Behind the Scenes

Most Tuesday afternoons the technical team run through the whole show in a ‘technical rehearsal’, making sure everything works perfectly before the first performance of the week – normally a Tuesday evening. At each venue Northern Ballet Theatre’s technical staff are assisted by the theatre’s own ‘casual staff’ who are hired, as required, to help backstage with moving scenery, dressing the dancers and operating equipment to assist the smooth-running of the show. Northern Ballet Theatre’s Company Manager, John Duncan, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company on tour; dealing with finances, administration as well as personnel and dancer welfare. He also heads the stage-management team, who are responsible for running the shows; giving queues during the show to action light, sound and scene changes, as well as being responsible for props and scenery being in the right place at the right time. During the day they also assist with setting up class for the dancers, and assist the ballet staff during rehearsals.

The company would normally give five evening performances and two matinee performances each week. After the last performance on a Saturday evening the whole show is dismantled and packed onto trailers, ready for the journey to the next venue – this process is called the ‘get-out’ and continues into the early hours of the Sunday morning. The whole process then starts all over again.

Northern Ballet Theatre’s latest production, Swan Lake has over 1,000 costume items.

Northern Ballet Theatre ‘s LX (electrics) trailer carries around 30 tonnes of `equipment including approx 250 lights and 4km of cable, lighting desk, special effects, video equipment and sound system.

For a more in depth look at how different departments are runn keep checking back here, also if you'd like to see how something is done behind the scenes, why not request it by sending us an email? click here to email our online team.