AT TRING PARK SCHOOL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

12^th-16^th AUGUST 2013 

THE YEAR OF THE ANIMALS 

Create an exciting theatrical dance piece in five days

An innovative, five day creative course with NYB, culminating in a free performance to parents and friends at the Markova Theatre, Tring Park School for the Performing Arts on Friday 16^th August at 4p.m.

Course Fee £185

Boys and Girls, aged 7-15 years, of all abilities are welcome to apply.  There is no audition process, although some previous ballet, dance or drama experience is necessary to attend this course.

Registration

9:30 a.m. Monday 12^th August 2013

Duration

Daily 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Practice dancewear or a suitable alternative should be worn.

 Course:

• Dance and Drama Classes
• Rehearsals with NYB Choreographer Claire Sibley
• Create an Exciting New Outreach Work for Younger Dancers with Specially Composed Music by Jane Tucker (of Children’s ITV)
• Watch the National Youth Ballet Company in Rehearsal for their Exciting 2013 Season

Please bring your own packed lunch and refreshments for each day.  We would advise early registration as numbers are limited.

All teachers and NYB staff are specialists in their field and CRB checked.

Parents should complete the application form below and send to:

NYB Outreach Summer Course, The Old Dairy, Wintersell Farm, Dwelly Lane, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6QD together with a cheque for £185 made out to National Youth Ballet.

The National Youth Ballet of Great Britain is proud to announce its involvement
in the Coronation Festival in July!

The NYB is set to entertain visitors at the Coronation Festival, with performances from a variety of its ballet productions, which will take place throughout the Gardens of Buckingham Palace. This unique event which runs from the 11th – 14th July 2013, brings together over 200 companies awarded the prestigious Royal Warrant of Appointment in a celebration of innovation, excellence and industry, in the 60th anniversary year of the Queen’s Coronation.

NYB’s founder, Jill Tookey, who was awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004, has been invited by Media 10 Ltd, the Coronation Festival organisers, to create a series of performances for the four day Coronation Festival, as part of the day-time entertainment programme of this unique event.
Thirty teenagers between the ages of eight to 18 will bring to life some of the nation’s best loved characters in a varied and enchanting programme of contemporary ballet and dance to entertain guests as part of the Festival experience. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in childhood tales and see their favourite characters perform around the Gardens, creating a magical atmosphere.

They will see Alice in Wonderland chase the White Rabbit, race the DoDo Bird and beat the Queen of Hearts in scenes performed from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with music by Joseph Horovit; They can also follow Ratty, Mole and the jovial Toad on their journey of friendship and the battle of Toad Hall, in the performance of ‘Toad’ (based on Wind in the Willows), with music by John Lanchbery. Both will be featured and choreographed by Wayne Sleep.

The showcase in and around the gardens will also feature excerpts from ‘The Alice Polka’ (From the NYB Ballet ‘The Dolls’ House Fantasia) choreographed by Anna Meadmore, a piece originally commissioned by Queen Victoria to celebrate her daughter Alice’s 6th birthday which originally premiered at Buckingham Palace; as well as the Pas de Deux from The Old Man of Lochnagar, a piece choreographed by Drew McOnie and inspired by the children’s book by HRH The Prince of Wales.

Classical dancers will also feature as swans from Swan Lake with Ella Mun-Gavin, an 18 year old NYB dance student, who will portray the dramatic Black Swan as part of the fashion catwalk collection of ‘Diamond’s and Pearls’, which is being curated and produced by Lindsey Hunt. The catwalk will see a further four themes, and five daily fashion shows collectively paying tribute to the six varied decades since the Coronation of HM The Queen in 1953.

“The National Youth Ballet of Great Britain is honoured and thrilled to have been invited to perform at the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace. All of the NYB performers are over the moon to be involved in this historic occasion. To dance in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace is a fairy tale come true and an experience that they will remember all their lives.” Jill Tookey.

In addition to the NYB entertainment, visitors to the Coronation Festival will also be able to explore the Gardens and Exhibitor marquees with an array of shopping and sampling opportunities. A range of traditional crafts and small local producers to multi-national companies will showcase their products and services at the Festival which will be split in to four dedicated areas: Food & Drink, including live cooking demonstrations, Design & Technology, Homes & Gardens and Style, Pursuits & Pastimes.

The National Youth Ballet will be at the Coronation Festival and on the fashion catwalk between the 11th – 14th July 2013. Daytime Tickets to the event are still available to purchase for £30 per person. For more information please log on to www.coronationfestival.com.

Lauren Cuthbertson, principal dancer with the Royal Ballet Company and NYB Patron held an invaluable session with dancers on Sunday 3rd February 2013.

Held at the English National Ballet School, Chelsea, the afternoon was inspiring and exciting for the young dancers to have such a  personal insight from a prima ballerina.  Lauren coached some repertoire from Nutcracker which challenged the whole age range.  At the end of the afternoon Lauren held a lively Question & Answer session which the dancers all enjoyed.

Here are some photographs of the day:

Lauren talks with students

Lauren Cuthbertson and Jill Tookey with all the students

With an exciting range of events, auditions and performances, the up-to-date calendar of dates is available for download here:

NYB Calendar 2013 (27.0 KiB)

National Youth Ballet celebrated its 25^th anniversary in fine style with a gala performance at Sadler’s Wells on September 2.  It was a joyous occasion, introduced by patron Monica Mason, who paid tribute to artistic director Jill Tookey.  “Children need to be, must be challenged and inspired,” Mason said, and this is something Tookey has done in abundance for generations of young dancers.

In a programme with no weak links, the dancers of NYB presented no fewer than eight works, all of them beautifully designed, staged and excellently coached and performed – the parents and teachers in the audience must have been very proud.  Opening the gala was Janet Kinson’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, a large-scale work in which Ashley Morgan-Davies danced as the mad-haired Conductor with animated flourish.  Younger students, dressed as sailors, appeared in Judith Harris’ Ship Ahoy, and I was particularly tickled by the boys in the “Drunken Sailor” dance.  Kinson’s Colour Crazy, to Prokoviev’s Classical Symphony, was exactly that – a riot of colour with masses of dancers filling the stage with movement.

Joshua Hutchings impressed with his jumps and pointed feet as Toad in extracts from Wayne Sleep’s Toad, and he reappeared again in the sumptuous celebratory ballet, 25, choreographed by Jo Meredith, in which characters from previous NYB productions, including Pedro the Parrot and Rainbow Bear, appeared and danced.

The second half included Antony Dowson’s lively and enjoyable Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes, which was followed by Drew McOnie’s Dancing Fools, a wonderful musical theatre number to Barry Manilow’s song performed by just a few of NYB’s many alumni.  Then McOnie’s The Old Man of Lochnagar, inspired by the children’s book by HRH The Prince of Wales, brought the evening to a wonderful close.  Ben Bazeley was highly effective as the Old Man, and I was impressed also by Bethany Pike’s Girl and Callum Dyer’s dangerous-looking Eagle.  I particularly enjoyed the characterisations that went on in the work, from all of the birds, fishes and gorms, and the dotty “Underwater Ballet” scene, with its Water Maidens and Watermen, was a sheer delight.

Three cheers, then, for NYB and for everyone who has been involved with it for the past 25 years.  I hope the next 25 will be equally successful.

JONATHAN GRAY

NYB was thrilled to be invited as guests to perform at the recent  Royal Diamond Jubilee Gala in aid of ChildLine attended by HRH Princess Beatrice.

The exciting event was sponsored by First News Children’s Newspaper.

Founder and Artistic Director  NYB, Jill Tookey and the cast of Jo Meredith’s  lovely ballet, ’25′  were presented to  Princess Beatrice.

Talented children from all over the country had auditioned to win an opportunity to perform at The Savoy Theatre, London on Sunday 4th November.