English National Ballet
General Information
Name	English National Ballet
Previous Names	The Festival Ballet London Festival Ballet
Year Founded	1950
Founders	Dame Alicia Markova Sir Anton Dolin
Patron	HRH The Duke of York
Principal venue	Markova House 39 Jay Mews London England SW7 2ES  UK
Website	www.ballet.org.uk
Senior Staff
Director	Craig Hassall
Repetiteurs	Antony Dowson Maina Gielgud Yuri Uchiumi Kerry West Rosalyn Whitten
Artistic Staff
Artistic Director	Wayne Eagling
Music Director	Gavin Sutherland
Other
Associated Schools	English National Ballet School
Formation	Senior Principal Principal Character Artist First Soloist Soloist Junior Soloist First Artist Artist

English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. Along with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the four major ballet companies in Great Britain. English National Ballet is one of the foremost touring companies in Europe, performing in theatres throughout the UK as well as conducting international tours and performing at special events. The company employs approximately 65 dancers and a symphony orchestra, and there is also an associate school, the English National Ballet School, which is independent from the ballet company. The company regularly performs seasons at the London Coliseum and has been noted for specially staged performances at the Royal Albert Hall, the Concert for Diana^[1] and for producing a new ballet based on the animated TV character Angelina Ballerina.^[2] The Patron of English National Ballet is HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

History[link]

The English National Ballet was originally founded in 1950 by the renowned British dance couple, Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin.

Markova and Dolin were leading stars of the Ballets Russes, one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century. After the death of its director Serge Diaghilev in 1929, the company was disbanded and in 1931, one of its dancers, Ninette de Valois, founded the Vic-Wells Ballet company in London, with Markova and Dolin as Principal dancers, Markova becoming Prima Ballerina in 1933. Markova and Dolin left the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1935 to tour as the Markova-Dolin company and following the success of their performances, they decided to form their own company with the sole purpose being to tour both nationally and internationally, taking ballet to audiences that had not had the opportunity to see the art form.

Elena Glurdjidze as Swanilda & Aroniel Vargas as Franz in the ENB's production of Coppélia. Southampton's Mayflower Theatre. Also in the picture (bowing) is Michael Coleman as Dr. Coppelius.

The London Festival Ballet was founded in 1950 with the financial backing of the Polish impresario Julian Braunsweg. The name was inspired by the then imminent Festival of Britain, however the company would later be renamed to today's English National Ballet. Dolin was the company's first Artistic Director and established the company as a touring group both nationally in the UK and Internationally, touring abroad for the first time in 1951. Dolin also introduced a number of educational programs in the early years, deigned to make ballet accessible to new audiences. Dolin remained as artistic director until 1962, succeeded by John Gilpin, who was also principal dancer with the company from 1950 to 1960 and 1962 to 1971. The company grew in size and status, undertaking extensive national and international tours, presenting a new generation of dancers—all while repeatedly facing bankruptcy. Braunsweg left in 1965 and Donald Albery took over until 1968, stabilising the budget with safer programming. Former Royal Ballet dancer Beryl Grey directed the company (now named the London Festival Ballet) from 1968 to 1979, raising technical standards, touring widely and inviting prominent guest stars and choreographers including Leonide Massine and Rudolf Nureyev, who picked ballerina Eva Evdokimova to be his first Princess Aurora in his production of The Sleeping Beauty in 1975. Evdokimova in turn became the prima ballerina of the company under Grey's leadership and continued to reign under successive directors John Field and Peter Schaufuss.

It was Evdokimova who suggested to change the name to English National Ballet to reflect the company's role as Britain's only classical ballet company dedicated to touring ballets nationwide at an affordable price for audiences. The name change was implemented in 1989.

Ivan Nagy (until 1993), Derek Deane (until 2001) and Matz Skoog (until 2006) directed the company before Wayne Eagling, former head of Dutch National Ballet, took over in 2006. In April 2012, following the February sudden announcement of resignation by Eagling, principal dancer for the Royal Ballet Tamara Rojo was announced to become his successor at the end of the 2012 season, in August of that year.^[3]

People[link]

Artistic Directors:

• Sir Anton Dolin, 1950–1962
• John Gilpin, 1962–1968
• Dame Beryl Grey, 1968–1979
• John Field, 1979–1984
• Peter Schaufuss, 1984–1990
• Ivan Nagy, 1990–1993
• Derek Deane, 1993–2001
• Matz Skoog, 2001–2006
• Wayne Eagling, 2006–2012
• Tamara Rojo ^[4] starting Autumn 2012

Dancers[link]

Parts of this section (those related to current dancers) are outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (January 2012)

The company's dancers are listed on the official website with photographs and linked biographies.^[5]

Senior Principals[link]

Name	Nationality	Training	Joined ENB	Rank	Other Companies
Elena Glurdjidze	Georgia	Tbilisi Choreographic School Vaganova Ballet Academy	2002[6]	Senior Principal	Russian Ballet Company St Petersburg State Academic Ballet St Petersburg Ballet Theatre
Dmitri Gruzdyev	Russia	Vaganova Ballet Academy	1993[6]	Senior Principal	Kirov Ballet
Daria Klimentová[7][8]	Czech Republic	Prague Conservatory	1996[6]	Senior Principal	National Theatre Ballet, Prague Cape Town City Ballet Scottish Ballet
Fernanda Oliveira	Brazil	Centro de Dança, Rio de Janeiro Royal Ballet School	2000	Senior Principal	Chilean National Ballet
Erina Takahashi	Japan	Kushiro Ballet Academy English National Ballet School	1996	Senior Principal

Principals[link]

Name	Nationality	Training	Joined ENB	Rank	Other Companies
Begoña Cao	United Kingdom	Arts Educational School Royal Ballet School	1997	Principal
Yat-Sen Chang	Cuba	Cuban National Ballet School	1993[6]	Principal	Cuban National Ballet Jeune Ballet de France
Sarah McIlroy	United Kingdom	Royal Ballet School	1992	Principal
Vadim Muntagirov[8]	Russia	Perm Ballet School, Royal Ballet School	2009[9]	Principal
Aroniel Vargas	Cuba	Cuban National Ballet School Laura Alonso & Ivan Montreal	2004	Principal	Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Character Artists[link]

• Jane Haworth

First Soloists[link]

Soloists[link]

Junior Soloists[link]

First Artists[link]

Simone Clarke[link]

In 2006/7, English National Ballet was the focus of the British media after The Guardian newspaper reported on 21 December 2006 that Principal dancer Simone Clarke was a member of the far-right British National Party.^[11] Following the report, a number of other stories appeared in the press and on television and Clarke became known as the "BNP Ballerina".^[12]

The British National Party is a minor, but legitimate political party in the United Kingdom that is widely criticised for its apparently extremist and racist policies. Clarke admitted being a member of the BNP, stating that her reason was to oppose mass immigration in Britain. She voiced her belief that the BNP was the only political party willing to take a stand against immigration, stating that she would continue to be a member of the party.^[13] Following a number of stories in the press and a protest at the Coliseum by anti-racism protesters, Clarke refused to comment further on the issue and English National Ballet denied calls to terminate her employment, releasing the following statement:

"English National Ballet does not comment on political affiliations of any of its employees nor any other aspects of their personal lives. Any personal view expressed by one of our employees should not be considered as endorsed by the company. English National Ballet is an equal opportunities employer and prides itself in the ethnic diversity of all its employees."

Clarke has a daughter with her former partner Yat-Sen Chang, who is currently a Principal with English National Ballet and is of Chinese-Cuban origin. She retired from professional dance in 2007 and opened her own school.

See also[link]

• Birmingham Royal Ballet
• English National Ballet School
• The Royal Ballet

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Postings
• Strictly Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall
• Youtube: English Ballet Company: Swan Lake

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Vivienne Westwood
Westwood in 2008.
Born	Vivienne Isabel Swire (1941-04-08) 8 April 1941 (age 71) Tintwistle, Derbyshire, England
Nationality	British
Education	University of Westminster, Middlesex University
Occupation	Fashion designer/Businesswoman
Spouse	Sam Westwood (1962–65) (divorced); 1 child Andreas Kronthaler (since 1992)
Children	Ben Westwood (born 1963) Joseph Corré (born 1967)
Awards	British Fashion Designer of the Year 1990, 1991 and 2006.
Labels	Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI (born Vivienne Isabel Swire on 8 April 1941) is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.^[1]

Life and career[link]

Early life of Vivienne Westwood[link]

Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in the village of Tintwistle, Derbyshire^{[N 1]} on 8 April 1941,^[2] the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of World War II.^[3] At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer.^[3]

Aged 17, Vivienne and her family moved to Harrow, London. She studied at the Harrow School of Art - University of Westminster, taking fashion and silversmithing, but she left after one term saying, "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world".^[4] After taking up a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary school teacher.^[2] During this period, she also created her own jewellery, which she would sell at a stall on Portobello Road.^[2]

In 1961, Vivienne Swire met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory apprentice, in Harrow.^[5] They married on 21 July 1962 and Vivienne made her own wedding dress for the ceremony.^[5] In 1963, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin Westwood.^[5]

Malcolm McLaren[link]

When she met Malcolm McLaren, it signified the end of Westwood's marriage to Derek. Westwood and McLaren moved to a council flat in Clapham. Westwood continued to teach until 1971 when Malcolm decided to open a boutique at 430 King's Road called "Let It Rock" (later known variously as "Sex", "Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die", and "Seditionaries") and now Worlds Ends, where Westwood sells her Vivienne Westwood label clothing.

Westwood created clothes which McLaren conceived, drawing inspiration from bikers, fetishists and prostitutes.^[6] During this period, McLaren became manager of the punk band Sex Pistols and subsequently the two garnered attention as the band wore Westwood and McLaren's designs. While living in their flat in Clapham, Westwood and McLaren had a child, another son, named Joseph.^{[citation needed]}

Punk era[link]

Westwood was deeply interested in the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way".^[5] The "punk style" included BDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewellery, as well as outrageous make-up and hair. Essential design elements include the adoption of traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric. Amongst the more unusual elements of her style is the use of historical 17th and 18th century cloth cutting principles, and reinterpreting these in, for instance, radical cutting lines to men's trousers. Use of these traditional elements make the overall effect of her designs more shocking.

Vivienne Westwood company[link]

Westwood has five exclusively-owned shops; three in London, one in Leeds, and one in Milan. Franchise stores are located in Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, three in Manchester (Spring Gardens in the city centre and two others)^{[citation needed]} and most recently, in FH Mall, Nottingham (20 March 2008), and in Blake Street, York (11 September 2008).^{[citation needed]} She also has showrooms in Milan, Paris and Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Artistic collections[link]

The pair of heels designed by Westwood in which Naomi Campbell famously stumbled while modelling at Westwood's fashion show in 1993^[7]

Her first catwalk show was presented in 1981, featuring the collaboration of Westwood and McLaren. The theme that year was Pirates.^[8] Subsequent Westwood's theme titles in the early years included Savage (1982), Buffalo Girls (Autumn/Winter 1982–83) and Clint Eastwood, (Autumn-Winter 1984–85) under the Worlds Ends Label she stopped producing the line in 1985 to concertrate on her Vivienne Westwood Lines. Vivienne Westwood says (“Sometimes you need to transport your idea to an empty landscape and then populate it with fantastic looking people.”).^[8]

She dubbed the period 1981 to 1985 New romantice and 1988 -1991 "The Pagan Years" during which "Vivienne’s heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to ‘Tatler’ girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class."^[9] The period from 1993 to 1999 she called "Anglomania" and from 2000 to the present – "Exploration".^[10][11]

Her Autumn/Winter 2005/06 Propaganda Collection drew inspiration from her archive, reinterpreting designs using Wolford's exclusive knitting technology. Westwood has worked in close collaboration with Wolford since 2003.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, she collaborated with Nine West, whose shoes are not designed directly by Westwood, however the Nine West brand name shares its label with Westwood. Westwood's Gold Label and MAN hats are created by Prudence Millinery. In December 2003, she and the Wedgwood pottery company launched a series of tea sets featuring her designs.^{[citation needed]}

The first major retrospective of her work was shown in 2004–5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A's extensive collection. The designs ranged from early punk garments to glamorous "historical" evening gowns.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2011 her collections were presented at the catwalk of The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.^[12]

Notable clients and commissions[link]

Princess Eugenie wore three different Westwood designs for the pre-wedding dinner, the wedding ceremony and the after-wedding party at the 2011 royal wedding.^[13]
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wore Westwood to Royal Ascot in 2009. ^[14]

Artistic influence[link]

Westwood has influenced the launch of the careers of other designers into the British fashion industry. She employed the services of Patrick Cox to design shoes for her Clint Eastwood collection in 1984. The result was a prototype for nine-inch-heeled shoes like the ones worn by supermodel Naomi Campbell when she fell during a Westwood fashion show in Paris in 1993.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sex and the City

Westwood's designs were featured in the 2008 film adaptation of the television series Sex and the City. In the film, Carrie Bradshaw becomes engaged to long term lover Mr. Big. Being a writer at Vogue, her editor invites her to model wedding dresses, including a design made by Westwood. The dress is subsequently sent to Carrie as a gift, with a handwritten note from Westwood herself, and Carrie decides to use the Westwood gown.

However, despite being invited to participate in the making of the movie, Westwood was unimpressed with the costuming by renowned stylist Patricia Field. She walked out of the film's London premiere after 10 minutes, publicly criticising the clothing featured as being frumpy and boring.^{[citation needed]} The wedding dress has been described as one of the movie's most iconic features, leading Westwood to approach the producers about being involved in making a sequel.^[15]

Political involvement[link]

Westwood is widely known as a political activist.

In April 1989 Westwood appeared on the cover of Tatler dressed as then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The suit which Westwood wore had been ordered for Thatcher but had not yet been delivered.^[16] Westwood's appearance on Tatler reportedly infuriated Thatcher.^[16] The cover, which bore the title "this woman was once a punk", has become memorable cover for the magazine and was included in The Guardian's list of the best ever UK magazine covers.^[17] Additionally, the cover date, April 1989, on the magazine bears the words "April fool".^[18]

Dame Vivienne stated on television in 2007 that she had transferred her long standing support for the Labour Party to the Conservative Party, over the issues of civil liberties and human rights.^[19]

On Easter Sunday 2008, she campaigned in person at the biggest Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament demonstration in ten years, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, Berkshire.^[20]

In September 2005, Westwood joined forces with the British civil rights group Liberty and launched exclusive limited design T-shirts and baby wear bearing the slogan I AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don't arrest me. Westwood said she was supporting the campaign and defending habeas corpus. "When I was a schoolgirl, my history teacher, Mr. Scott, began to take classes in civic affairs. The first thing he explained to us was the fundamental rule of law embodied in habeas corpus. He spoke with pride of civilisation and democracy. The hatred of arbitrary arrest by the lettres de cachet of the French monarchy caused the storming of the Bastille. We can only take democracy for granted if we insist on our liberty", she said.^[21] The sale of the £50 T-shirts raised funds for the organisation.

Active Resistance Manifesto[link]

In a 2007 interview she spoke out against what she perceive as the "drug of consumerism",^[22] and she attended the première of The Age of Stupid, a film aiming to motivate the public to act against climate change.^[23]

She later created a manifesto of Active Resistance to Propaganda,^{[24][clarification needed]} which deals with the pursuit of art in relation to the human predicament and climate change.^[25] In her manifesto, she "penetrates to the root of the human predicament and offers the underlying solution. We have the choice to become more cultivated and therefore more human – or by muddling along as usual we shall remain the destructive and self-destroying animal, the victim of our own cleverness."^[26]

Against the claim that anti-consumerism and fashion contradict each other, she said in 2007 that "I don't feel comfortable defending my clothes. But if you've got the money to afford them, then buy something from me. Just don't buy too much."^[25]

Vivienne Westwood's London[link]

In January 2011, Westwood was featured in a Canadian-made television documentary called Vivienne Westwood's London in which she takes the viewer through her favourite parts of London, including the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Wallace Collection, Whitechapel (accompanied by Sarah Stockbridge), Hampton Court, the London Symphony Orchestra, Brixton Market and Electric Avenue, and the National Gallery. Her purpose, she said, was to share her love of high culture and to impress its importance on the current generation: "I love this city and its culture. I want to encourage people to love art and believe that culture can save the world. Culture is about people's outlook on the world and along with art, is the anchor that holds us together as a people and gives life greater meaning."^[27]

Recognition[link]

In 1992, Westwood was awarded an OBE, which she collected from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.^[28] At the ceremony, Westwood was knicker-less, which was later captured by a photographer in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. Westwood later said "I wished to show off my outfit by twirling the skirt. It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected",^[29] and added "I have heard that the picture amused the Queen".^[29] Westwood advanced from OBE to DBE in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for services to fashion,^[28] and has thrice earned the award for British Designer of the Year.

Personal life[link]

Dame Vivienne Westwood is currently married to her former fashion student, Austrian-born Andreas Kronthaler. For 30 years Westwood lived in the council flat in Clapham until, in 2000, Kronthaler convinced Westwood to move into a Queen Anne style house built in 1703, which once belonged to the mother of Captain Cook.^[30] Westwood does not watch television or read newspapers or magazines. However she is a keen gardener.^[31]

Children[link]

• Ben Westwood, son of Vivienne and Derek Westwood, is a photographer of erotica.
• Joseph Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, is the founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.^[32]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vivienne Westwood

• Official website
• Vivienne Westwood designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• The Incomplete Sordid works of Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren for their stores SEX and Seditionaries
• "Vivienne Westwood exhibition website, featuring resources and activities". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1231_vivienne_westwood/. 
• Vivienne Westwood on ELLE TV