New English Ballet Theatre is a company on a mission, always striving to promote aspiring choreographers who might not have any other opportunity to get themselves, or their work, noticed – especially the work of female choreographers, which is particularly timely. The company has both a multi-disciplinary focus and bold ambitions, with a mission to present exciting new work to the widest possible audience.
The company aims to collaborate, developing relationships with music festivals in addition to theatres and venues, in order to create a long term influence on its audience’s perceptions of modern ballet. It has focused on presenting work by female choreographers in particular, in addition to new commissions and a modern approach to the classics. It aims to view choreography simply as choreography, rather than differentiating between male and female. Recently Dance Umbrella presented work under a similar guise, without adding the details of the choreographers to the running order so audiences viewed the work without preconceptions.
NEBT consequently created new work for its recent stint at the Peacock Theatre in London. Amongst those voices is Kristen McNally with her usual choreographic wit, and Daniela Cardim, with a piece heavily influenced by music from her native Brazil. In this approach to new talent, the company is able to promote these new artists to demonstrate their talent and range of choreographic expression.
As a result, NEBT is committed to the continual reinvention of classical ballet, giving artists the space to explore creative boundaries. 2016 is the company’s fifth anniversary season so it is fitting that there were five new ballets created for the full programme of work, with five unique voices from a modern ballet perspective. The company finds it is still re-educating audiences in ballet, simultaneously introducing new and young audiences to the athleticism and excitement of the art form and its endless possibilities.