Media release
13 October 2008
For immediate release
New Building For Dance Given Green Light By Planners
Planners at Leeds City Council have given the green light to plans for a new centre of excellence
for dance in Leeds. The new building will be home to Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) and Phoenix Dance
Theatre (Phoenix) and will be built on Quarry Hill next to the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Yorkshire
Dance, the BBC and the Leeds College of Music. The designs by the Strategic Design Alliance, a
partnership of Jacobs Architecture and Leeds City Council's in-house architectural consultancy,
were passed at a planning meeting earlier today.
The ambitious plans are for a six-storey building consisting of seven dance studios including a
200-seat studio theatre, office space, a health suite and a costume workshop. Alongside the two
professional companies the building will eventually house a full-time classical dance school as
well as Leeds Metropolitan University's dance degree courses. The building will open in summer
2010.
In February NBT and Phoenix launched momentum, the campaign to raise the remaining £1.5million
of the £12million building. To date the campaign has raised more than £800,000 from a number
of trusts, foundations and individual donors.
Mark Skipper, NBT's Chief Executive is spearheading the momentum campaign:
“The planning decision means that we have reached a key milestone in this project's
progress. With building work due to start on site in four months time we are now looking for a
number of businesses and individual donors to step forward and help us meet our fundraising target
and achieve our ambitions.”
Anyone wishing to support the momentum campaign should visit
building-momentum.co.uk or contact Melanie Aram
at NBT at melanie.aram@northernballettheatre.co.uk.
The new building has received wide support from across the region with Leeds City Council investing
£6.7million, including a contribution from Yorkshire Forward, and Arts Council England, Yorkshire
investing £3.5million through the National Lottery.
Andy Carver, Executive Director of Arts Council England, Yorkshire said:
“It's great news that this exciting project has reached such a significant milestone.
Two of the country's leading dance companies will have a state-of-the-art new home in Leeds,
bringing great dance to many more people in Yorkshire and beyond.”
- ENDS -
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Press contact:
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Ruth Burke Kennedy, Media and PR Manager, Northern Ballet Theatre
- Email
- Tel: 0113 274 5355
Notes to Editors
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Northern Ballet Theatre and Phoenix Dance Theatre
NBT is a touring narrative dance company whose distinctive blend of classical
dance and theatre is renowned for captivating new audiences. In 2009 NBT will
celebrate its 40th anniversary. Over the last 26 years Phoenix has grown to be
one of Britain's leading contemporary dance companies. NBT is currently
located in temporary accommodation at West Park and Phoenix is based at
Yorkshire Dance in Leeds. Together NBT and Phoenix have 65 years experience in
dance. The two companies have performed to millions of people across the UK
and provided opportunities for thousands more people to engage in dance activities.
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The Strategic Design Alliance
The Strategic Design Alliance is an award winning partnership between Leeds City
Council's architectural design services and Jacobs Architecture.
The partnership began in July 2006 to ensure the council has access to the best
architectural services for its wide range of construction projects across the city.
Since its formation the SDA has won many awards, most recently for its restoration of
The Tiled Hall at Leeds Central Library and notably for its inclusive approach to the
design of New Bewerley Community School and Children's Centre in Beeston.