Annemarie is an experienced dance educator and Pilates specialist with a career spanning three decades across community, vocational, and professional training settings. A BA (Hons) Dance graduate from Bretton Hall, she began her career teaching GCSE and Key Stage 3 dance before joining Northern Ballet in 1995. Over nearly 30 years with the organisation, Annemarie has held a wide range of artistic, teaching, pastoral, and managerial roles, contributing significantly to the development of the Academy of Northern Ballet.
In 2024, she was appointed Head of Academy Programmes (Associate & Graduate) at Northern Ballet, where she co-leads daily operations, artistic direction, safeguarding, and the continued evolution of training pathways. Alongside her dance expertise, Annemarie offers specialised Pilates tuition including reformer, mat-work, and older-adult practice. With extensive qualifications in dance, Pilates, and safeguarding, she is committed to accessible, holistic training that nurtures dancers of all ages and abilities.
Pippa is a distinguished former Premier Dancer with Northern Ballet and an accomplished teacher, artistic associate, and audio description specialist. Trained at The Hammond Lower School and The Royal Ballet Upper School, she enjoyed a celebrated international performing career from 1992, joining Northern Ballet in 1996 and rising to Premier Dancer in 2009. Her acclaimed performances earned her multiple award nominations, including National Dance Awards recognition, and consistent listings among Dance Europe’s Top 100 Dancers.
Since 2019, Pippa has served as Classical Ballet Teacher, Artistic Associate, and Audience Engagement & Audio Description Artist at Northern Ballet. She trains and mentors Academy students, teaches company class, leads rehearsals, and creates audio-described content for stage and screen. Passionate about accessibility, she delivers workshops, talks, and touch tours for diverse audiences, including visually impaired communities. Highly active in outreach and sector development, Pippa has contributed to national panels, public speaking events, and international arts discussions. She was awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to dance.
Nic is an accomplished ballet teacher, choreographer, and former First Soloist with Northern Ballet. Trained at the English National Ballet School, Nic enjoyed a distinguished performance career, dancing leading and featured roles in works by David Nixon, Cathy Marston, Kenneth MacMillan, Hans Van Manen, and numerous other renowned choreographers. His repertoire includes major roles in The Nutcracker, The Three Musketeers, Wuthering Heights, Peter Pan, Giselle, Dracula, The Great Gatsby, and 1984, as well as multiple original creations.
Since transitioning into teaching, Nic has developed extensive experience across youth, pre-professional, professional, and adult training covering ballet technique, repertoire, strength, audition preparation, and choreography. His teaching is rooted in a science-based approach shaped by training with Yoko Ichino, emphasising individuality, artistry, and healthy technique. Nic also creates original choreography and holds qualifications in yoga, life coaching, and breathwork.
Amanda (ARAD AIDTA) is an accomplished ballet professional whose career spans performance, teaching, choreography, and artistic leadership. Trained at the Lupino Theatre School and the Royal Ballet Upper School, she went on to dance with the London Festival Ballet/English National Ballet from 1980 to 1989, performing numerous soloist roles and working with renowned choreographers including Rudolf Nureyev, Sir Frederick Ashton, Christopher Bruce, and Alvin Ailey. Her acclaimed character work earned her a Dance and Dancers Award nomination. Amanda later expanded into musical theatre, with West End credits in Chess and Phantom of the Opera.
Transitioning into teaching, she taught at KS Dance, London Studio Centre, Northern Ballet School, and the Academy of Northern Ballet. She has held key roles at English National Ballet, including assistant to the Artistic Director and company manager. Today, she is a respected classical teacher, adjudicator, choreographer, and mentor across leading UK training institutions.
Charlotte is a versatile performer, facilitator, and director whose work spans contemporary dance, community engagement, and interdisciplinary creative practice. A First-Class BA and Distinction-level Master’s graduate of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, she has developed a wide-ranging career across performance, teaching, and arts project leadership. Charlotte works extensively with Northern Ballet, NSCD, FRONTLINEdance and ACCA Dance Theatre, contributing as a tutor, performer, choreographer, and co-director.
Her delivery within early years, primary and secondary contexts uses movement as a vehicle to teach national curriculum as well as to support children and young people's emotional, creative and sensory development. Charlotte's commitment to creating a safe, inclusive space to learn and explore movement is the backbone of her delivery and is carried through into her education, professional and community facilitation work. Her performance portfolio includes immersive theatre, touring productions, screendance commissions, and international collaborations. As co-director of ACCA Dance Theatre, she creates and tours original work exploring intergenerational and socially engaged themes.
Sam is a sports scientist with a broad skillset, developed through his experience working across a range of sports including football, rugby league, and Olympic weightlifting. He specialises in the design and delivery of long-term physical development plans working with individuals at all levels of their physical development.
He recently completed a PhD focused on the physical development of youth rugby league players, and now applies this knowledge and expertise to support the development of dancers at Northern Ballet. Sam is particularly skilled in managing and analysing athlete profiling data to inform holistic development, which dovetails the Academy teaching methodology to support dancers’ technical development and fitness.
Header photo taken by Emily Nuttall.