Northern Ballet dancing for joy after record year
The Northern Ballet is doing a celebrator pirouette after earning £2.03m in ticket sales in the 2016/17 year.
This is the first time the company has surpassed £2m at the Box Office.
During the year, the Company held the world premieres of two new ballets, Jane Eyre and Casanova, as well as national tours of 1984, Swan Lake, Wuthering Heights, Romeo and Juliet and Beauty & the Beast.
Attendance at Northern Ballet’s productions has increased by 4.1% from the previous year with almost 120,000 people in attendance.
Northern Ballet’s dedicated tour of children’s ballets Tortoise & the Hare and Goldilocks & the Three Bears also achieved Box Office success earning almost £170,000 in net ticket sales for 2016/17, an increase of 7.6% from the previous year. More than 46,000 people saw the Company’s children’s ballets over the last 12 months, an increase of more than 6,000.
Development income has risen by 6.8% from £891,000 to £952,000.
David Nixon OBE, artistic director at Northern Ballet said: ‘I am thrilled that our Communications department has been so successful in promoting and selling our programme regardless of title. This bodes well for the future possibilities of the repertoire and recognises the creative talents not only on stage but within the Company.’
Mark Skipper DL, chief executive at Northern Ballet said: “In more challenging economic times we are delighted that our efforts to increase earned income have brought positive results, whilst at the same time we have been able to maintain levels of creativity with bold and innovative repertoire choices.”
This year, the Northern Ballet will continue with the first national tour of its acclaimed new ballet Casanova before holding the world première of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in May followed by a national tour.
In the autumn Northern Ballet will hold its third world première of 2017 with The Little Mermaid as well as performances in Bradford of a company première of A Celebration of Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Master Choreographer. Details for early 2018 are to be announced.
