In 1995 Gabi Braun was asked to produce a short documentary about English National Ballet's Education Unit, and its innovative 'Striking a Balance' project.


Striking a Balance set out to encourage male participation in dance and to bring the rich resources of English National Ballet to young people throughout the country. A successful model of work was created on three groups of young people including a group of London boys in 1993 - 1994, funded by a Sainsbury's Arts Education Award. The video documentary centres on the next stage of the project which took place in East London in 1995.

The video introduces the viewer to the type of work that the Education Unit undertakes and then more specifically to the details of the East London project. Initial workshops in East London schools provided a basic dance vocabulary to hundreds of young people and included a visit to the theatre where a company demonstration took place. The demonstration showed the structure of the dancers' daily warm up and then exerpts from the ballet repertoire (in this case Romeo and Juliet). It also gave an opportunity for the young people to talk with company members at the end of the session. Following the initial workshop, the young people then had the opportunity to sign up for an all-male youth group and to work with the choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan in making a new dance piece.

The youth group experience included bringing in some company dancers and other elements of full ballet productions - an important part of the role of the Education Unit, particularly with a national company and all of the resources it can offer. Having seen the company dancers at close range, most participants try even harder in their own dancing. Leaps and jumps were taken as a real challenge by the boys and young men.

Enquiries to English National Ballet should be addressed to:
The Education Unit,
English National Ballet, Markova House, 39 Jay Mews, London SW7 2ES
Tel; 44 (0)207 581 1245 fax; 44 (0)207 225 0827

Key personnel:
Producer - Gabi Braun, Illuminations Interactive
Director - Edward Philpott
Project Director for ENB - Ginny Brown, Senior Dance Officer