Northern Ireland Youth Ballet Company, High Points Youth Ballet, will return this summer with Belfast International Ballet Festival welcoming dancers from across the world to the city.
From 28 July – 2 August 2025, over 100 students and professionals will train in a number of venues including the Crescent Arts and High Points Studios, culminating in a series of performances in the MAC celebrating local and international dance. Bringing masterclasses alongside performances, guest teachers and dancers based in USA, Turkey, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, Portugal, Ireland and Scotland will be joined by local dancers, composers and choreographers. Supported by Belfast City Council, over 60 dancers from Northern Ireland’s Ballet community will come together to share artistic talent, unleash creativity, celebrate diversity and embrace collaboration over the 6 days of dance and performance.
Photos by Sofia de Vasconcelos Lourenco featuring characters from The Fairy Doll.
Set to join this year’s illustrious line up Ayfer Zeren and Sara-Maria Barton will co-lead the festivals youth and adult dance master classes. From Istanbul, Ayfer boasts a remarkable career as a ballerina, artistic director and ballet educator. Working with Royal Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet and Bolshoi Theatre, she has performed across the world. Alongside Ayfer, Sara Maria Barton is Artistic Director of S-MB Company and has over 30 years of teaching experience as a Classical Ballet Tutor. An international medallist, Sara-Maria has worked with Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, and Scottish Ballet, and has danced across UK, Europe, USA, and China. Both Ayfer and Sara will bring their students to perform in the Festival performances at The MAC Belfast.
From America, Angela Zielen, Director of The Art Society at Loblolly Acres Delaware will participate in the festival. Angela has danced with the First State Ballet Theatre and is the former Assistant Director of the National Ballet Competition. Joining Angela from USA Stephen Everson will make his second visit to the festival. Trained at Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts, and Project Ballet, and former guest artist with Charleston Ballet Theatre, Stephen has performed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.
From the Ukraine, dancers Oleksii Kniazkov and Elizavita Gogidze will bring their extensive experience working in professional ballet and will dance a pas de deux (partner dance) from Le Corsaire. A classical ballet Elizaveta has danced on stages in Europe, Asia, Canada, Argentina, Dubai, USA and England. A graduate at Kyiv State Ballet School in Ukraine, she was the first soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine. Also from Ukraine, Oleksii Kniazkov is Principal dancer with Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Awarded the Grand Prix of International Dance in 2018, his many leading roles include Romeo and Juliet, Spartacus, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty.
This year five professional artists from Northern Ireland will join the festival, including as a Choreographer Belfast-native Anna McCoy, currently dancing with Semperoper Ballet Dresden, and co-founders of Six Dance Collective, Composer Amelia Clarkson from Donaghadee and Choreographer Ruaidhrí Maguire, currently working with Ballet Ireland. Dancers Anna Katherine McCoy and Leigh Alderson will perform a world premiere, Zlatý Motýlek (meaning Golden Butterfly), together, whilst Rachel Neale will perform a variation from Carmen. Current vocational students and alumni of HPYB’s training programme Georgia Crawford, Amy Crawford, and Lauren McConnell will perform during the festival, alongside former rugby player turned ballet dancer Oscar Hunter. Ballet Historian Amy Growcott will deliver a lecture on Saturday 2nd August whilst students from the Irish National Youth Ballet, directed by Lindsay Ashe-Browne, will perform a selection of the piece ‘Eclipse’ choreographed by Zoë Ashe-Browne.
High Points Youth Ballet, formed in 2011 under the leadership of Rana O’Brien, and its international team of Artistic Director Jake Allison and Creative Director Anna Carapellotti, are spearheading the festival. They will bring together leading dancers from home and across the world. Jake and Anna will deliver ballet technique classes and stage selections from classical repertoire on the High Points Youth Ballet dancers for two shows to be presented in the MAC on 1 and 2 August 2025.
Commenting ahead of Belfast International Ballet Festival, High Points Youth Ballet CEO, Rana O’Brien said: “We are delighted and excited to return with this event highlighting dance artists and educators from across the world and locally. The festival will feature numerous dancers who will collaborate to create new pieces. The festival will involve young dancers aged 10 and upwards, who will attend master classes at High Points studios and the Crescent Arts Centre studios. They will rehearse and perform 3 shows at the MAC on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 August, to showcase their skills and share their performances with family and friends.”
“To deliver such quality requires support and investment, and we appreciate the ongoing support from Belfast City Council through the cultural grants scheme,” concluded Rana.
Councillor Ian McLaughlin, Chair of Belfast City Council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee, said: “Council is delighted to support High Points Youth Ballet and their hosting of this year’s Belfast International Ballet Festival.
“Belfast has a thriving cultural and arts scene and our community plan, Belfast Agenda, recognises culture and creativity as essential to delivering better health and well-being for our citizens. Events like this play a vital role in our cultural strategy, A City Imagining, and provide an opportunity to inspire and nurture our next generation of creative talent in the city.”
During the festival Anna Carapellotti, a dance researcher, will deliver a dance class for people living with Parkinson’s on Friday 1 August. This class will feature music and adapted repertoire to be featured in the gala performances. Anna obtained a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast in 2022 studying the impact of dance for people living with Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
The week-long festival will culminate in two shows on Friday 1 August (evening performance) and Saturday 2 August (afternoon matinee). For tickets, visit www.maclive.com. Follow @belfastballetfestival for updates.
For festival information visit www.highpointsballet.org.uk/belfast-international-ballet-festival