A Message from our Founder
Natalia Kremen
How it Began
To become a professional ballet dancer takes between 8-12 years of training and involves plenty of tears, much sweat and for a ballerina’s toes, often a little blood as well. The only other qualification that requires as much training is a medical degree. Is ballet as difficult or as important as medical training? In my opinion, the answer is yes. While medical treatments are powerful and important in treating our bodies, ballet and dance can offer tremendous healing, inspiration and hope to our hearts and souls.
Ballet has long been proven to enhance confidence, self-esteem, perseverance and a greater sense of the self through individual creative and artistic expression. The lifelong mind-body connection realised through the discipline of ballet for young people is a crucial stepping stone towards their wellbeing, resilience and happiness in the future.
Very early on, I knew that creative movement and supporting vulnerable people were equally important to me. However, my father was very much against my choice of career.
In fact, my father received ballet training from a top institution himself before becoming a passionate cinematographer and a writer. You would think therefore I would receive support from him on my own professional ballet journey as a soloist in Moscow and after that, at the English National Ballet in the UK.
Well, yes and no.
I Have a Dream
Undoubtedly I was introduced to the highest standards of ballet and music performance from a very young age which made a huge impact on my upbringing. However, my father understood exactly how tough the training and work would be and it was his biggest fear and a nightmare for him to see me following in his footsteps. Now as a mother of 3 small children I can understand his worries and duty of parental responsibility.
This left my mother who supported me completely in my decision to follow my heart and embark on this tough career choice. Since that decision, I have witnessed the personal, professional and financial sacrifices made by my mother who despite it all, has always been my greatest supporter. And this was even though I was lucky enough to study in the Soviet Union at that time where classical ballet, and indeed sport, art or music education were all offered free by the state for those who have passed a vigorous audition process and demonstrated the appropriate physicality, artistry amongst other skills.
When I set up my school, the Natalia Kremen Ballet School, later in life in 2012, in which over 5,000 students have since received their vocational and recreational education I have come to an even greater understanding how lucky I was to have one of the top ballet education in the world and to have a mother ready to sacrifice her own career and personal life to support me.
As such I found it challenging and upsetting to see so many gifted and highly dedicated students whose dreams of a professional ballet career proved impossible due to financial hardship in their families. I truly believe that it is genuine passion and talent that should be the factors to decide who becomes a professional artist or dancer, not the circumstances of their family finances.
A Foundation is Born
With this in mind, the idea of creating a charitable foundation was born and NK Ballet Foundation received its status as an official UK Registered Charity in 2018 following the inaugural Ballet Gala Performance at Cadogan Hall where vocational students shared the stage with 18 guest dancers from leading ballet companies such as The Royal Ballet, The English National Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Monaco Ballet, Berlin Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, amongst others.
Since then, some of our students have become professional dancers themselves, including Alicia, then 9 years old and now a full-time student at the prestigious Dutch National Ballet Academy and who was selected as one of the few students to perform alongside company professionals as a swan in at the Dutch National Ballet “Swan Lake” production in March 2023. We are so proud of Alicia and her hard work!