In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the very popular Yorkshire Ballet Seminars (previously known as Yorkshire Ballet Summer School), a group of privileged guests were invited on Bank Holiday Monday to watch a pop-up masterclass at the Royal Opera House. The class of around 37 students was led by former principal and now coach at the Royal Ballet, Zenaida Yanowski. Students were aged 14-19 years old and from a mixed background ranging from those studying full time at the Royal Ballet School to those attending after-school classes perhaps once or twice a week. Whatever their ability they were united in their love of dance and the fabulous opportunity to experience an inspirational class at a world-famous venue. Previous pop-ups have been held in Birmingham and Leeds but this was the first such class held in London and the hope is to be able to run similar events all around the country.
Whilst these pop-up classes are open to all, the residential week-long Yorkshire Ballet Summer and Easter Schools are offered to selected students only and previous attendees have included well-known current lead dancers Matthew Ball, Brandon Lawrence, Reece Clark, Laurretta Summerscales and Xander Parish.
Following the class, a reception was hosted by the Director of YBS Cira Robinson (previously from Ballet Black) and Sean Flanagan, the Course Coordinator and Social Media Manager (pictured).
The London Ballet Circle is proud to have had a long and happy association with the YBS, sponsoring two or three places a year, and we send them many congratulations for their anniversary and wish them continued success in the future.