Cathy Marston (born 1975) is a British choreographer and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

. She was the director of Bern Ballett from 2007–2013. After her tenure, she has choreographed for companies worldwide, including

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Franc ...

and

Northern Ballet Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company ...

. She will become the ballet director and chief choreographer of

Ballett Zürich Ballett Zürich, formerly known as Zürich Ballet, is the largest professional ballet company in Switzerland. Its principal venue is the Zürich Opera House and it regularly tours across the country. The company includes an ensemble cast of 36 ...

in 2023.

Early life

Cathy Marston was born in Newcastle in 1975. Both of her parents were English teachers. She studied at The Royal Ballet School between 1992 and 1994.

Career

Marston was a dancer at Zurich Ballet, Luzern Ballet and Bern Ballett, all based in Switzerland. In 1997, Marston choreographed her first work for

, ''Figure in Progress'', and since created several productions for the ROH Learning and Participation department. In 2002, Marston became and Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House. Her work for the Royal Ballet are danced in Linbury Studio Theatre. In 2005, she presented her first full length work, ''Ghosts''. In 2006, she launched a charity, The Cathy Marston Project to support her creative work. In 2007, Marston became the director of Bern Ballett in Switzerland, she held the position until 2013. Since 2013, she had been commissioned internationally, including UK, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Poland, US, Canada, Poland, Cuba, Hong Kong and Australia. Marston is best known for narrative ballet, with women as lead characters. However, Marston said it was not intentional. In 2016, Marston's ''Jane Eyre'', base on the novel of the same name by

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

debuted at

. It was praised by the British critic. The production toured in the UK, and a revival of an enlarged version performed at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

in London. In 2019, the production was danced by the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

, with

Devon Teuscher Devon Teuscher (born 1989) is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. Early life Teuscher began her dance training at the age of nine. As a student, Teuscher attended The Kirov Academy of Ballet, ...

Isabella Boylston Hildur Isabella Boylston (born October 13, 1986) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Early life Boylston was born Hildur Isabella Boylston, named for an Icelandic great-grand ...

and

Misty Copeland Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African Amer ...

dancing the title role. On the same year, Joffrey Ballet in Chicago also danced ''Jane Eyre''. Marston also choreographed ''Victoria'', based on

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's life. It is a co-production between Northern Ballet and

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

. Northern Ballet premiered the work in 2019 in Leeds, and toured the production in UK, including at Sadler's Wells. The work was screened in cinemas and later broadcast on BBC4. The work was also produced on a DVD. It was also Premier Dancer Pippa Moore's last role before retiring. Moore danced Queen Victoria's youngest daughter,

Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charle ...

. The Northern American premiere, which will be danced by National Ballet of Canada, was originally scheduled in 2021, but is delayed to 2022 to make way for a world premiere which was postponed due to COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Marston's first Royal Ballet main stage production, '' The Cellist'', premiered in 2020. It is a one-act work based on

Jacqueline du Pré Jacqueline Mary du Pré (26 January 1945 – 19 October 1987) was a British cellist. At a young age, she achieved enduring mainstream popularity. Despite her short career, she is regarded as one of the greatest cellists of all time. Her care ...

's life, with

Lauren Cuthbertson Lauren Louise Cuthbertson (born 11 June 1984) is an English ballerina and a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. Early life and education Lauren Cuthbertson was born in Devon in 1984. She began studying dance at a local dance scho ...

as the titular Cellist, Matthew Ball as her husband

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...

and Marcelino Sambé as her cello. Marston consulted du Pré's friends and Barenboim, and spoke to people with

Multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

, including Marston's mother, for the work. The work was relayed in cinemas worldwide and will be released as a DVD. ''The Cellist'' was one of the productions available to stream online during the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, it was announced that Marston will succeed Christian Spuck as

's ballet director and chief choreographer.

Personal life

Marston has a qualification as a life coach.

Notable works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marston, Cathy 1975 births Living people English women choreographers People from Newcastle upon Tyne People educated at the Royal Ballet School English expatriates in Switzerland Ballet choreographers