Phoenix Dance Theatre

Phoenix Dance Company was formed in 1981 in the inner-city Harehills area of Leeds by three young men – David Hamilton (Artistic Director), Donald Edwards and Vilmore James – who had begun dancing at Harehills Middle School. They were taught there by Nadine Senior, who went on to be the first principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance. By the summer of 1982, Phoenix had acquired two other dancers, Merville Jones and Edward Lynch, both members of Harehills Youth Dance Theatre in Leeds, and, in 1985, the company moved to its first permanent base in Chapeltown. In 1987, David Hamilton left the company to pursue a solo career, and in July Neville Campbell joined Phoenix as Artistic…