Young students from Headingley Ballet School recently presented a donation to Northern Ballet, specifically the Company’s Sponsor a Dancer campaign. The students have previously used the premises as a venue for their dance shows, home to the inspirational ballet company. The funds were raised following the students’ Pass It On second hand dancewear scheme which allows pupils to buy second hand dancewear and shoes for a small donation. The dancers are set to carry on with the fundraising!
Sponsor a Dancer was launched in 2011 in response to severe budget cuts to Northern Ballet, and has since raised more than £500,000 to support the Company’s work, enabling it to retain a full Company of 40 dancers. Sponsor a Dancer has also been selected to be included in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2013, an annual match funding event which means any money donated to Sponsor a Dancer from 10am on 5, 6 and 7 December could be doubled. These donations will see Northern Ballet continue to provide employment and development opportunities for the classical ballet dancers, nurture young and upcoming talent through training programmes and be able to continue to create and perform full-length ballets.
Online donations are matched on a first come, first served basis and donations will be matched as long as there are matched funds still available. If not, donors will still be able to make donations but it would not be matched so donors are encouraged to return to the site the following day and donate as close to 10am as possible. The Christmas Challenge will conclude once all of the matched funds have been exhausted until 18 December at 5pm.
Northern Ballet is one of the UK’s five large ballet companies mixing classical dance and theatre to give a unique interpretation of popular classical ballets. It is a busy touring company and typically tours for around 24 weeks of the year. The Company presents a combination of new works and repertoire to cities throughout the UK and are the only large scale ballet company to do so.