Trained at the Ballet Rambert School in London, Niall joined Scottish Ballet in 1981, where he worked with choreographers including Peter Darrell, Christopher Bruce and Michael Clark and performed in works by Bournonville, Cranko, Kylian, Prokovsky and Muldoon. He created and performed many solo roles during his years with the company and performed at festivals in the USA and Australia as well as in Turkey, Italy, Spain and Cyprus.

When a recurring injury curtailed his ballet career, Niall changed track and performed in a number of internationally-acclaimed commercial shows including the Moulin Rouge, Paris, and elsewhere including Monte Carlo and South Korea. In 1993 he established the John Field Memorial Ballet Seminar which quickly gained an international reputation for its rigour and for the high quality of teaching it offered. Niall is a highly respected ballet master, having worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre, Scottish Ballet and Northern Ballet Theatre. He has taught for the Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst (Birmingham) and the Royal Academy of Dance, as well as at summer schools in the UK and abroad, and for five years under Nadine Senior was Senior Lecturer in Ballet at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. He is a Panel Assessor for the Council for Dance Education & Training (CDET) and a highly sought after dance consultant.

Having co-created New English Contemporary Ballet, his direction has quickly established the company’s reputation as a major contributor to the developing UK dance scene and is leading the way for audiences bringing significant UK premieres by Richard Wherlock, George Balanchine, Davide Bombana and Patrick Delcroix.

Trained at Edinburgh University as an art historian, Joanne has spent most of her career lecturing and publishing in the field of late medieval and renaissance art at the University of Nottingham whilst concurrently directing the exhibition programme at the Djanogly Art Gallery. Over the years she was responsible for more than 200 exhibitions which brought works by such masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Rubens, Constable, Gainsborough, Turner, Monet, Rossetti and Whistler to East Midlands’ audiences. Many exhibitions of modern and contemporary art were also mounted under her curatorship.

Hers was the vision which led to the creation of Lakeside Arts Centre, which she was instrumental in developing and supervising up to its opening in 2001. She also planned and delivered the first season of work for the Djanogly Theatre.

Since leaving Lakeside in 2002, Joanne has worked as Director for Enterprise in the Arts and Creative Industries Engagement at UNIEI (Nottingham University Business School). In this capacity and in partnership with Niall McMahon she has developed New English Contemporary Ballet as a dance company of international quality and as a model for business entrepreneurship in the creative industries.

Born in Thionville, France, Benoit studied at the École de Danse Opéra de Paris, directed by Claude Bessy. He continued his training at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Danse de Paris.

Benoit joined the Junior Ballet de Paris where he performed works such as Apollo (Balanchine), Mythologie Plastique (Ashley Page), Light Fandango (Robert North) and Jewish Songs (Douglas Becker). In 1998 he joined Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montréal where performed a range of works by Balanchine, Forsythe, Duato, Niels Christie and Weldman among others.

In 2001 he joined Ballett Basel under direction of Richard Wherlock where his roles have included Peer Gynt (wedding pas de deux), Roméo and Juliet (Paris), Les Noces (Father), Sidewinding (solo). In 2003 he had Light into Shade, a pas de deux, created on him for the Brisbane International Dance Festival, Queensland, Australia, which was subsequently performed at galas within Germany and Switzerland. Other choreographers’ works performed during this period also included Kylian (Sechs Tanze, Forgotten Land) and Forsythe (Vile Parody of Address). Benoit acted as Rehearsal Director for Wherlock’s work whilst NECB was preparing for its first tour in 2006 and comes to the company now directly from Ballett Basel.

Born in Würzburg, Germany to Polish parents, Claudia began her dancing career as a student in Coburg before moving to the Music Conservatory at Cologne. She completed her studies at the Conservatory for Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt from which she graduated in 2002. Her professional career first took her back to Coburg where she worked at the Landes Theater dancing in Le Sacre du Printemps and in Petruschka in the role of the Ballerina. This was followed by a period at the Landes Theater in Salzburg, Austria where she danced solo roles in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen and Othello. At the Tiroler Festspiele in 2006 and 2007 she performed in a production of Parsifal directed by Gustav Kuhn. Most recently she has performed the role of the Student in Ionesco’s The Lesson and the Fox in Stravinsky’s Le Renard under the direction of Milli van Lit.

Claudia joined NECB in Autumn 2007.

Linda began her dance studies in Waterloo before receiving a grant to study with Piotr Nardelli and Andrzei Ziemski in Brussels. At eighteen she moved to the renowned Rosella Hightower School where she studied with Monique Loudière, Monet Robier, Peter Lewton and Christophe Duveaux and joined the Cannes Jeune Ballet, dancing in works by Balanchine, Kylian, Nureyev and Bournonville amongst others.

On her return to Brussels, Linda engaged in further study with Daniel Job before joining the Benedicto Cieza Company to dance in his Pictures from Jamboree. Most recently she has performed with the Brussels Ballet under David Sonnenbluck in Diva and Alice in Wonderland. This will be her second season with NECB.

Marina was born in Barcelona in 1988 and began to dance at the age of three. At eleven she stared her training at the Dance Conservatory in Barcelona, EESA/CPD de L’Intitute de Theatre, where she studied on the classical dance degree programme for six years. In 2006 she transferred for her final year to Central School of Ballet, in London, from which graduated after the Ballet Central Tour 2007. Marina joined NECB as an apprentice for its 2007 Autumn Tour and was quickly promoted to Junior Dancer. This season she is further promoted to full Dancer.

Australian by birth, Alex began her training at the Ransley Ballet and Dance Academy on the Gold Coast, before taking up a place at the New Zealand School of Dance in 2001.

After graduating, she accepted a contract with Singapore Dance Theatre under the direction of Goh Soo Khim where she has worked for the past four years dancing in a wide range of productions including Cinderella (Spring), Paquita (Pas de Trois), The Nutcracker (Clara), Raymonda, Swan Lake (Cygnet). She performed as a Principal in Mauricio Wainrot’s Seasons of Buenos Aires (2007). Alex joins NECB for its 2008 tour.

Pascaline was born in Toulouse where she first studied at the Regional Conservatoire. She went on to further study in Paris at the École de Danse de L’Opéra, with Corine Guiraud, at the École Nationale Superiure in Marseille at the National Conservatoire in Paris.

In 2004 she joined the Junior Ballet of the Superior National Conservatoire de Paris, then in 2005 the Europa Danse de Albert Cartier. She has performed with the Ballet de Capitole de Toulouse, Ballet de Nancy, IT Dansa, Ballet Biarritz and Ballet de Limoges and with the Coreographic Company François Maudit. Before joining New English Contemporary Ballet this season she appeared in a production of L’Après Midi d’un Faun in Chartres with Wilfried Romoli of the Paris Opéra.

Rachel was born in Sevenoaks, Kent were she began ballet classes, aged four, at her mother’s school, the Lisa Maybank School of Dance. She attended Senior Associates at The Royal Ballet School and then completed her training at The English National School of Ballet and at London Studio Centre where she was given the opportunity to perform one of the lead roles in David Fielding’s Game Over in the 2005 Images of Dance tour. She also performed in Pineapple Poll, Othello and Laurencia (pas de six). Shortly after graduating Rachel joined Ballet Ireland for their production of Die Fledermaus.

On returning to England Rachel joined NECB as an apprentice for their 2007 tour, appearing with the company in The Nutcracker.

Kyle began dancing at the age of eight in Australia at the Dubbo Ballet Studio in New South Wales and at sixteen was offered a full scholarship to attend the Queensland Dance School of Excellence. In his 2nd year Kyle danced with the Queensland Ballet in their production of Excalibur. He also competed in the 2003 McDonald’s Ballet Scholarships winning the boys’ scholarship which included a secondment to the English National Ballet and Australian Ballet Company.

Kyle received the Queensland Ballet Scholarship for 2003 and in the following year was awarded the annual Training Scholarship to The Australian Ballet. He performed in The Australian Ballet Company’s Tour of The Nutcracker in 2005, and in Graduation Ball and Sleeping Beauty in 2006. He also danced with The Australian Ballet Company in the Opening Ceremony for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and in Scheherazade in June/July 2006. In September 2006 he performed at the ABS Pas De Deux exhibition performing a new contemporary pas de deux by Maggie Wilson entitled Opus 2. Kyle has been with NECB since 2007.

Born in Bogotà, Colombia, Jean Michael began studying ballet in Venice, Italy at the comparatively late age of 19. He moved on to the school of the Teatro Nuovo di Torino where he studied with Niurka De Saa and Maria Elena Fernandez from the National Ballet of Cuba. He then won 2nd place in the Giovanni Talenti competition in Turin and was offered a scholarship to study at Central School of Ballet in London where he studied with Bruce Sansom and William Glassman.

In 2006 and 2007 he toured with Ballet Central, the school’s graduating company, dancing in works by Sara Matthews, David Fielding and Christopher Bruce. He joined NECB for its Autumn 2007 tour as an apprentice and has been promoted this season to dancer.

Born in Genova, Eddie studied ballet with Prisca Picano, principal at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples and Graham technique at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, New York. He completed his training in Barcelona with Ion Beitia (Joffrey Ballet) and Joan Boix (Roland Petit)

His professional career has encompassed a period with the Elisa Monte Dance Company, New York with Teatro Franco Parenti and a contract with the Sisina Augusta Company in Verona. He has also appeared at the Pergine Spettacolo Aperto (Trento) in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

He has also performed in Ballet Romand’s productions of Peter Pan and Cinderella in Vevey, Switzerland. Before joining New English Contemporary Ballet, Eddie danced with Company Segnale.it in Vicenza during their summer project. This is Eddie’s second season with NECB.

Born in Lancashire, Alastair trained at the Royal Ballet School and the Arts Educational School, Tring. At the end of his studies he joined Adventures in Motion Pictures performing Swan Lake on a UK, European and West End Tour. Alastair has also worked with Scottish Ballet, Adonais, The Curve Foundation, the Royal Opera House and K-Ballet created by Tetsuya Kumakawa in Japan.

Classical repertory in which he has performed includes Don Quixote, Nutcracker, The Prodigal Son in which he danced the role of the father, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Facade, Bark with Bite and Orpheus. Alastair also worked with Kevin Spacey and Rob Ashford in Beyond the Sea. He joined NECB for its first season in 2006.

Born near Paris, Julien emigrated with his family to the Pacific Island of New Caledonia when he was nine months old. He began dancing at the comparatively late age of 16, studying first at a private school in Metz (France) and then at the prestigious Maurice Béjart School in Lausanne, Switzerland. Whilst there he learned the repertoire and participated in two creations by Béjart himself. In 2005, Julien came to London to study at Central School of Ballet. He joins New English Contemporary Ballet this season as an apprentice.

Alice was born in Southampton in 1989 where she trained locally with Yasmin Taylor. In 2005 she joined Elmhurst School of Dance in Birmingham where she is now in her graduating year. Alice has performed in a number of school performances including Coppelia and two versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream choreographed by Patrick Hinson and Irek Mukhamedov.

Jamie trained at the McMahon School of Ballet, The Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance and at the Royal Ballet School. He subsequently performed with various companies in the UK. In 1995 he was the winner of the prestigious Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award with his piece Me, Myself and I Alone which went on to be performed at the Cochrane Theatre, London. His choreographic output is extensive and his works have been performed both in this country and in the USA.

Jamie inaugurated New English Contemporary Ballet’s education department in February 2006 and subsequently set up its highly-acclaimed youth company, Nottingham Youth Dance. He choreographed last season’s Nutcracker which brought together the dancers of NECB, Nottingham Youth Dance and the students of its Associate programme. This season he has made .com together for New English Contemporary Ballet.

Jodie received her early training at the Marilyn Baker School of Dancing before moving, in 1997, to the Arts Educational School, Tring. She has received intermittent coaching from Niall McMahon since 1993.

Her first professional engagement was as an apprentice with Phoenix Dance Theatre (2004-05 season) where she took part in the Robert Cohen 80th Birthday celebrations at Sadler’s Wells and at The Place, London. Jodie then joined the Phoenix Education team before moving to New English Contemporary Ballet in February 2006. She has been instrumental in setting up and developing the NECB Associates programme and has choreographed several works for Nottingham Youth Dance.

Paul’s dance and ballet credits include Swan Lake (Wiesbaden Ballet), Sleeping Beauty (Hanover Ballet), Don Quixote (Northern Ballet Theatre) and works for Ballet Rambert, Tanz-Forum Cologne and the Ballet National de Nancy. Drama credits include East is East (Royal Court), A Tainted Dawn (Edinburgh Festival), A Servant of Two Masters (Nottingham Playhouse) and Kabale und Liebe (Stadttheater Ingolstadt, Germany). He has also lit numerous opera productions, including Don Giovanni (Music Theatre London), the British premieres of Griselides (Guildhall) and I Have Seen Someone (Riverside Studios), and the world premiere of Beauty (Theater Hagen, Germany). As a Lighting Supervisor with the English National Opera he lit revivals of many productions, including Ariodante (ENO, WNO, Houston Grand Opera and Vlaamse Opera), Tristan and Isolde (ENO), Hansel and Gretel (ENO, Teatro la Fenice, Venice), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Netherlands Opera) and The Mikado (ENO, New York City Opera and Teatro la Fenice).

Robyn has worked on a number of live performances, both as a stage manager, and as part of the stage management team. Her main interests lie in dance and site specific theatre. Robyn discovered her passion for stage management and dance whilst training at Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Recent credits include, amongst other projects and festivals, Stage Manager for the award-winning Edinburgh Fringe show, The Container, Somewhere, Anywhere, Nowhere, an outdoor site-specific piece by Restless Nights commissioned by Latitude Festival, and Move It Dance London. Robyn first worked with NECB through the autumn season 2007

Andy has worked as a theatre lighting designer for a number of years. He began his career in lighting whilst studying lighting design at Central School of Speech And Drama, London. His work includes designing for plays, musical theatre and contemporary dance

He made his West End debut designing the musical Unzipped in the Arts Theatre. He previously worked with Paul Taylor at the Royal Academy Of Music on Scenes. Other design credits include: Sanctity of Hair at the ICA and numerous dance pieces in The Festival of Emergent Arts. Andy first worked with NECB through its autumn 2007 season.

Russell trained at Confetti College in Nottingham, gaining an HND in Sound Engineering. Since then he has spent a couple of years working with refugee groups in Nottingham before returning to his main love of sound with NECB for their 2008 tour. He also spends his time playing bass in the band Not In This Town, working as a chef, and providing freelance IT support to a number of local Nottingham groups.