The Birmingham Royal Ballet's website and programmes used to state: "Huddersfield is not as famous in the world of classical dance as St Petersburg, Paris or London, but it was the birthplace of David Bintley - one of the most consistent and significant forces in British ballet." After attending Deborah Weiss's online interview of Andrew McNicol for the London Ballet Circle on 7 May 2025, I looked up the McNicol Ballet Collective and found that it was based in Huddersfield. IMHO the Collective counts as another significant contribution from Huddersfield to the world of classical dance.
Andrew McNicol is a freelance British choreographer and Artistic Associate at English National Ballet School. He has created work for companies and ballet schools around the world, including the Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, the Joffrey Ballet, the Tulsa Ballet, the Royal Ballet School and the English National Ballet School. He founded the McNicol Ballet Collective in 2021.
The McNicol Ballet Collective describes itself as "a creation-based ensemble of extraordinary artists at the peak of their creative powers, alongside emerging talent primed to showcase their brilliance and artistry." They create works for the stage and screen and have launched a learning programme called "Compositions and Configurations."
I discovered that the Collective has a mailing list, so I subscribed to it. Yesterday, I received my first newsletter. It started with a note of thanks from McNicol to those who had attended the Collective's shows, made donations or engaged with it on social media. Since its formation, the Collective had presented 4 ballets to critical acclaim, premiered a new ballet called Liquid Life and commissioned a new score from Jeremy Birchall. There is also a link to the Collective's Insight Eventwith the Royal Academy of Dance.
For those who want to learn more about McNicol and his project, I recommend Trevor Rothwell's write-up of Deborah Weiss's interview on the London Ballet Circle website and the Insight Event video. Apart from asking McNicol why he chose Huddersfield as his base during that interview, my only contact with him was at the Tell Tale Steps Choreographic Laboratory 10 years ago. I remember struggling to get a word in edgeways at the panel discussion. I welcome McNicol's initiative in setting up the Collective and I will do my best to support it.
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This is when I review the past year and nominate the best ballet, the best dancers, the best choreographer of 2017 and so on. I have had less time for blogging than in previous years as I have had to focus on the day job, but I have seen almost as many shows as I ever do.
As a Mancunian living in Yorkshire I was delighted by the renaissance of Northern Ballet, our regional company. That company has taken a few big hits recently with the floods that destroyed the costumes of some of its best loved ballets and the departure of two of its premier or principal dancers, Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt, to San Diego (see Lisa Deaderick Making the leap from dancer to artistic director10 Dec 2017 San Diego Tribune 2017). However, it had a very good year last year with three new full length ballets.
For most of the year I thought Tindall's Casanova would be my ballet of the year but it was pipped at the post on 17 Dec 2017 by Sir Peter Wright's The Sleeping Beauty performed by the mighty Dutch (see The Dutch National Ballet's "The Sleeping Beauty" - I have waited nearly 50 years for this show20 Dec 2017). That show with Maia Makhateli as Aurora and Daniel Camargo as Florimund was outstanding. Also, if I had not seen The Sleeping Beauty I would have had to choose Paris Opera House ballet's Don Quixote with Isabella Boylston as Kitri at the Bastille auditorium on Christmas day as my ballet of the year (see Paris Opera's Don Quixote26 Dec 2017).
Now although I can't say that Casanova was my ballet of the year I can at least say that Tindall was my choreographer of the year. I must add that it was no walkover. He faced fierce competition from Ruth Brill with her Arcadia which was certainly my one act ballet of the year (see Birmingham Royal Ballet's Three Short Ballets: Le Baiser de la fée, Pineapple Poll and Arcadia22 June 2017) and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa for her Reversible for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba and Little Red Riding Hood for Ballet Black (see Danza Contemporanea de Cuba at the Lowry19 Feb 2017 and Ballet Black Triumphant7 March 2017). At this point I need to say that the Dutch National Ballet displayed a wealth of choreographic talent in New Moves 2017. I was particularly impressed for the second year running with Cristiano Principato and Thomas van Damme. We will hear a lot about both of them before long though I have to say that Tom is showing as much promise as a film maker as he is as a choreographer and there is a lot of overlap between the two.
My ballet of the year (as I have already indicated) was the Dutch National Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty. Makhateli would have been my ballerina of the year had I not seen Boylston in Paris a week later. Now she really is a superb virtuoso and dramatic figure and I was so lucky to see her. Nobody really stood out as male dancer of the year in quite the way that Boylston did but Javier Torres was excellent in Casanova and devastating in Las Hermanas. Here's what I wrote about him:
"As I noted above, we had a very strong cast. Giuliano Contadini was the poster boy of the show and deservedly so for he danced Casanova very well but Torres was cast perfectly for the role. Powerful, athletic and passionate, he was how I had always imagined the historical Giacomo Casanova. There is a point towards the end when he has to hold a very uncomfortable pose for what must seem like an age. That was when I appreciated just how good he was."
He is also Northern Ballet's sole remaining male premier dancer.
Northern Ballet has more than enough flatterers and fawners not all of whom ever bother to see any other company. I have never held back from criticizing it when I have felt that criticism was due. So when I say that it was my company of the year it will know that my compliment is sincere. I have followed the company ever since its golden age when Christopher Gable was at the helm. His successor, David Nixon, has also produced fine work such as Madame Butterfly, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cinderella, Gatsby and now The Little Mermaid as well as commissioning Tindall and Cathy Marston. The company may have lost two premier dancers but it still has first rate artists such as Torres, Hannah Bateman, Dreda Blow and Ashley Dixon not to mention emerging stars like Mlindi Kulashe. Rachael Gillespie and Abigail Prudames.
Finally a very special, self-indulgent award for my best adult ballet experience of 2017. Being a bit of a show off I love to perform and one of the highlights of my year was dancing in Move It at The Dancehouse on 13 May 2017. The other was taking part in Martin Dutton's Nutcracker intensive on 16 Dec 2017. That was the weekend that I saw a preview of Sharon Watson's Windrush which I expect to be my leading work of 2018 and Peter Wright's The Sleeping Beauty in Amsterdam. "Weekends don't come any better than that" I tweeted. I don't expect another like it in my lifetime. As both of those events were organized by Karen Sant of KNT I have to grant her the adult ballet teaching award of 2017.
I described Edmonds's work as the most polished and dramatic which was not surprising given her talent and experience. Having also been impressed with Fuse, I thought she would be a shoe-in for my outstanding young choreographer title.
Palladio was one of several works created for the Gala for Alessia at Trecate by Cristiano Principato who is one of the Dutch National Ballet's most talented young dancers. This is what I wrote about his ballet in From Italy with Loveon 1 July 2016:
"In the video about the ballet Cristiano explains that it is about a young girl who breaks her heart but recovers and moves on. It explores her sadness but then her strength as she creates new relationships. Cristiano cast all the Amsterdam dancers in this piece including himself. This is a very sophisticated work and quite a remarkable piece for one so young. Though completely original I could see the influence of Meisner - but not just Meisner for I was also reminded of Jerome Robbins. Balanchine and Jose Limon's The Moor's Pavane. Most choreographers' early works are quickly forgotten but I don't think this will be one of them. I think it will be performed time and again, I might add that I think it will be popular in England as Cristiano's choreography is well suited for dancers trained in the English style."
Cristiano created that work before his 21st birthday which makes it all the more impressive.
Given a fair wind this talented young gentleman can look forward to great things. He is, of course, a fine dancer but he can also direct and manage. At Trecate he acted as artistic director, choreographer, principal dancer, lighting engineer - you name it he did it. Don't be surprised if he ends up running one of the world's great ballet companies or opera houses one of these days.
There was one other new work that I saw just before I went to Italy which I really should mention. That was Small Steps created by Cara O'Shea who is one of my teachers at the Northern Ballet Academy. Small Steps is about the Kindertransport which rescued large numbers of Jewish children from Nazi Germany. I saw it at the Leeds CAT end of term show and wrote in Small Steps and other Pieces - Leeds CAT End of Term Show2 July 2016:
"Small Steps was a very beautiful work and I was profoundly moved by it for two reasons. The first is that the dancers were about the same age as the children who were sent abroad. They looked so bonny but also so lost and vulnerable. The second is that Cara chose very appropriate music - Arvo Pärt's Für Alinaand Spiegel im Spiegel, Lee Holdridge'sInto the Arms of Strangers, the intermezzo from Pietro Mascagni'sCavalleria Rusticana and Paul de Senneville's Marriage d'Amour. The ballet explored the conflict in the parents' minds and the pain of separation. Although she challenged her dancers her choreography was restrained and sombre - and as I have said before profoundly beautiful."
Cara is a fine teacher who is loved and respected by each and every one of her pupils - none more than me - but she is also a talented dance maker. I hope we shall see more from her.
Just a bit of fun inspired by the National Dance Awards and not to be taken at all seriously but at the end of every year I do a review of the best work that I have seen in the previous 12 months (see Highlights of 201529 Dec 2015). At the end of the post I set out my favourites which were:
Ballet of the Year Ballet Cymru's Cinderella, runner up Ballet Cymru's Tir
Company of the Year Scottish Ballet, runners up Dutch National Ballet and the Royal Ballet
Small Companies of the Year Ballet Black and Ballet Cymru
Contemporary Company of the Year Phoenix Dance Theatre
Male Dancer of the Year Denis Rodkin in La Bayadere, runner up Matthew Golding in the Royal Ballet's Onegin and the Dutch National Ballet's Cinderella
Female Dancer of the Year Laura Morera as Lise runners up Anna Tsygankova and Bethany Kingsley-Garner as Cinderella
Choreographers of the Year Christopher Hampson for Perpetuum Mobile for Northern Ballet and Ernst Meisner for Embers for the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company
Dancers to watch Floor Elmers of Dutch National Ballet, Krystal Lowe of Ballet Cymru, Marie-Astrid-Mence of Phoenix Dance Theatre and Gavin McCaig of Northern Ballet
Promising Newcomers Bart Engelen, Norwegian Ballet, Cristiano Principato and Emilie Tassinari, Dutch National Ballet Junior Company, Tim Hill of Ballet Cymru and Prentice Whitlow of Phoenix Dance Theatre
This year we shall do it a little differently. I invite everyone who has contributed to Terpsichore in the last year or so (that is to say Alison Winward, David Murley, Gita Mistry, Janet McNulty, Joanne Goodman and Mel Wong (happy birthday Mel by the way) to nominate for each category. Then I shall hold a ballot for the readers.
I have not quite made up my mind yet but provisionally Jean-Christophe Maillot is leading the way in the best full-length ballet stakes with his Taming of the Shrewfor the Bolshoi pursued hotly by Ted Brandsen's Mata Hari, David Dawson's Swan Lakeand Cathy Marston's Jane Eyrein that order.
In the one-act ballets category, it is a dead heat between Ernst Meisner's No Time before Time and Christopher Hampson's Storyville.
My classical company of the year is the Durch National Ballet though I was impressed by the Australians and the Bolshoi when they came to London and the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet are always near the top of my lists.
My nominations for best small company are Ballet Black and the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company,
Having seen a lot of contemporary dance, this year I can't make my mind up between Netherlands Dance Theatre and Rambert though Phoenix and the National Dance Company of Wales are also on my list. I am not sure how to classify Alvin Ailey but they definitely deserve an award.
Best male dancer this year has to be Federico Benelli for his Albrecht in Giselleand Lauren Cuthbertson as best female in the same production, However, I would make special personal awards to Bethany Kingsley-Garner for her Odette-Odile in Liverpool and Anna Tsyganlova for her Mata Hari.
Dancers to watch? There are so many but I think we shall be seeing a lot of Cristiano Principato of the Dutch National Ballet who proved his worth as a choreographer, artistic director and chief cook and bottlewasher as well as dancer in Trecate earlier this year, Daniele Gould in Hungary who was an enchanting Puss in Boots and Mthuthuzeli November here.
I would also like to add a special adult ballet education award to Karen Sant of KNT Danceworks for organizing wonderful intensive workshops for adult ballet beginners in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere and The Nutcracker and Jane Tucker for teaching them.
Alison, David, Gita, Janet, Joanne and Mel are invited to let me have their nominations (if any by 17:00 on 30 Nov) and then we shall offer it to the readers for a vote.
