My Passion With Stuart Barker

Stuart Barker, chief executive and founder of Leeds-based the Agenci, information security experts, on his passion for dance.
Stuart BarkerStuart Barker
Stuart Barker

MY interest in dance started when I spent a year working in London.

I was on secondment and away from friends and family so decided to spend my spare time going to the theatre. I must have seen every single show in London during that year – including ballet and contemporary dance. My passion for dance was ignited by a visit to Sadler’s Wells – the London home of Northern Ballet. I watched Swan Lake performed by the Bolshoi Ballet and it was the most amazing experience.

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When I came back to Yorkshire someone asked me if I would join the board of Yorkshire Dance, which encourages people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to take part in dance. I helped them out with risk assessments, IT policy and security.

We are so fortunate in Yorkshire to have two world renowned companies, Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance, and to have Yorkshire Dance widening access to dance for so many people. Last year’s Cultural Olympiad was a personal highlight when the Overworlds and Underworlds art project took over the streets of Leeds. This collaboration between art, dance and music saw incredible, eerie performances under the railway arches in the city.

I’ve persuaded my fellow directors to support dance as our way of giving back to the local community. We would love to be able to sponsor a dancer through the early years of their career and to encourage local youngsters to be involved in dance.

People are often surprised by my love of dance. I think that they wonder how someone who enjoys sport can possibly be interested in watching ballet. But do they realise how fit dancers have to be? The athleticism of dancers is astonishing.

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I don’t believe an interest in one cultural or sporting activity prevents you from being enthusiastic about another genre. As well as being passionate about ballet, I’m also a pop culture sci-fi geek, from films to graphic novels. I think the idea you can’t mix so-called highbrow interests with more populist ones is a very English viewpoint. In other countries it is the norm to embrace both – look at the way Italians love football and opera.

I believe passionately that dance should not be elitist and unaffordable. When dance is performed well it is emotional and accessible. Yes, there are some elements of contemporary dance that are challenging and I have found one or two performances a bit too obscure!

Dance and ballet can help to enrich lives and that is what Yorkshire Dance has been doing for 30 years. My advice to anyone wanting to experience ballet for the first time is to choose something populist. I thoroughly recommend Northern Ballet’s family performances – their Beauty and the Beast was outstanding.