The Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in Ilkley
The Yorkshire Ballet Seminars were founded by former Royal Ballet dancer David Gayle MBE and officially opened in 1975 by Dame Ninette de Valois OM CH DBE, Founder and Director of The Royal Ballet. The course brought expert ballet coaching to the north of England at a time when opportunities outside London were limited, and arguably paved the way for the proliferation of dance summer schools on offer across Britain today. Many students of the course went on to have stellar careers and now lead some of the world’s major dance companies, ensuring that the legacy of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in Ilkley continues to this day.
Wells House (formally Ilkley College)
the home of the Seminars in Ilkley
Royal Ballet graduate performance 1991
From the beginning, David invited ballet stars from around the globe to teach on the course, exposing students to a great variety of classical styles and traditions. His vision was that the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars should provide an all-round education in ballet. To this end he devised a programme of cultural events to run alongside the daily dance classes. They included live ballet performances by companies such as The Royal Ballet and The Kirov; classical music recitals; lectures by pre-eminent dance critics; and talks by former members of Diaghilev’s fabled Ballets Russes. Exhibitions were mounted in the corridors of Ilkley College, featuring priceless treasures such as Anna Pavlova’s and Vaslav Nijinsky’s original costumes. Open to all, these events allowed Seminar students and members of the public alike to gain a greater appreciation of ballet as an art form.
When Ilkley College closed its doors in 1999, the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars moved first to Ripon and then York. Following David Gayle’s retirement in 2004, the course continued to evolve and flourish under the direction of distinguished teacher and former Senior Principal Ballerina with The Royal Ballet, Marguerite Porter MBE. In 2018 the reins were handed to Iain Mackay, former Principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet and himself a past alumnus of the Ilkley course, who oversaw the Seminar’s successful move to Ashville College, Harrogate. Since December 2022, the course has been led by acclaimed dancer and teacher Cira Robinson. The Ilkley years, however, remain a special part of the programme’s history, synonymous with David Gayle’s ambition to make classical dance accessible to people from all walks of life and to open up ballet in the north of the England.
For more information about the current Yorkshire Ballet Seminars visit ybss.co.uk
Katerina Zvelebilova, Lynn Seymour, Joseph Cipolla and David Gayle arriving in style.