Welcome
I am delighted to welcome you to the 2023 Modern Ballet Graduation performances. The opportunity to be on stage is the highlight of the year for our students and particularly special for our graduates. The preparation for these performances started in February, when we invited four guest choreographers to Glasgow for an intensive rehearsal period to begin the creation of four of the works you will see on stage. Andrew McNicol, Daniel Davidson, Madeleine Squire and Nicholas Shoesmith each worked with a cohort of students to create, develop and rehearse these new pieces. This is an invaluable experience for the students – they learn how to contribute to a professional choreographic process, how to engage and pace themselves in rehearsals and how to adapt to a choreographer’s style and requirements.
Alongside continuing to rehearse these four works, some of our core team added their creative input – Diana Loosmore, Rowan McGregor and Fabrice Maufrais made new works which you will see performed. These diverse pieces are supplemented by traditional classical repertoire from The Sleeping Beauty. Finally, we are proud to include two student choreographies – the winner and highly commended entries from our annual choreographic competition, which was held in December. You will also witness the efforts of the production students during this performance, from stage management, to lighting, sound, costume, props and scenic artists, the ballet performance is a learning opportunity for more than just our dancers! We are grateful to them for their support.
The Modern Ballet programme at RCS has grown in both size and reputation since it started in 2009, which is down to the combined hard work of our talented students and the entire programme team, who are committed to providing the very best teaching and professional preparation. The performances you will see on stage are a result of the whole year’s work, as the students build their skills and experience in classes and rehearsals – we have a brilliant team of teachers and musicians who support the students’ learning. I am so grateful to all of them for the contribution each one of them makes and I would particularly like to thank Louisa Ross (Programme Co-ordinator) for everything she does for the students and staff on a daily basis.
I would also like to acknowledge the continued support of Scottish Ballet, which is so valuable to the students and staff alike.
We are privileged to be part of the journey of these amazing young artists – they inspire us and you will be impressed by their performances. Our 2023 graduates are a special group, who endured the longer restrictions of the pandemic at the start of their training and will graduate in a few weeks into the profession – they are talented, versatile dancers who are ready for their next steps.
Enjoy the show!