English National Ballet celebrates 60 years in 2010. The Company was formerly known as London Festival Ballet and renamed English National Ballet to highlight its role as the Nation’s touring classical ballet company. It now boasts 67 dancers, a full live orchestra and an enviable dance repertoire.

The autumn tour
English National Ballet performs Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet this autumn in Manchester, Southampton and for the first time, Milton Keynes. This award-winning production was created for English National Ballet as their contribution to the festival marking the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. It has subsequently been performed by other international companies.

Nureyev’s production is notably faithful to Shakespeare’s play, rich in symbolism of fate and mortality. It was the second of five versions danced by English National Ballet, it was also Nureyev’s second production for English National Ballet after he mounted his Sleeping Beauty two years earlier. These productions inaugurated a period when Nureyev was very closely involved with the Company.

English National Ballet has been sponsored by Sky since 2003 and Sky Arts has been National Tour sponsor since 2007. English National Ballet tours across the UK throughout the year, with major tours taking place in spring and autumn. The Company tours across England and Wales including Manchester, Southampton, Oxford, Bristol with a Christmas Season at the London Coliseum.

Sky Arts' investment in the National Tour supports the very core of English National Ballet's work. It enables them to plan a tour that touches as wide an audience as possible and at a price that people can afford. We are proud that by supporting them we are helping the company in its original mission.


Ballet workshops for schools
We're offering twelve FREE English National Ballet workshop packages with free tickets to the ballet schools across Manchester, Southampton and Milton Keynes alongside English National Ballet’s Autumn tour of Romeo and Juliet.

The workshops for Key Stage 3 & 4 around Romeo & Juliet will encourage students to embody Shakespeare’s text in a physical way enabling an alternate approach to learning. This will enhance the students’ understanding of the work and contribute to their development.

During English National Ballet’s Spring tour, Sky Arts got 209 school children moving in seven one-hour dance workshops, exploring movement, themes and characters from the much loved ballet Cinderella to live music accompaniment. Each class then received free tickets to see English National Ballet’s Schools’ Matinee Cinderella.

‘I enjoyed the fact that they could show their feelings using dance. I enjoyed it because it was really exciting!’ -  Nathan aged 10.

The workshops are aimed at KS3 & 4 and no previous experience of ballet is necessary, just plenty of enthusiasm and energy.  If you know a school that may be interested please ask them to contact learning@ballet.org.uk


English National Ballet in 3D
We have also given English National Ballet the chance to be at the forefront of Sky’s latest venture, 3D TV. For the launch of their new Sky 3D channel, dance film Dance Dance Dance was created by Sky Arts. The film is celebration of the renewed popularity of dance across the UK and features two dances by English National Ballet; the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake and the neo-classical Men Y Men created especially for the Company’s National Tour.

To find out more about English National Ballet, and to book tickets visit ballet.org.uk