Return to the UK!

Big news! I have returned to the UK after two wonderful years in Düsseldorf. I am so grateful for the invaluable experience and the beautiful people I met during my time in Germany.

I decided to return to the UK in summer 2022, and led The National Youth Ballet of Great Britain through their summer season as Artistic Director. The season, named ‘re|generation’, marked a triumphant return to the stage after several very difficult years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Promotional material for National Youth Ballet’s ‘re|generation’ season. Photo: Mark Senior, Design: HDK

We completed an intensive 9 day rehearsal period at Elmhurst Ballet School, followed by three performances at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham and a Gala Performance at Sadler’s Wells in London.

I was so incredibly proud and grateful to take on this role during this very special season, as I am passionate about the work NYB is doing to provide empowering and enriching opportunities for young people.

I am now based in London working on a freelance basis in the UK and abroad, and am excited to take all the skills and experiences I have gained into the next chapter. Thank you Ballett am Rhein and National Youth Ballet!

I'm in Germany!

I’m six months into my first season at Ballett am Rhein, where I’ve been invited to become a ballet master. I’m really happy to work for this wonderful company and its new director Demis Volpi!

Something that makes this company really special is that the team is made up of very forward thinking people, and includes several people younger than the average demographic on the staff of ballet companies. While ballet is a very traditional art form, in order for it to survive in a functional and healthy way in the 21st century it needs fresh ideas and examination of how its working practices can be improved. This ranges from providing good support for dancers’ mental health, to offering realistic and nurturing ways for dancers to come back from pregnancy, to opening up the range of conversations around representation and diversity, and more!

The part that is really personal to me is queer female representation. As an openly queer woman I feel the need more than ever for this part of the LGBTQ+ community to have better representation in the ballet world. In my twenties I went through many years of feeling alone and like something was ‘wrong’ with me, as I found it near impossible to find any representation in the ballet world, off or on stage. Since starting work at Ballett am Rhein I have felt comfortable to express who I am, for the first time in the parts of my career that have taken place in ballet companies. I feel supported not only in my identity, but also in my desire to speak on the subject and help drive the wider change in the ballet world. I’m really grateful for this acceptance and support, and excited to see where the ballet world can go!

New choreography is on the way! Stay tuned for more...

I’m happy to say that this year I am creating pieces for Encore Dance Company and Outside Edge Theatre Company, as well as reviving a piece I choreographed in 2010 for Ballet Central, this time for the first years at Central School of Ballet. Plus, watch this space for another exciting announcement soon…

Encore Dance Company 2019

Encore Dance Company 2019

Encore Dance Company is made up of third year students at Tring Park, and this year Director Antony Dowson is bringing together the ballet and musical theatre students to create an evening of works inspired by the Moulin Rouge! I had a great time working with the students last week to create a neo-classical piece which will open the show. The production will be on tour around the UK, and will be performed here in London at the Lilian Baylis on 30th March, matinee and evening! Tickets at www.tringpark.com. Come and support the next generation of dancers!

Outside Edge Theatre Company: Check in/Check out

Outside Edge Theatre Company: Check in/Check out

I am also creating a piece for Outside Edge Theatre Company, whose work focuses on substance misuse and recovery. I am really enjoying working with this group to create a dance piece which will appear in their new production, ‘Check in/Check out’. The show explores the performers’ personal stories of recovery through text and movement inspired by the 12 steps of recovery as put forward by Alcoholics Anonymous. Outside Edge was set up in 1998 by Phil Fox, an actor and himself a former addict, and the company’s mission statement is: To change the lives of people affected by addiction through theatre and drama. ‘Check in/Check out’ will be performed at Vault Festival on 6-10 March, tickets at www.vaultfestival.com. For more info on Outside Edge please visit www.edgetc.org.

Almost ten years ago I created ‘Twin Figures’ for Ballet Central, Central School of Ballet’s graduate touring company. It was a wonderful experience and I was very happy with the piece, which toured nationally in 2010. I’m very pleased to say that this year Central School of Ballet will revive the piece for the school’s summer performances, and I will be extending the cast of nine to make a new version for around twenty dancers. I’m so excited to get started on reworking this piece, and I’m very grateful to Christopher Marney at Central School of Ballet for inviting me to revive it! Performances at The Bloomsbury Theatre on the 18th and 19th of July, booking details will follow shortly!

Nicole Kabera in Twin Figures

Nicole Kabera in Twin Figures

I’m so excited to be working with so many people on a really diverse and inspiring range of projects! Watch this space as I also have another exciting commission coming up which I will be able to announce very soon!



Thank you National Youth Ballet!

I had a fantastic couple of weeks creating a brand new piece for National Youth Ballet! I created 'Ada', a neoclassical piece for 32 young women, inspired by the life and work of mathematician Ada Lovelace. We performed at The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham and at Sadler's Wells in London! The dancers were fantastic and the whole team at NYB is just amazing. Please see lovely review below by David Mead from seeing dance.com!

'Best of what is a very good bunch of new ballets is Ada by former English National Ballet and Royal Swedish Ballet dancer Louise Bennett. Based on the life and work of Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century English mathematician and writer, known primarily for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Neoclassical in outlook, the choreography is busy but well-structured as it connects mathematics and art through some impressive patterning. Young choreographers often struggle to handle a large ensemble but Bennett does so most adeptly, small groups emerging from and rejoining the crowd with ease. With not much place to hide mistakes, the dancing needed to be clean and together and was. I liked Tessa Balls’ clean, simple costumes too. I wanted more!'