Headshot of Christopher Powney. He is a white man with blonde hair and green eyes. He wears a blue suit and white shirt.

Photo: © The Royal Ballet School

Changing Faces

Royal Ballet School Artistic Director steps down

Arts Professional
2 min read

Artistic Director (AD) and CEO of The Royal Ballet School, CHRISTOPHER POWNEY, will step down following a decade at the helm. 

He will leave the company in July, at the end of his second five-year term.

After qualifying as a teacher with Royal Ballet's Professional Dancers Teachers’ Course and then teaching at the school in 2000, Powney joined the Dutch National Ballet Academy as AD and founded the Amsterdam International Summer School.

He returned to the Royal Ballet as AD in 2014 before being appointed Artistic Director and CEO in 2022.
 
Powney said: "I believe now is the right time for me to hand over to someone who will build on what has been achieved during my tenure and bring in fresh ideas to ensure the school remains at the forefront of international ballet training."
 
Chair CHRISTOPHER RODRIGUES CBE thanked Powney for his "immense input, his experience and wisdom".  
  
"There is no doubt that he has helped secure The Royal Ballet School’s place on the world stage and has been at the forefront of driving innovation and transforming the student experience, which has changed beyond recognition in the last decade."
 
The Board of Governors will consider the next steps for finding Powney's successor.