The Royal Ballet School announces new Head of Artistic Programmes and Production

The Royal Ballet School is delighted to announce the appointment of José Carayol to the role of Head of Artistic Programmes and Production. Mr Carayol joined The Royal Ballet School in 2021 as the Artistic Manager of the Foundation Programme and will now oversee the delivery of artistic programmes across both White Lodge and Upper School. The position was established to enhance the School’s holistic approach toward training and educating young dancers, ensuring the training programmes reflect the evolving needs and requirements of the art form.

With an impressive background as both a dancer and educator, Mr Carayol brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the School, having worked with esteemed ballet institutions such as The Joffrey Ballet (Chicago), Los Angeles Ballet Academy and American Ballet Theatre. Mr Carayol has an extensive background working with dancers of various ages and is deeply committed to raising the standards of excellence while developing a curriculum that adequately equips dancers for the transition to the industry.

The Head of Artistic Programmes and Production will provide support to the Artistic Director & CEO, Christopher Powney, in shaping, delivering and progressing the School’s training programmes. Mr Carayol’s responsibility is to oversee the Artistic Managers of all programmes at White Lodge and Upper School, and curate a diverse array of performance opportunities for students to partake in.

Mr Carayol spoke of his appointment: ‘I am honoured to be appointed as Head of Artistic Programmes and Production, working closely alongside Christopher Powney at a strategic level on how to evolve the School’s programmes in the upcoming years. At the moment, there is a lot of movement and change happening in the industry of ballet and its education, which is very exciting as I see it as an opportunity to evolve. My main goal is to work with Christopher Powney to formulate a plan and a vision for the School to continue to be a leading School in the world, while also maintaining our standards in not only training dancers, but in everything we do.’

Artistic Director & CEO, Christopher Powney, said: ‘I greatly look forward to working closely with José to further enhance our artistic training programmes and the School’s holistic approach to nurturing and educating exceptional young dancers. José, alongside the support of the wider Artistic teaching staff, will be pivotal in further advancing the artistic vision and future success of the School.’

Liane McRae will now assume the position of Artistic Manager of the School’s Foundation Programme at White Lodge, joining fellow Artistic Managers Belinda Hatley and Jessica Clarke of the respective Development, Vocational and Pre-professional Programmes.

Ms McRae trained at The Royal Ballet School and has worked with London City Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Before joining the School as a full-time ballet teacher in 2021, she worked with a number of prestigious institutions, including Northern Ballet School as part of the Scottish Ballet Associate Programme, the Royal Academy of Dance and The English National Ballet School.