Elmhurst Ballet School has appointed to its board choreographer and director Mark Baldwin and Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal dancer Brandon Lawrence.
Baldwin joined Elmhurst’s Board days before the first UK lockdown. He established Mark Baldwin Dance Company during which time he created over 40 works for his own company and others around the world including The Royal Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Staatsoper Berlin and Rambert. In 2002, he returned to Rambert to take up the post of Director where he remained until 2018.
Brandon Lawrence joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2011 and was promoted to Soloist in 2016, First Soloist in 2018 and Principal in 2019. He created roles in George Williamson’s Embrace, Ruth Brill’s Arcadia, David Bintley’s The King Dances, Alexander Whitley’s Kin, Juanjo Arqués’s Ignite, Didy Veldman’s Sense of Time, Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces and Wink and Jack Lister's A Brief Nostalgia.
Baldwin said, “I am very proud to be on board at Elmhurst Ballet School. I choreographed Eleanor Alberga’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs based on the Roald Dahl story for the Elmhurst graduates in September 2019.
"The Elmhurst dancers were by turns humorous and deeply serious, relaxed but technical, all lovely qualities for a choreographer to work with. The power of inspired young people to express themselves has endless possibilities and I am so excited to be able to help nurture them during this phase of their development.”