CityLife

Triple bill - English National Ballet

THE centrepiece of this English National Ballet Triple Bill, also including George Balanchine's Apollo and Who Cares?, is the World Premiere of Double Concerto, a new ballet by Middleton-born choreographer Christopher Hampson.

He started his ballet career at the age of six, when the Northern Ballet Theatre was looking for a young child for their production of Madame Butterfly.

"To be honest, at first I enjoyed being in the theatre more than ballet as such," he admits.

"I enjoyed dancing, it was something private to me, rather than being in the football team. I suppose there's always a bit of a stigma once a boy starts performing ballet - we all know kids are cruel - but I would imagine that Billy Elliot has changed people's perceptions, that it has enabled people to understand the discipline and determination that ballet entails."

A dancer with the English National Ballet from 1992-99, Hampson has proven his talent as a choreographer with three one-act ballets for ENB and, most recently, with their version of A Christmas Carol. The new ballet is based on music by Francis Poulenc and, Hampson proudly says, represents "an extravagant re-imagining of the tutu ballet."

Opera House, Quay Street. 7.30pm. £5-£15. Also tomorrow (Wednesday) 2.30pm and 7.30pm.