All In!

National Youth Ballet All In! explores how ballet can be created and taught in a more inclusive way, allowing more young dancers to access this beautiful art form. In 2023 National Youth Ballet was awarded an Arts Council England project grant to further our All In! activity. Working in partnership with inclusive dance expert Parable Dance and national dance agency South East Dance, this collaboration focused on a very specific need within ballet – for choreographers and teachers to learn the vital skills of inclusive practice to make ballet more accessible and offering young dancers from NYB and Parable Dance the opportunity to work creatively in the studio together.

In December 2022 we piloted our first R&D workshops joined by Beyond Ballet® choreographers and rehearsal directors, Parable dancers and South East-based local ballet teachers to explore inclusive practice with expert practitioners who all brought lived experience of disability including Vicky Malin (freelance artist and ex Candoco dancer), Joe Powell-Main (freelance artist and ex Ballet Cymru dancer), Zach Opere-Onguende (Chickenshed Theatre) and Millie Kingsnorth (Parable Dance).

In April 2023 we tested our model in a creative workshop led by Beyond Ballet® choreographers, Ross Black and Hannah George with NYB and Parable dancers to apply our learning about inclusive practice and explore inclusive skills development for dancers.

NYB Creative Director Jo Meredith and Parable Dance Co-Founder and Artistic Director Natasha Britton built on the learning from these workshops alongside NYB Ambassador Joe Powell-Main who worked with the Beyond Ballet® choreographers to create an inclusive performance with NYB and Parable dancers during a four day residency which was performed at The Dance Space on Friday 1 September 2023.

We presented our All In! work as part of the Children Today Charity Gala on Wednesday 7th February at Sadlers Wells. We look forward to developing the All In! project further in 2024 by partnering with organisations across the UK to share our learning and create new performance opportunities for more young dancers and CPD opportunities for ballet teachers.

Disabled and neurodivergent dancers are currently under-served by ballet. All-In! shows our shared commitment to make ballet a more inclusive and accessible dance form, to build a more inclusive talent pipeline, and to push the boundaries around the perception of ballet.