Northern Ballet announces details of 50th Anniversary Celebration Gala at Leeds Grand Theatre

Revealed today - exactly half a century since its first official performance - the gala will be held at Leeds Grand Theatre for one night only on Saturday January 4 2020.

-> As Northern Ballet celebrates its 50th anniversary we look at the success of this ground-breaking dance companyThe event will feature some of dance’s leading companies unite to celebrate the organisation's journey.

Performances of excerpts from Leeds-based Northern Ballet’s repertoire and works connected to the company’s history - and some which have not been performed by its casts in decades.

These include excerpts from Didy Veldman’s Carmen, Michael Pink’s Dracula and Massimo Moricone’s Romeo & Juliet.

The gala will also feature excerpts from some of the Company’s more recent popular productions including David Nixon OBE’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Kenneth Tindall’s Casanova.

Northern Ballet alumni, including former Premier Dancers Martha Leebolt and Tobias Batley, will also return to the company to perform as part of the celebration.

-> The Leeds Northern Ballet dancer and choreographer who grew up surrounded by poverty in South AfricaMr Nixon, artistic director, said: "Our gala is a focal point for our anniversary celebrations.

"It is a moment for us to honour and celebrate Northern Ballet’s 50-year story so far; the productions, the people and the milestones that have been achieved.

"I wish to thank our guests for joining us from as far afield as Chicago and I am looking forward to presenting a truly one-off evening of performance which includes some works which only our longest-standing supporters will have seen before."

The company, whose headquarters are at Quarry Hill, will be joined by dancers from the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Central School of Ballet.

Performances by the guest companies include the Royal Ballet’s Lauren Cuthbertson and Ryoichi Hirano in Jonathan Watkins’ 1984, English National Ballet’s Tamara Rojo CBE with Jeremy Kerridge in Gillian Lynne’s A Simple Man and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Momoko Hirata and César Morales in Mr Nixon's Madame Butterfly.

Tickets for the gala are on sale now and "selling fast".

To book visit leedsgrandtheatre.com or call the Box Office on 0844 848 2700.