Ballet Nights: Behind the Scenes

BALLET NIGHTS BEHIND THE SCENES

11TH SEPTEMBER 2025

Jamiel Devernay-Laurence welcomed London Ballet Circle members to the auditorium at Cadogan Hall, to watch class and hear from some of the participants in that evening’s Ballet Nights Bound in Motion. The class was taken by Gavin McCaig, former Junior Soloist with Northern Ballet and Artistic Director of London Vocational Ballet School. Now he is Chief Operating Officer of Fundamentally Dance, the organisation that powers Ballet Nights. The dancers were from several of the groups that would be performing that evening. It was interesting to watch the difference in the dancers at the barre and centre work as some were obviously more classical dancers and other much more used to contemporary work. Gavin led them through a good warm up and finished with a series of combinations incorporating jumps and pirouettes.

Following the class, Jamiel introduced us to Carolyn Rose Ramsay, Ombline Noyer and Donovan Delis-McCarthy from Ballet d’Jèrri. Ballet d’Jèrri was founded in 2022 under the artistic direction of Carolyn, and began rehearsals on 9th January 2023 in the Albert Bartlett potato shed in Jersey. It has since been established as Jersey’s National Ballet, dedicated to creating bold, contemporary dance. Ombline and Donovan are two of the talented artists in the company. Their appearance at Ballet Nights marked the first time the company had been seen on the UK mainland and they were delighted to be performing in London as part of Jamiel’s programme. The dancers and Carolyn stressed what a family atmosphere there is amongst the dancers and artistic team and how receptive the local audience is. They hope to be invited back to London, and the UK in general, so they can share their work. The audience was invited to come to Jersey to enjoy a performance in the newly renovated Jersey Opera House. It was most interesting to hear from them and to learn about a company we know so little about.

Jamiel then thanked LBC members for braving the tube strike and supporting Ballet Nights. He also shared with us a new initiative he will be debuting in December, a series of talks and dance demonstrations by stars of the ballet world. The first guest will be Matthew Ball, Royal Ballet principal. As a thank you for our support, Jamiel promised to make sure LBC was informed as soon as tickets for this event went on sale. This announcement was met with great enthusiasm by the attendees. Jamiel and Gavin look forward to welcoming LBC members back to Cadogan Hall for more class-watches and conversation.

SDE