Join us for a very special morning of masterclasses hosted by Steven McRae.
Steven McRae Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet Opera and member of Northern Ballet Board of directors will be hosting an exclusive morning of workshops, alongside a Q&A and photo opportunity with Steven at our Headquarters in Leeds. Guardians of all three workshops will be invited to observe the Q&A session alongside students.
For students aged 7-14 each of our workshops will provide either a technique based or creative class and will be taught by either Steven McRae or former Associate Director of the Academy Cara O’Shea.
On the day, there will be the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Steven’s recently released book ‘Anything is Possible with Ballet’ and Steven will give Academy students an insight into the book’s themes and inspiration.
Steven McRae Masterclass 1
For Ages 9-11
Teacher: Steven McRae
Timetable: Technique workshop, photo opportunity and Q&A
Ages: 9-11
Price: £45
Date: 19 October 2025
Time: 9:40-11:35
Steven McRae Masterclass 2
For Ages 12-14
Teacher: Steven McRae
Timetable: Technique workshop, photo opportunity and Q&A
Ages: 12-14
Price: £45
Date: 19 October 2025
Time: 11:15-13:20
Creative Workshop
For Ages 7-8
Teacher: Cara O'Shea, followed by Q&A and photo with Steven McRae
Timetable: Creative ballet class, Q&A and group photo with Steven
Ages: 7-8
Price: £18
Date: 19 October 2025
Time: 10:00-11:35
Steven McRae
Steven McRae is an Australian ballet dancer. He is known for his work as a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet and portrays Skimbleshanks in the 2019 film adaptation of Cats. McRae has performed as a guest artist with companies including American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, Australian Ballet, Tokyo Ballet and at numerous international galas. His awards include the 2006 Emerging Male Artist (Classical) and the 2011 Best Male Dancer awards at the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. In 2014 he was named Young Australian Achiever in the UK by the Australia Day Foundation. He lives in London with his young family.
Cara O’Shea
Cara O’Shea has 17 years experience teaching and in Artistic leadership roles at the Academy of Northern Ballet, most recently leaving the Academy as our Deputy Associate Director. Cara comes with a wealth of teaching experience with a specialism in teaching both recreational and professional classes.
Cara trained with London Junior Ballet and was a Cecchetti Scholar. At age 16 she joined Northern Ballet School in Manchester on the Classical Ballet focus where she decided to concentrate on teaching as a career, training for an additional year to obtain teaching experience at the school.
Cara joined the Academy of Northern Ballet as a trainee classical ballet teacher in 2007 and had had the unique opportunity of training intensively as a teacher under the personal supervision of Yoko Ichino, former Ballet Mistress and Associate Director of the Academy. Cara received her teaching certificate from Northern Ballet in 2009 and recently left the Academy to pursue new ventures.
Alongside teaching, in 2009 Cara completed her B.A. in Professional Practice (Classical Ballet) from Middlesex University.
Cara has taught at several different training establishments including Northern Ballet School, NSCD, Renaissance Scholars, Chelmsford Ballet Company as well as guesting at summer intensive and now runs Dance Pro Tuition.
Associate Division
The Associate programme enhances the training of many excellent dance schools in the north, offering weekly classes in facilities used by Northern Ballet's professional dancers.
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Centre for Advanced Training
We are the only Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) in classical ballet in the UK, equipping students aged 10-16 with skills to progress onto professional vocational dance training.
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Professional Graduate Programme
Our Professional Graduate Programme is a one year traineeship designed to bridge the gap between full-time training and professional performance.
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