History
1999
- Present
In May 1999 Stefano Giannetti became
NBT's fourth Artistic Director. His dance career had seen
him create and perform principal roles for English National
Ballet and Deutsche Oper where he honed his skill as a choreographer
in ballet and opera productions.
His first ballet for NBT was a well
received adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations,
directed and choreographed by Giannetti himself which premiered
in the company's home city of Leeds in February 2000. Giannetti
was with the company for just a year. He left in May 2000
to pursue other international choreographic interests.
NBT's new Artistic Director David Nixon,
joined the company in August 2001. Over the following months
he revitalised the company's training programme and set about
adding a variety of challenging works to the repertoire.
In February 2002 he presented his revised
version of Madame Butterfly; poignant and dramatic it was
a triumph in London and on its UK premiere tour.
In May 2002 David Nixon gave the dancers
the opportunity to 'let loose' in the UK premiere of his tribute
to the music of George and Ira Gershwin, I Got Rhythm - the
genius of Gershwin in song and dance. Another audience hit
that had the added excitement of guest singers and and the
NBT orchestra appearing 'big-band style' on stage.
David's first complete new work for
NBT, Wuthering Heights was a glorious collaboration with composer
Claude-Michel Schönberg. The production premiered at
the Alhambra Theatre Bradford on 21 Sept 2002 - close to Top
Withins; the dramatic moors that inspired Emily Brontë's
literary masterpiece.
2003 saw Northern Ballet Theatre performing
Birgit Scherzer's Requiem!! and the World Premiere of David's
critically acclaimed A Midsummer Night's Dream, which also
saw the company performing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse
for the first time.
David's plans for the future include
giving UK premieres of international works, in order to highlight
a wealth of emergent choreographic talent. The company will
also continue to create full-length narrative dance, for which
NBT is now renowned throughout the dance world.
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