Northern Ballet Gentleman Jack Review
March 7, 2026 | Leeds Grand Theatre – Leeds, England
The world premiere of Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack has come at a perfect time.
This new ballet, choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, combines elements of steamy period dramas like Bridgerton and queer love stories like Heated Rivalry to tell an entertaining and gripping tale of Anne Lister, whom many historians consider the ‘first modern lesbian.’
A member of a minor landowning Yorkshire family in the 19th century, this boundary-pushing woman earned the title as ‘Gentleman Jack’ for dressing like a man and exhibiting typically masculine behaviour. In a time when gender norms were extremely strict, Lister openly rebelled against this and expressed herself how she preferred.
Lister’s story only came to light in the 1980s thanks to the work of Helena Whitbread, a local writer, who discovered and decoded the diaries Anne kept of her daily life. The entries revealed detailed accounts of Lister’s romantic relationships with other women, quickly making Anne Lister a queer icon.
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Northern Ballet Gentleman Jack Review
Gentleman Jack aims to tell the story of this extraordinary woman and features a few key characters from Lister’s life, including Christopher Rawson, an industrialist and business rival; Marianna, one of Lister’s lovers; and Ann Walker, Lister’s lifelong partner.
The story travels across Yorkshire and even to Paris, exploring themes of self-expression, determination, power, and love.
Gemma Coutts brings Lister to life, portraying the character’s bravado as well as her softer moments with clarity.
Her movements are direct, clean, and powerful. By swiping the brim of her top hat and striding across the stage, Lister presents herself confidently to the outside world, but this confidence is a carefully curated defence against a male-dominated society that doesn’t take her seriously.
When she’s confronted and assaulted at the end of Act I, the audience sees a very different Anne, one who is broken and unsure of her place in the world. Witnessing Coutts rediscover herself gives the character more depth and allows the audience to appreciate her sacrifices even more than before.
Ochoa’s choreography reflects each character and their relationships with each other. Each character’s movement is in conversation with others, creating scenic tableaus at any moment.
One scene with Lister, Ann Walker, Rawson, and Rawson’s wife was particularly captivating, with Lister wooing Walker, despite Rawson and his wife’s best efforts to stop it. It’s playful and quick, and within a few minutes all the relationships have a new dimension. The scene left the audience in awe.
At other times, the choreography was so meticulous that moments of conflict did not feel as antagonistic as they could be.
For example, many of Anne’s interactions with Rawson and the other businessmen were beautiful, incorporating lifts and turns, but the tension wasn’t as strong.
The lack of intensity may also have been due to the limited orchestration, which misses the depth and fullness in these moments that could be provided by a larger ensemble.
However, this is not the case with Lister’s scenes with Marianna or Ann Walker. Although the choreography is never explicitly sexual, it is undeniably sensual.
The intimacy and warmth between Lister and her two female partners are unlike anything else in the ballet, which makes these scenes feel even more clandestine.
The costuming and set design also builds the romantic tension beautifully. Pieces of clothing are stripped away, and although the women are still ‘fully clothed’ in their leotards, the stripping of skirts and sleeves is enough to translate as nakedness, like a nightgown in a period drama.
A dual female partnership poses a unique challenge in ballet, where most partnering is usually between a man and a woman. Coutts acknowledged this, saying,
‘It has been an enjoyable but challenging experience because it’s very different from our typical rehearsal process. Partnering with another woman brings its own physical challenges which more traditional ballets do not prepare you for.’
Ochoa embraces this challenge by incorporating a long table into scenes, and this table plays an active role in shaping the dancers’ movements. The way the dancers interact with the table reflect hierarchies between the characters themselves.
For the most part, only the male characters step onto the table, signifying how they stand above others, particularly Lister. Lister tries to do the same, but the men force her off and try to keep her in her ‘proper’ place as a woman.
Meanwhile, Lister and her lovers use the table in a very different way. Not only does it increase the romantic tension and make the scene racy, but it also shows a new power dynamic. If the table is a perch for men to assert their authority, these women use it to build their own realm of power, based in love and intimacy.
As mentioned already, the costumes, designed by Louise Flanagan, play a crucial role in telling the ballet’s story.
Gentleman Jack incorporates the real-life politics of clothing perfectly. Unlike the other female characters who wear rich colours and voluminous skirts, Anne wears dark green trousers and a black waistcoat, accentuating her more masculine features. She also wields a top hat and cane like armour, tools used to take up more space, like a man would do. She taps the cane on the ground to grab attention, and forces other characters around her cane to assert her space and power.
Most crucially, Anne doesn’t wear pointe shoes, opting for flat shoes like other men. It is only near the end of the ballet, when Anne ‘marries’ Ann Walker in their own symbolic ceremony, that she dons pointe shoes.
I love this addition – this scene is unburdened by society’s expectations, and therefore Anne can embrace her femininity how she chooses. She does not need to fit in either gender role – she and her partner can simply be in love.
Another motif featured in the ballet is the ‘Chorus of Words,’ which brings Lister’s writings to life through the company. Dancers representing letters and symbols surround Anne, pulling her in different directions. It is a playful exploration, not forceful like the businessmen. Instead, Anne lets the words inspire and guide her.
It is a creative way to incorporate Anne’s diaries, but I wish there was a way to see the words in action more. The words in these diaries are crucial to Lister’s life, but we don’t know what they were. It is always difficult for a non-verbal art form like ballet to interpret words on a page without dialogue, so I appreciate the Chorus is a strong alternative to words themselves.
Translating a person’s life into any art form, including a ballet, will require the author to mould the material to create a compelling story.
For example, Act II touches more on Lister’s economic attitudes: although she rebelled against gender norms, at the same time she enforced traditional class hierarchies. Ochoa represents this with Lister and Rawson agreeing to work together to fight their company’s miners.
It is a small acknowledgement, but it allows the audience to reflect on Lister’s complex beliefs, and how she sought more independence as a woman while at the same time fought against more freedom for the lower classes.
Gentleman Jack holds its own as a new narrative ballet. However, with motifs and storylines that have made shows like Bridgerton and Heated Rivalry so popular (albeit without the explicit scenes), I think the ballet has a unique opportunity to capitalise on a craze and appeal to an even broader audience. It features love, humour, and most importantly, yearning, which makes for an entertaining night at the theatre.
Featured Photo of Northern Ballet‘s Gemma Coutts in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Gentleman Jack. Photo by Emily Nuttall.
