Northern Ballet - Christopher Gable

Christopher Gable

The appointment of Christopher Gable CBE as NBT's third Artistic Director in 1987 resulted in a partnership which saw the company gain a reputation for imaginative new works and for impressive revivals of old classics. His appointment owed much to chance. In 1987, the centenary of the birth of the painter L S Lowry, Salford City Council commissioned Gillian Lynne to create a new ballet for the company which would celebrate the life and work of this Salford-born artist.

Lynne was determined in her choice of dancer for the role of Lowry, enticing ex Royal Ballet star Christopher Gable back to the dance stage for the first time in more than 20 years.

Gable's appointment as Artistic Director was a popular choice with the company. It soon became clear that he would focus as much on the theatre as the ballet in the company's title. With the emphasis on classical dance drama, the popular success of A Simple Man was followed by full length productions of Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, A Christmas Carol, The Brontes, The Amazing Adventure of Don Quixote, Dracula, Giselle and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Throughout his 11 years with NBT Gable remained Artistic Director of the Central School of Ballet, a school he co-founded with Ann Stannard in London in 1982. His untimely death, in 1998. from cancer at the age of only 58, left the company reeling but firmly secure with a reputation that was gaining steadily on the worldwide dance stage. Northern Ballet Theatre productions had been requested and performed by other companies including Norwegian National Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.