Inscription on wall of the Scottish Ballet building in Glasgow

Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, the company is based in Glasgow, the resident ballet company at the Glasgow Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Theatre Royal and from 2009 in their purpose-built ballet centre in Tramway (arts centre), Tramway Arts Centre, Glasgow.

History

Scottish Ballet is Scotland's national dance company. Its primary aim is to provide programmes of world-class dance performance and educational activity at all scales. Scottish Ballet presents a wide range of dance to audiences across Scotland, the UK and abroad – and employs 36 professional dancers, 41 staff and a part-time freelance orchestra of up to 70 musicians. Founded by Peter Darrell and Elizabeth West as the Western Theatre Ballet in Bristol in 1957, the company moved to Glasgow in 1969 and was renamed Scottish Theatre Ballet, changing to Scottish Ballet in 1974. A year later its home theatre became the Theatre Royal, Glasgow when Scottish Opera bought it and transformed it as the first national opera house in Scotland. The Company performs across Scotland, the UK and abroad, with strong classical technique at the root of all of its work. Its broad repertory includes new versions of the classics, seminal pieces from the 20th century modern ballet canon, signature pieces by living choreographers and new commissions. As a national company, Scottish Ballet performs at theatres in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness and in smaller venues throughout Scotland. The company's long history of touring internationally includes visits to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Portugal, Ireland and the rest of the UK. Scottish Ballet's many recent awards include the 2004 TMA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in recognition of its modernisation programme and dynamic performances. Scottish Ballet's current artistic director Christopher Hampson joined the company in 2012. file:Scottish Ballet's 50th anniversary year (47972126966) (cropped).jpg, Scottish Ballet's 50th anniversary year The company provides dance classes and a variety of education initiatives, including work with children and adults of all ages and abilities, and the Associate Programme which encourages aspiring young dancers to train for a career in the industry. Scottish Ballet also has close links with Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, partnering the BA Modern Ballet and M.Mus. (Pianist for Dance) degree courses. Scottish Ballet was the first dance company in Europe to offer live audio description for the visually impaired, and maintains a programme of regular audio described performances throughout Scotland. Scottish Ballet won the Stef Stefanou Award for Outstanding Company in the 2023 National Dance Awards.

Repertoire

Scottish Ballet presents a broad repertoire, ranging from new versions of the classics (''The Nutcracker'', ''Cinderella''), 20th century modern ballet repertoire (work by George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton), work by living choreographers (William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Siobhan Davies) and new commissions (David Dawson, Helen Pickett, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa). Current repertoire: * ''Dangerous Liaisons'' (1985) by Richard Alston * ''Apollo (ballet), Apollo'' (1928) by George Balanchine * ''Episodes (ballet), Episodes'' (1959) by George Balanchine * ''The Four Temperaments (ballet), The Four Temperaments'' (1946, revised 1977) by George Balanchine * ''Jewels (ballet)#Rubies, Rubies'' (1967) by George Balanchine * ''Five Rückert Songs'' (1978) by Peter Darrel * ''White Man Sleeps'' (1988) by Siobhan Davies * ''Suite From Artifact'' (1984, as Suite from Artifact 2004) by William Forsythe * ''Twilight'' (1972) by Hans van Manen * ''Two Pieces for HET'' (1997) by Hans van Manen * ''Acrid Avid Jam'' (2001) by Ashley Page * ''Cheating, Lying, Stealing'' (1998) by Ashley Page * ''Cinderella'' (2005) by Ashley Page * ''Nightswimming into day'' (2004) by Ashley Page * ''The Nutcracker'' (2003) by Ashley Page * ''The Pump Room'' (2005) by Ashley Page * ''Refurbished Behaviour'' (1985, revised 2005) by Ashley Page * ''Soft Underbelly'' (1999) by Ashley Page * ''Walking in the Heat'' (1990) by Ashley Page * ''The Snow Queen'' (2018) by Ashley Page * ''32 Cryptograms'' (1996) by Ashley Page * ''MiddleSexGorge'' (1990) by Stephen Petronio * ''Agon (ballet), Agon'' (1957) by George Balanchine * ''Afternoon of a Faun (Robbins), Afternoon of a Faun'' (1953) by Jerome Robbins * ''In Light and Shadow'' (2000) by Krzysztof Pastor * “Highland Fling” (2013) by Sir Matthew Bourne * “The Crucible” (2019) by Helen Pickett * “A Streetcar Named Desire” (2012) by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa * ''Room of Cooks'' (1997) by Ashley Page * ''The Nutcracker – Diverts'' (2003) by Ashley Page * ''Façade (ballet), Façade'' (1931/1935) by Frederick Ashton * ''Sirocco'' (2006) by Diana Loosmore * ''Othello'' (1971) by Peter Darrell * ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (2007) by Ashley Page * ''Ride The Beast'' (2007) by Stephen Petronio * ''Fearful Symmetries'' (1994) by Ashley Page * ''For M.G. – The Movie'' (1991) by Trisha Brown * ''Chasing Ghosts'' (2007) by Diana Loosmore * ''Romeo and Juliet (Pastor), Romeo and Juliet'' (2008) by Krzysztof Pastor * ''Traume'' (2008) by Gregory Dean * ''Lull'' (2008) by Diana Loosmore * ''Pennies from Heaven'' (2008) by Ashley Page * ''Carmen'' (2009) by Richard Alston * ''Workwithinwork'' (1998) by William Forsythe * ''Petrushka'' (2009) by Ian Spink * ''Scènes de ballet (Ashton), Scènes de Ballet'' (1947) by Frederick Ashton * ''Still Life'' (2010) by Val Caniparoli * ''From Where'' (2008) by Paul Liburd * ''Alice'' (2011) by Ashley Page * ''Song of the Earth (ballet), Song of the Earth'' (1965) by Kenneth MacMillan * ''New Work'' (2011) by Jorma Elo

Headquarters

In June 2009 Scottish Ballet moved to new, purpose-built premises in Glasgow's Southside, next to the Tramway Theatre, which had been designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects.

Dancers

Principals

* *Jessica Fyfe *Marge Hendrick * Roseanna Leney *Evan Loudon * Bruno Micchiardi

Soloists

*Javier Andreu *Thomas Edwards *Grace Horler *Yuri Marques *Rimbaud Patron *Melissa Polson *Gina Scott *Claire Souet

First Artists

* Rishan Benjamin * Alice Kawalek * Harvey Littlefield * Amy McEntee *Madeline Squire *Kayla-Maree Tarantolo *Eado Turgeman * Anna Williams

Artists

* Andrea Azzari *Antonia Cramb *Hannah Cubitt *Harvey Evans *Urtzi Ganzedo *James Garrington *James Hobley *Mackenzie Jacob *Ishan Mahabir-Stokes *Danila Marzilli * Jamie Reid * Mayu Takata * Urara Takata * Benjamin Thomas * Claire Tjoe-Fat * Elizabeth Williams *Seira Winning *Fulvio Zamagna

Notable former dancers

* Leigh Alderson * Daria Klimentová * Noriko Ohara (ballet), Noriko Ohara

References

Sources

* *

External links

*
Tramway Theatre website
{{Ballet companies Scottish Ballet, Culture in Glasgow Ballet in Scotland, Ballet companies in the United Kingdom National performing arts companies of Scotland, Ballet Charities based in Glasgow 1957 establishments in Scotland Performing groups established in 1957 Arts charities