Andrew Ward was born in Buckinghamshire, England and trained at The Royal Ballet School from 1970 - 1978, winning the International Ballet Competition, Prix de Lausanne in 1976. He joined the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, in 1978; dancing in all the major classics, including soloist roles such as Florestan in Dame Ninette de Valois' production of Sleeping Beauty, the Three Dancing Gentlemen in MacMillan's Manon, and the Pas de Trois in Gloria.
He appeared in numerous TV productions at The Royal Opera House,
including Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Isadora,
Mayerling, Gloria, and Swan Lake. He created roles in works by
Ashton, MacMillan and Tetley, and performed in ballets by Wayne
Eagling, John Neumeier, Robert North, Rudolf Nureyev, and Jerome
Robbins. He was chosen by Ashton to appear in Rhapsody alongside
Mikhail Baryshinkov, Lesley Collier, and other Royal Ballet
soloists for The Queen Mother's 80th birthday celebration gala. He
has appeared in the major opera houses with the Royal Ballet
including those in the USA, China, Japan and Mexico, and was chosen
by Wayne Eagling to appear in Freddie Mercury's pop video I Want to
Break Free.
In 1985, he joined The Boston Ballet as soloist, dancing several
principal roles including the Prince in Nutcracker. He also taught
classes at the Boston Ballet's School and Company. He joined
English National Ballet, in 1989, before retiring as a dancer. He
gained a Post-Graduate Diploma at City University, London, before
co-authoring a book for the Economist Publications Management Guide
Series - Sponsoring the Arts Business Strategies for 1990s. In
1990, he became the Science Museum's first ever Development Manager
and devised and launched a Corporate Membership Programme, raising
£500,000 per annum for the museum. In 1991, he became Director of
The Benesh Institute, of which the late Diana, Princess of Wales
became the Royal Patron in 1992. He devised and produced several
Royal dance galas with Wayne Sleep, attended by Diana Princess of
Wales and Princess Margaret. The Benesh Institute merged with the
Royal Academy of Dancing in 1997 and he became the Academy's
Director of Development in 2001. With the Academy he organised
numerous projects including a video of classical mime with
Antoinette Sibley and producer of the 2003 Bloch Genée
International Ballet Competition in association with Birmingham
Royal Ballet.
In 2003, he set up a Dance Promotion Company named Dance Forward
and presented A Gala of Dance with Artists of The Royal Ballet at
the Bermuda Festival. In the Autumn of 2003, he became the manager
of the Wayne Sleep Dance Workshops securing sponsorship from Mattel
and Disney for the National Tours.
In 2006, Andrew launched a series of half day workshops based on
the Nutcracker's Waltz of the Flowers for students aged 6-14 years
old. In January 2007, Andrew presented and directed A Gala Evening
of Dance with Principals and Soloists of The Royal Ballet for a
series of performances in Bermuda and Florida. In 2007, Andrew has
been a guest teacher for English National Ballet and will be
teaching company class again in December during ENB's season at the
Coliseum in London.
Andrew worked as Development Manager (2007 to 2011) for
International Dance Supplies. During this period he secured
dancewear contracts with BBO, IDTA, Darcey Bussell, American Ballet
Theatre and The Royal Ballet School. In 2011, he organised
the inaugural International Dance Teachers' Conference for IDS -
www.idsdanceteacher.com. The widely acclaimed event was held
at The Royal Ballet School. Andrew brought in his friends
from the dance world to teach at this 4 day event including Steven
McRae, Sarah Lamb, Jonathan Cope, Wayne Sleep, Graeme Henderson,
Lizzie Gough, David Leighton, Yasmin Yazdi, Steve and Angela
Sirico, Judith Reyn and Anton du Beke to name just a few. In
2012, Andrew has taught company class at Rambert Dance Company.
