Northern Ballet is a powerhouse of inventive dance and the company has been popular with Marlowe Theatre audiences for more than a decade. Artistic director David Nixon will be bringing his dancers to Canterbury to perform seasonal favourite The Nutcracker.

He and his ballet mistress wife, Yoko Ichinon, have spent 10 years taking the company to greater heights by adding an impressive array of new works to its repertoire and nurturing their students’ passion for dance.

David, from Chatham, Ontario, comes from a classical background – his career started at the National Ballet School of Canada – but feels he is “going more contemporary”.

He said: “My wife may not agree with me on that score but on most other things her work supports what I do.”

Yoko began teaching as a teenager and has partnered some of the world’s greatest dancers, including Rudolph Nureyev. She and David set up BalletMet Dance Academy in Ohio before coming to England.

They are at one when it comes to getting the best out of their students.

David said: “Without Yoko I would not achieve so much. There is no conflict, we both think it is important how our dancers dance. It is not just the steps. They must have a good technique.

“Like a surgeon, it is not the cut that’s important, it is how he makes the cut.”

The Nutcracker runs at the Marlowe Theatre from Tuesday, November 1, to Saturday, November 5.