Northern Ballet wins at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards

Posted on December 10, 2020

Northern Ballet has won the dance award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards for its production of Victoria. Presented at a socially-distanced ceremony at the London Coliseum on December 9, Northern Ballet was nominated alongside Ballet Black and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures. The awards will be televised on Sky Arts, Freeview channel 11, at 8pm on December 20.

Northern Ballet’s Victoria premiered in Leeds in March 2019 before embarking on a national tour. The production, choreographed by Cathy Marston, is a co-production with National Ballet of Canada and has previously been screened on BBC Four and in cinemas nationally. Victoria is currently available to purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray at northernballet.com/victoria.

Northern Ballet’s artistic director, David Nixon, said: “It is an incredible honour to have won the dance award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards this year. Northern Ballet is about creativity and nurturing talent – resulting in the captivating and original performances we bring to audiences across the UK, like Victoria, through both the stage and the screen. This award is a significant recognition of the quality and innovation of our productions, the high standard achieved by all of our performing artists and the excellence of our creative team.”

Choreographer Cathy Marston said: “I’m incredibly excited and honoured that Victoria has received the dance award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. Creating the work was such an inspiring challenge and the result of incredible teamwork from all concerned. I want to thank and celebrate this recognition with David Nixon, Mark Skipper, the dancers and all at Northern Ballet as well as my creative team – Philip Feeney (composer), Steffen Aarfing (designer), Uzma Hameed (co-scenario writer with me), Alastair West (lighting designer) and Jenny Tattersall (my choreographic collaborator).”

To find out more about Northern Ballet’s upcoming work, see northernballet.com.

Pictured: Abigail Prudames as Victoria, Joseph Taylor as Albert and Pippa Moore as Older Princess Beatrice in Victoria. Photograph: Emma Kauldhar.

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, was published last year in paperback, ebook and audiobook.