Setting the barre high

Most dance companies would be content to have one full-length world premiere in a year. Not Northern Ballet.

By the end of 2017, it will have notched up three firsts, including a brand new production based on everyone’s favourite lover, Casanova which opens in Leeds next month.

“It happened quite by accident,” says artistic director David Nixon. “We were already committed to Casanova and to satisfy our Arts Council funding we also had to stage another new work to take to what we call our mid-scale venues. We could have done a shorter work, but these theatres are really important to us and so it felt right that we do another full-length production.”

And so The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was added to the already busy rehearsal schedule.

Based on John Boyne’s bestselling novel of friendship in a Second World War concentration camp it will open at Cast in Doncaster in May, but that still left the problem of what to do for the company’s next Christmas show.

For most theatre and dance companies, festive shows are 
where the big money is and Nixon admits that choosing the right 
ballet for Christmas is not an easy task.

“There are lots of productions which are perfect for adults and lots which speak to children.

“The trick is getting one that crosses over those age groups,” says Nixon. “The more we thought about it, the more we realised that we should start from scratch. Audiences want to see something new, so this year it will be The Little Mermaid.

“Also I haven’t done a new work for a little while, so it will be really lovely to work on a brand new piece. I’ll confess now that I haven’t ever seen the Disney version, but the story I think is a really powerful 
one and it’s always a privilege to 
be at the helm of the Christmas show.”

Before Nixon can get back in to the rehearsal studios, Kenneth Tindall is in there developing Casanova.

A former principal dancer 
with Northern Ballet, Tindall 
is fast emerging as one of the country’s most exciting choreographers and was most recently nominated for Best Classical Choreography and the Emerging Artist Award at the 
2015 National Dance Awards, and admits that the story of Giacomo Casanova is a dream for any 
dancer.

“If you say the name Casanova, everyone will go, ‘Oh yes, the world’s greatest lover’, but ask them what else they know about him and 
they will struggle. I was probably the same, but there is so much more to him than a massive sexual appetite.

“He was at one time a priest, he was an accomplished violinist, he translated The Iliad and spoke seven languages. Casanova is a really complex character and the more you read about him, the more you realise just what a man he really was. His life story is so rich that we couldn’t hope to tell every aspect of it, in fact the difficult was what to leave out.”

Tindall has been working closely with Ian Kelly, whose 2008 biography of Casanova has become something of a bible.

“As well as being an author, Ian is also an actor, which means he really understands the demands of the stage,” says Tindall.

“I spent a week working with him to pin down the story we wanted to tell and he has also spent sometime at rehearsals. It’s been a great collaboration and I know that if I ever need to check any facts, Ian is right there. He’s been the one to say, ‘Well, no actually that wouldn’t have happened, but you know what this other character would have been there at that particular point, so you could do this instead’. Dance can’t tell the minutiae of any story, but what I hope is that we are true to the spirit of Casanova’s life.”

Judging by the bare-chested publicity shots which ooze 18th century opulence and decadence, Tindall looks as though he has hit the right note.