Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, the company is based in Glasgow, the resident ballet company at the Glasgow Theatre Royal and from 2009 in their purpose-built ballet centre in Tramway Arts Centre, Glasgow.
History Scottish Ballet is Scotland's national dance company. Its primary aim is to provide programmes of world-class dance performance and educational activity at all scales. Scottish Ballet presents a wide range of dance to audiences across Scotland, the UK and abroad – and employs 36 professional dancers, 41 staff and a part-time freelance orchestra of up to 70 musicians.
Founded by Peter Darrell and Elizabeth West as the Western Theatre Ballet in Bristol in 1957, the company moved to Glasgow in 1969 and was renamed Scottish Theatre Ballet, changing to Scottish Ballet in 1974. A year later its home theatre became the Theatre Royal, Glasgow when Scottish Opera bought it and transformed it as the first national opera house in Scotland. The Company performs across Scotland, the UK and abroad, with strong classical technique at the root of all of its work. Its broad repertory includes new versions of the classics, seminal pieces from the 20th century modern ballet canon, signature pieces by living choreographers and new commissions. As a national company, Scottish Ballet performs at theatres in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness and in smaller venues throughout Scotland. The company's long history of touring internationally includes visits to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Portugal, Ireland and the rest of the UK. Scottish Ballet's many recent awards include the 2004 TMA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in recognition of its modernisation programme and dynamic performances. Scottish Ballet's current artistic director Christopher Hampson joined the company in 2012.
The company provides dance classes and a variety of education initiatives, including work with children and adults of all ages and abilities, and the Associate Programme which encourages aspiring young dancers to train for a career in the industry. Scottish Ballet also has close links with Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, partnering the BA Modern Ballet and M.Mus. (Pianist for Dance) degree courses.
Scottish Ballet was the first dance company in Europe to offer live audio description for the visually impaired, and maintains a programme of regular audio described performances throughout Scotland. Scottish Ballet won the Stef Stefanou Award for Outstanding Company in the 2023 National Dance Awards.
Repertoire Scottish Ballet presents a broad repertoire, ranging from new versions of the classics (The Nutcracker, Cinderella), 20th century modern ballet repertoire (work by George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton), work by living choreographers (William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Siobhan Davies) and new commissions (David Dawson, Helen Pickett, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Sophie Laplane).
Current repertoire:
Apollo (1928) by George Balanchine
Façade (1931/1935) by Frederick Ashton
The Four Temperaments (1946, revised 1977) by George Balanchine
Scènes de Ballet (1947) by Frederick Ashton
Afternoon of a Faun (1953) by Jerome Robbins
Agon (1957) by George Balanchine
Episodes (1959) by George Balanchine
Song of the Earth (1965) by Kenneth MacMillan
Rubies (1967) by George Balanchine
Othello (1971) by Peter Darrell
Twilight (1972) by Hans van Manen
The Nutcracker (1973) by Peter Darrell. Additional choreography by Christopher Hampson
Five Rückert Songs (1978) by Peter Darrel
Suite From Artifact (1984, as Suite from Artifact 2004) by William Forsythe
Dangerous Liaisons (1985) by Richard Alston
Refurbished Behaviour (1985, revised 2005) by Ashley Page
White Man Sleeps (1988) by Siobhan Davies
MiddleSexGorge (1990) by Stephen Petronio
Walking in the Heat (1990) by Ashley Page
For M.G.– The Movie (1991) by Trisha Brown
Fearful Symmetries (1994) by Ashley Page
32 Cryptograms (1996) by Ashley Page
Room of Cooks (1997) by Ashley Page
Two Pieces for HET (1997) by Hans van Manen
Cheating, Lying, Stealing (1998) by Ashley Page
Workwithinwork (1998) by William Forsythe
Soft Underbelly (1999) by Ashley Page
In Light and Shadow (2000) by Krzysztof Pastor
Acrid Avid Jam (2001) by Ashley Page
The Nutcracker (2003) by Ashley Page
The Nutcracker– Diverts (2003) by Ashley Page
Nightswimming into day (2004) by Ashley Page
Cinderella (2005) by Ashley Page
The Pump Room (2005) by Ashley Page
Sirocco (2006) by Diana Loosmore
Chasing Ghosts (2007) by Diana Loosmore
Ride The Beast (2007) by Stephen Petronio
The Sleeping Beauty (2007) by Ashley Page
From Where (2008) by Paul Liburd
Lull (2008) by Diana Loosmore
Pennies from Heaven (2008) by Ashley Page
Romeo and Juliet (2008) by Krzysztof Pastor
Traume (2008) by Gregory Dean
Carmen (2009) by Richard Alston
Petrushka (2009) by Ian Spink
Still Life (2010) by Val Caniparoli
Alice (2011) by Ashley Page
New Work (2011) by Jorma Elo
“A Streetcar Named Desire” (2012) by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
“Highland Fling” (2013) by Sir Matthew Bourne
Silhouette (2013) by Christopher Hampson
Trace (2013) by Helen Pickett
Maze (2015) by Sophie Laplane
Hansel & Gretel (2016) by Christopher Hampson
The Snow Queen (2018) by Ashley Page
“The Crucible” (2019) by Helen Pickett
Dextera (2019) by Sophie Laplane
Emergence (2019) by Crystal Pite
Starstruck (2021) by Gene Kelly with additional choreography by Christopher Hampson
Coppélia (2022) by Morgann Runacre-Temple & Jessica Wright
Cinders! (2023) by Christopher Hampson
Outcast (2023) by Dickson Mbi
Trifecta (2023) by Nicholas Shoesmith
Twice-Born (2023) by Dicksom Mbi
Mary, Queen of Scots (2025) by Sophie Laplane & James Bonas
Wee Nutcracker (2025) by Christopher Hampson with additional choreography by Nicholas Shoesmith
Entress (2026) by Julia Cheng
Headquarters
In June 2009 Scottish Ballet moved to new, purpose-built premises in Glasgow's Southside, next to the Tramway Theatre, which had been designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects.
Dancers
Principals
Marlen Fuerte-Castro Jessica Fyfe Roseanna Leney Yuri Marques Bruno Micchiardi
Soloists
Grace Horler Harvey Littlefield Rimbaud Patron Melissa Parsons Gina Scott Claire Souet Kayla-Maree Tarantolo Yipeng Xu
First Artists Andrea Azzari Rishan Benjamin Hannah Cubitt James Garrington Alice Kawalek Urara Takata Benjamin Thomas Anna Williams
Artists
Charley Austin Matthew Bates Rafael Bejarano Antonia Cramb Harvey Evans Lewis Fornby Calum Gray Theo Greenfield Mackenzie Jacob Hamish Longley Danila Marzilli Alfie McPherson Mayu Takata Claire Tjoe-Fat Elizabeth Williams Seira Winning
Notable former dancers
Leigh Alderson Daria Klimentová Noriko Ohara Sophie Martin
See also Culture in Glasgow Scotland's National Arts Companies
References
Sources
External links
Tramway Theatre website