Trustees – New English Ballet Theatre

CHAIRMAN: Luke Rittner KBE has enjoyed a long career at senior levels of management in the performing and creative arts. In 1983 he was appointed the youngest ever Secretary General of the Arts Council of Great Britain. This was followed by being appointed UK Cultural Director for Expo 92 in Seville, and then as Director of Marketing and Press for Sotheby’s Europe. He has run the Bath Festival and was a founder director of the Association of Business Sponsorship of the Arts (now Arts & Business). In 1999 he was appointed CEO of The Royal Academy of Dance, a post which he held until his retirement in 2023.

Amanda Britton is the CEO, Principal and Artistic Director of The Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. She performed with Ballet Rambert (1984-1993) and Siobhan Davies Dance Company (1994-2000). As a contemporary dance teacher she has taught at conservatories in the UK and overseas and completed an MA in Dance Education and Training. Amanda took up the role of Head of Undergraduate Studies at Rambert School in 2005 and was appointed Principal in 2015. She then initiated a period of rapid change at the School, cementing the core philosophies of the training and growing its reputation in the UK and internationally.

Julian Flitter FCA is a partner in Goodman Jones LLP, accountants, where he is Head of the Charity and Social business team. He is also the Treasurer of One Dance UK, the national support organisation providing advice and promotional / networking opportunities for dancers at all levels of the dance world.

Claudia Gorman is a UK solicitor who currently serves as General Counsel of Miniclip, a rapidly growing international digital games and entertainment company with activities in 195 countries that is now majority owned by the major Chinese internet and technology company Tencent. Her roles cover legal compliance, risk management, commercial contract work and corporate governance including promoting ESG across the business. She has served on the British Museum’s Advisory Board for a number of years. Her skills will be useful and relevant to NEBT in the years to come.

Peter Land is an Actor, Singer, Director & Producer, and one-time member of both The National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company along with numerous West End credits: My Fair Lady, The Phantom of the Opera, Pickwick and Cabaret. His late wife is Dame Gillian Lynne DBE with whom he worked as performer, producer and director over 16 times. He proudly guides her incomparable legacy along with the Foundation set up in both their names: lynneandlandfoundation.co.uk

Kiki McDonough is a leading British jewellery designer. Established in 1985, her brand Kiki McDonough was born from her passion for showcasing coloured gemstones in innovative, contemporary designs. After 40 years in business she continues to lead the way in British fine jewellery design including designing jewellery for the Royal Family. Her love of the ballet has inspired many of Kiki’s designs, and she supports the art form as a Patron of the Royal Opera House, a Sponsor of the London Children’s Ballet and a Princes Trust Business mentor.

Karen Pilkington-Miksa MBE is the Founder, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of NEBT. She was recently (August 2024) awarded an MBE for her services to dance.

Karen trained in the US in Washington DC and Seattle, performing with Seattle Ballet before moving to London as a freelance choreographer and dancer. In 2010 she founded New English Ballet Theatre with the mission to develop the careers of emerging dancers, choreographers and young creative talents. The company has produced 11 West End shows and 36 ballets to critical and audience acclaim, furthering the careers of 120 dancers and 25 choreographers, many of whom have gone on to careers in major ballet companies in the UK and elsewhere.

Kristina Rogge is a philanthropist who spent many years fundraising for English National Ballet School, the Dyslexia Teaching Centre, Miracles in Bosnia, the Montenegral Therapeutic Community in Southern Spain and latterly the Cecchetti Legacy Project.

Asha Tanwar (MBA Harvard, B.S. London School of Economics) is an investor specialising in technology and innovation. Following investment banking roles at Deutsche Bank, J.P.Morgan and Apax Investors, she is now at DTCP Capital, an investment firm spun out of Deutsche Telekom focussed on transformative technology companies that enable digitization and automation.

Lynn Wallis OBE graduated from The Royal Ballet Senior School in 1965 to The Royal Ballet Touring Company. In 1984, she joined The National Ballet of Canada, as Artistic Coordinator, before becoming Associate Artistic Director with Valerie Wilder, 1986, and Co-Artistic Director in 1987. In 1990, she was appointed Deputy Artistic Director of English National Ballet. Lynn was Artistic Director of the RAD from July 1994 to December 2016. In June 2015 she was awarded an OBE for services to dance.

Kerrie Walsh is a Batchelor of Science graduate of San Francisco State University and a Doctor of Law at the University of San Francisco School of Law. She is currently a Director within the Legal & Compliance group of BlackRock where she deploys a broad experience in financial services, investments and compliance matters. She has more than twenty years’ experience in the financial services sector.

Simon Weil is a Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys specialising in trusts, philanthropies and charities. He was Chairman of NEBT from its inception until 2019. He serves as a Trustee and/or Chair of a number of charities including The Handel House Trust and The English Concert, The Kathleen Hannay Memorial Charity, the Maria Bjornson Memorial Fund and Maecenas. He has been named by Spears as Philanthropy Advisor of the Year.

Lita Young (Lady Young) is a philanthropist with a lifelong interest in ballet.