companies in Great Britain, English National Ballet is one of the foremost touring companies in Europe, performing in theatres throughout the UK as well as conducting international tours and performing at special events. The company employs approximately 65 dancers and a symphony orchestra, and there is also an associate school, the English National Ballet School, which is independent from the ballet company. The company regularly performs seasons at the London Coliseum and has been noted for specially staged performances at the Royal Albert Hall, the Concert for Diana and for producing a new ballet based on the animated TV character Angelina Ballerina. The Patron of English National Ballet is HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York.
History
The English National Ballet was originally founded in 1950 by the renowned British dance couple, Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin.
Markova and Dolin were leading stars of the Ballets Russes, one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century. After the death of its director Serge Diaghilev in 1929, the company was disbanded and in 1931, one of its dancers, Ninette de Valois, founded the Vic-Wells Ballet company in London, with Markova and Dolin as Principal dancers, Markova becoming Prima Ballerina in 1933. Markova and Dolin left the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1935 to tour as the Markova-Dolin company and following the success of their performances, they decided to form their own company with the sole purpose being to tour both nationally and internationally, taking ballet to audiences that had not had the opportunity to see the art form.
The London Festival Ballet was founded in 1950 with the financial backing of the Polish impresario Julian Braunsweg. The name was inspired by the then imminent Festival of Britain, however the company would later be renamed to today's English National Ballet. Dolin was the company's first Artistic Director and established the company as a touring group both nationally in the UK and Internationally, touring abroad for the first time in 1951. Dolin also introduced a number of educational programs in the early years, deigned to make ballet accessible to new audiences. Dolin remained as artistic director until 1962, succeeded by John Gilpin, who was also principal dancer with the company from 1950 to 1960 and 1962 to 1971. The company grew in size and status, undertaking extensive national and international tours, presenting a new generation of dancers—all while repeatedly facing bankruptcy. Braunsweg left in 1965 and Donald Albery took over until 1968, stabilising the budget with safer programming. Former Royal Ballet dancer Beryl Grey directed the company (now named the London Festival Ballet) from 1968 to 1979, raising technical standards, touring widely and inviting prominent guest stars and choreographers including Leonide Massine and Rudolf Nureyev, who picked ballerina Eva Evdokimova to be his first Princess Aurora in his production of The Sleeping Beauty in 1975. Evdokimova in turn became the prima ballerina of the company under Grey's leadership and continued to reign under successive directors John Field and Peter Schaufuss.
It was Evdokimova who suggested to change the name to English National Ballet to reflect the company's role as Britain's only classical ballet company dedicated to touring ballets nationwide at an affordable price for audiences. The name change was implemented in 1989.
Ivan Nagy (until 1993), Derek Deane (until 2001) and Matz Skoog (until 2006) directed the company before Wayne Eagling, former head of Dutch National Ballet, took over in 2006.
Notable People
Artistic Directors:
Dancers
Principal Dancers
First Soloists
Soloists
First Artists
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Artists
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Simone Clarke
In 2006/7, English National Ballet was the focus of the British media after The Guardian newspaper reported on 21 December 2006 that Principal dancer Simone Clarke was a member of the far-right British National Party. Following the report, a number of other stories appeared in the press and on television and Clarke became known as the "BNP Ballerina".
The British National Party is a minor, but legitimate political party in the United Kingdom that is widely criticised for its apparently extremist and racist policies. Clarke admitted being a member of the BNP, stating that her reason was to oppose mass immigration in Britain. She voiced her belief that the BNP was the only political party willing to take a stand against immigration, stating that she would continue to be a member of the party. Following a number of stories in the press and a protest at the Coliseum by anti-racism protesters, Clarke refused to comment further on the issue and English National Ballet denied calls to terminate her employment, releasing the following statement:
- "English National Ballet does not comment on political affiliations of any of its employees nor any other aspects of their personal lives. Any personal view expressed by one of our employees should not be considered as endorsed by the company. English National Ballet is an equal opportunities employer and prides itself in the ethnic diversity of all its employees."
Clarke has a daughter with her former partner Yat-Sen Chang, who is currently a Principal with English National Ballet and is of Chinese-Cuban origin. She retired from professional dance in 2007 and opened her own school.
See also
References
External links
- Official website
- Agony & Ecstasy : A Year With English National Ballet. Ballet News. March 10, 2011
- Postings
- Strictly Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall
- Youtube: English Ballet Company: Swan Lake
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_National_Ballet
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