New English Ballet Theatre Visit
17th October 2022
Today, October 17th, the New English Ballet Theatre generously invited the LBC to watch a class and rehearsal at one of the lovely studio spaces at the Royal Academy of Dance. NEBT has recently moved from Battersea to their new purpose-built premises in nearby York Road, Wandsworth.
The NEBT was founded in 2010 by Karen Pilkington-Miksa as “a creative platform for young professional dancers as they enter full time careers, offering support to the next generation of ballet choreographers, designers and musicians”. Royal Ballet dancers Valentino Zucchetti, Kristen McNally & Matthew Ball are amongst budding new choreographers who have created works for the company of 12 dancers who perform in London and around the country.
The class was led by NEBT’s assistant director Daniela Cardim expertly accompanied on the piano by Tim Roberts. These dancers gave a good demonstration to us of how much hard work is required to achieve a seemingly effortless performance on stage. We were all sitting up a little straighter by the end.
After a short break, which included a quick tour of the new building, we were treated to a rehearsal led by ballet mistress Mariana Gomez of The Four Seasons, danced to Max Richter’s re-working of Vivaldi’s score. This work by Jenna Lee is well-established in the repertoire of the NEBT but new to this group of dancers who receive contracts with the company for one or perhaps two years. With one member injured and another off-sick Mariana asked us to be mindful of ‘gaps’ in the dance but this only highlighted to us some of the challenges a small company can face and showed how versatile these gifted young dancers must be.
The morning gave great insight into the working of a relatively young company and a tantalising glimpse of what promises to be a very exciting run of performances at the RAD’s Aud Jebsen Studio Theatre next month.
Written by Krissie Poyser
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