The future stars of dance are headed out on the Ballet Central Tour 2023, including one night only at Chipping Norton Theatre on Saturday, 17 June. It’s a unique chance for local audiences to catch them; right on their doorstep.
The Ballet Central company is made up of 32 young dancers – the 2023 graduating class of the world-renowned Central School of Ballet. Inspiring new audiences, the Ballet Central Tour is the perfect introduction to ballet for audiences of all ages.
This year’s company includes Daniel Chambers, who was raised in Chipping Norton and attended Sheila Price Dance before being accepted at the Central School of Ballet and Ellie Fergusson, who won BBC’s The Greatest Dancer in 2019. Mentored by Oti Mobuse, Ellie went on to perform on Strictly Come Dancing.
Each year, the repertoire is created around Ballet Central’s relationships with leading choreographers and dance industry influencers who provide the opportunity for students to work on new pieces or spectacular revivals of much-loved classical ballets and theatrical productions.
This year’s dazzling programme features much-loved familiar stories alongside exciting contemporary pieces and some brand-new work created especially for the tour. There’s the classical Pas de Deux, The Two Pigeons, an earthy Pas de Trois, and Monotones I – both from one of the 20th century’s most distinctive choreographic voices, Sir Frederick Ashton.
The Snow White story is given new life in Michael Pink’s shadowy retelling, Mirror, Mirror and the Pygmalion myth is explored in a new piece created by Sophie Laplane.
And did we mention Abba?