Calling young artists!

Posted on August 5, 2011

English National Ballet has launched a global competition to create artwork for My First Sleeping Beauty. This new production is the first of a series designed to give children their first taste of ballet.

The competition, which closes on August 31, asks young artists to create a piece of artwork to be used in marketing the production, appearing on the poster, in press advertisements and theatre websites. Entries should be submitted via creative community www.talenthouse.com. The winner of the competition will be awarded $2,000 in prize money, with $300 going to each of three runners-up.

The famous illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who designed the company’s 2002 production of The Nutcracker, will be the competition’s patron, judging the entries and presenting the prize. The winner will be announced at the launch of My First Sleeping Beauty in London on September 21.

The My First… series builds on the success of ENB’s Angelina Ballerina productions, which reached audiences of more than 200,000 across the UK between 2007 and 2009. Matthew Hart will choreograph and design a new production of The Sleeping Beauty, created with young attention spans in mind. The show will be performed by third year students of English National Ballet School, who will be appearing in their first professional tour – making this a first for both audience and dancers.

Picture: Fernanda Oliveira in English National Ballet’s grown-up production of The Sleeping Beauty. Photograph: Laurent Liotardo

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.