The Yorkshire Ballet Summer School

The Yorkshire Ballet Summer School began as the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in a church hall, taught by ex-Royal Ballet dancer and teacher David Gayle. The seminars were devised in order to provide young, local dancers with an introduction to the professional ballet world, enabling them to learn about opportunities for them and meet other artists. The great success of the seminars meant they evolved to form a residential ballet course, with the first masterclass taught by Alicia Markova. 2005 saw Marguerite Porter, again, an ex-Royal Ballet dancer, take over the directorship reins of the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School. Marguerite began teaching at the course in 1990. The Yorkshire Ballet Summer School's 40th anniversary was celebrated in September 2013, in a gala hosted by Sir Anthony Dowell and actor Sir Derek Jacobi. The gala was held at national dance house Sadler's Wells, London, marking the journey of the summer school and celebrating it's truly dedicated staff and talented alumni. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqF3oOoEUVw The gala was directed by Richard Clifford, and contained a whole host of exciting performances from great ballet artists all under the same roof. The guest stars included dancers from The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, and the BalletBoyz. This range of prestigious dance companies was interspersed with other performances from actors Imelda Staunton, Jim Carter and Samantha Bond, who duetted with ex-Royal Ballet dancer Wayne Sleep. Royal Ballet Principal Steven McRae even treated the audience to an energetic tap routine! 2013 for the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School saw more than 180 students from all over the world take part at the residential held at York St John university.