|
|
History
1969 - 1976
Northern Dance Theatre, the name by
which the company was originally known, was founded in 1969
by Canadian born Laverne Meyer; a dramatic dancer whose formative
years were spent with Bristol based, Western Theatre Ballet,
the first ever British dance company to be based outside London.
Following a feasibility study funded
by the Arts Council and carried out by Laverne Meyer in 1968,
Meyer, backed by the Arts Council, North West Arts and other
supporters, gathered together a new company of dancers; on
the 28 November 1969 Northern Dance Theatre gave their first
performance at the University Theatre, Manchester, accompanied
by musicians of the Royal Northern College of Music
There were eleven dancers in this first
company and the emphasis was on small scale classical and
modern works, suiting both the size of the company and the
venues in which they performed. Northern Dance Theatre survived
these early years on sheer determination, hard work and inventiveness,
building itself a strong identity and a loyal audience in
the North.
|
|
