Newport's Ballet Cymru Turns 40 With Shows and a Tour
Ballet Cymru, the Newport company founded by Darius James, is marking its 40th anniversary. It played the Riverfront theatre in Newport on Thursday and Friday and then goes on tour to Leeds and Bangor.
The story starts with a council hearing. At the age of 10, James had won a place at the Royal Ballet School, but his parents could not afford the fees. Gwent County Council asked him why it should give him money. He answered that he would go away, build his skills and use them to help his community in Newport.
He trained, danced professionally and came back in 1986 to found the company, then called Gwent Ballet Theatre. He called the idea of a ballet company in a post-industrial town "totally crazy, but totally needed and logical". Newport has plenty of talent, he said, but not the outlets of London or Cardiff.
Years without funding or a studio
Ballet Cymru had early backing from the Arts Council of Wales. After that it went 13 years with no funding at all and 28 years without a studio of its own. James toured with other troupes, including Northern Ballet, to help pay the bills.
Amy Doughty, his wife and the company's co-artistic director, joined as a dancer in 1996. The team rehearsed wherever it found space and hauled in its own ballet bars, equipment and dance floors. National Lottery funding in 2014 let it turn a warehouse into its current studio. The building stands on the industrial estate where James's father, who worked at the Alcan aluminium factory, walked to work each day.
In the early days James covered the word "ballet" on the van used for community workshops. He feared it would put people off before they tried. Doughty thinks attitudes have shifted since, thanks to work in schools and local shows.
The Duets scheme
Barriers remain, James said. The Duets scheme began in 2012. It runs workshops in Welsh schools and picks out children who seem to have natural ability but are not in formal training. They then get two years of free tuition.
The directors found seven boys they thought had talent, but some parents were reluctant. "The dads will come in and say my son doesn't dance, he doesn't want to do ballet," Doughty said. The pair said the children "absolutely loved it".
Doughty grew up in Australia as one of four children. Without scholarships, she said, she would not have had the same career. She wants a place "where talent speaks first, not money". Children on Duets and their families get free show tickets, and for some it is their first live ballet.
James was appointed OBE in 2019 for services to ballet and community dance. Looking back, he said of the council: "They believed in me."
Source: BBC News