Classically British & Co
Celebrating 21 years
Dancer: Paje Campbell
Classically British & Co is celebrating 21 years of world class dance and choreography. Pioneered by founder Mark Elie, originator of the Portobello Dance School over two decades ago, he hosts and brings together a sparkling array of distinguished guests and performances for one night only.
Award winning British Choreographer Namron OBE will be present, alongside a stunning new composition for the event by Composer Joy Sigaud who has worked for the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2021, she composed a piece for the unveiling of the Windrush Statue at the Whittington Health NHS Trust to commemorate the nurses from the Caribbean and Commonwealth.
A showcase of film with dance and choreography performances from the Classically British & Co alumni will be presented, as well as commentary by leading acclaimed artistes such as Carol Straker, Brenda Edwards, Kenneth Tharp, Dame Arleen Phillips and more - all of whom have been associated with Classically British & Co over the years.
We are pleased to welcome Amanda Britten, Principal and Artistic Director of the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Vincent Osbourne, Artistic Director of the Black British Classical Foundation, will orchestrate an opera performance with the dance.
MaMark Elie
Artistic Director CEO, lifetime Achievement Award Winner & Author Mark Elie is founder of the Mark Elie Dance Foundation and one of the UK’s most successful classically trained professional Dancers, he also has been the brain power behind the wonderfully renowned Classically British & Co event, who in association with Black History season this year celebrates an incredible milestone 20 years in the industry.
Classically British & Co is personally orchestrated by Mark Elie showcasing the incredible talents & diversity across a dynamic range of classical & contemporary dance performances from around the UK, carefully chosen who in turn bring their own unique style of originality in Dance and Choreography.
Born and raised in a Westminster children’s home in London Mark Elie has enjoyed an incredible stellar career, working with some of the world’s leading ballet and contemporary dance companies from the Ballet Gulbenkian, Lisbon, and the legendary Dance Theatre of Harlem in NYC and with the acclaimed Arlene Phillips from Hot Gossip to a multitude of numerous West End Shows.
In 1995 he went on to set up the Mark Elie Dance Foundation, a registered charity to provide access to affordable education tuition in Dance to low income families which then led onto to establishing Classically British & Co.
To quote Mark Elie “the reason I set it up Classically British & Co was I still thought there was a lack of Diversity in Classical Ballet in the UK, and felt that there weren’t enough of black/mixed ethnic backgrounds present here in the British Classical dance world. We did have Americans/Cubans but we didn’t have many black/mixed raced Dancers especially ballerinas of English descent.
So having listened to feedback from the voices of the young students at my school, saying I went to the ballet and I didn’t see any black ballerina dancers like me got me thinking to see if we could get something going that could represent role models to aspire and look up too, I knew I had to do something so I took everything I learned from my career and that experience I gained and I brought it over to West London condensing it, so I kept everything small and tight.
Artistic Director CEO, lifetime Achievement Award Winner & Author Mark Elie is founder of the Mark Elie Dance Foundation and one of the UK’s most successful classically trained professional Dancers, he also has been the brain power behind the wonderfully renowned Classically British & Co event, who in association with Black History season this year celebrates an incredible milestone 20 years in the industry.
Classically British & Co is personally orchestrated by Mark Elie showcasing the incredible talents & diversity across a dynamic range of classical & contemporary dance performances from around the UK, carefully chosen who in turn bring their own unique style of originality in Dance and Choreography.
Born and raised in a Westminster children’s home in London Mark Elie has
Classically British & Co
