NBS

Manchester

Manchester has a recorded history dating back nearly 2000 years, when a Roman Fort was established in the area now known as Castlefield. The cathedral church dates from the 15th century and by the 18th century the city had become the centre of the conurbation which gave birth to the Industrial Revolution. That produced major developments in artistic and scientific fields, as well as many of the most advanced politico-sociological activists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, leading also to major improvements in public health and education and advancing the cause of democratic representation, particularly for women. This dynamism in so many diverse fields led perhaps to the well-known aphorism ‘What Manchester does today the world does tomorrow’.

Manchester’s expanding status on the world stage is driven by both it’s multi-ethnic community and by the many thousands of students from around the world amongst the 50,000 + who attend the four local universities and other colleges and training centres for careers in business, science and the arts, which, like NBS, are based in and around the city. Manchester is student friendly and accommodating.

A wealth of cultural and entertainment opportunities is on offer in the city, catering to every taste in music from jazz and folk’, to the Hallé Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic, which both present programmes at the 2400 seat Bridgewater Concert Hall. National and international Opera and Ballet companies regularly visit the Opera House, the Palace theatre and the Lowry Centre, which also stage major musical theatre productions. Northern Ballet School’s own Manchester City Ballet and Jazzgalore dance companies stage regular productions in their ‘in-house’ 430 seat Dancehouse public theatre, which also hosts touring shows. The city has a wide range of sporting facilities, both for spectators and participants, including a major new swimming complex a few minutes walk from NBS and available for use by students for entertainment, exercise and therapy. NBS students also have access to excellent nearby gym and fitness facilities and the city is a centre for medical research and specialist treatment, with several city centre hospitals.

There are excellent shopping facilities, both in the city centre and throughout the conurbation and the historic tourist cities of Chester and York are also within day-trip range. Within equally easy reach are no less than four of Britain’s National Parks - the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District and Snowdonia, in North Wales.

A city renowned for it’s friendliness, Manchester has evolved into both a sophisticated regional capital and a perfect base for the student living away from home, catering as it does for every need, from moderately priced living accommodation to all-night grocery stores, from a storehouse of intellectual and artistic knowledge and expertise to ‘eateries’ of every conceivable variety, in short, a truly cosmopolitan and exciting home for such a centre of theatre dance excellence as Northern Ballet School!

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