Biography

Gavin is from Motherwell in Scotland and trained at The Dance School of Scotland and English National Ballet School. Alongside his studies, he worked part-time with the Dance School at the Royal Academy of Dance.

Gavin joined Northern Ballet upon his graduation in 2014 and in 2020 was promoted to Junior Soloist. He has danced several leading roles including Acolyte in Jean-Christophe Malliot’s Romeo and Juliet, Athos in David Nixon CBE’s The Three Musketeers and Tom in David Nixon CBE’s The Great Gatsby, Dr. Seward in David Nixon CBE’s Dracula, St. John in Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre and John Brown in Cathy Marston’s Victoria and Drosselmeyer in David Nixon CBE’s The Nutcracker.

Gavin’s coaching experience has found him leading classes and workshops for Northern Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance, Scottish Ballet’s Associate Programme, Darlington Hippodrome, The Ballet Retreat, London Studio Centre, Moorland International Ballet Academy and Conservatorio de Dance do Vale do Sousa in Portugal. He also sits on the board of Yorkshire Dance in Leeds, an ACE-funded charity which invites people who normally have little access to dance to experience its transformational power.

How the Award Helped

Gavin’s award supported him in his studies at the English National Ballet School.

Since the Award

In 2019 he was commissioned to create a short film for Northern Ballet’s Digital Platform, Silenced, which went on to win Best Dance Short at the New Renaissance Film Festival in London. In 2021, his first ballet specifically for young people, Pinocchio, premiered for Northern Ballet in Leeds before a substantial nationwide tour. More recently, he choreographed a new narrative work for Images 2022, Assembly Line, which toured to several venues including Lilian Baylis at Sadler’s Wells.

In 2023, Gavin directed and choreographed a reimagined Snow White for London Children’s Ballet which opened at the Peacock Theatre in London followed by Journey, a new narrative work to celebrate Elmhurst Ballet School’s centenary.