Northern Ballet - Early History

Early History

Northern Dance Theatre (NBT), the name by which the company was originally known, was founded in 1969 by Canadian-born Laverne Meyer; a dramatic dancer whose formative years were spent with Bristol based, Western Theatre Ballet, the first ever British dance company to be based outside London. The company's first performance was on 28 November 1969 at the University Theatre, Manchester, with the orchestra being supplied by musicians of the Royal Northern College of Music.

Robert de Warren was appointed as Artistic Director in 1976. A classically trained dancer, he had previously worked with the Royal Ballet, as well some of the larger West German ballet companies. He renamed them Northern Ballet Theatre and began to work on scaled down full length classical ballets, rediscovered works and brand new creations.

In 1987, he left after 11 years as Artistic Director, during which time he had seen the company expand to more than 20 dancers and put on works by such diverse choreographers as August Bournonville, Michael Fokine, Walter Gore, John Cranko and Royston Maldoom.

De Warren had also managed to enticed Rudolf Nureyev to become Artistic Laureate and to dance as a regular guest artist, and had secured HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, as the company's Royal Patron.