1930 – Establishment of the British Ballet Organization (BBO)

Edouard Espinosa left the Association of Operatic Dancing in Great Britain (later the Royal Academy of Dancing) and formed the British Ballet Organization (BBO) in 1930 alongside his wife Louise Kay, using their London home, Woolborough House, as headquarters. Phyllis Bedells and Ninette de Valois both studied in studios at this space. Espinosa used the teaching methods of his father, Léon Espinosa, a respected dancer who had trained at the Paris Opéra, as the basis of his own teaching syllabus. In 1987, John Field and Anne Heaton became the BBO’s director and artistic director respectively, developing Espinosa’s syllabus and creating new syllabi for other dance genres. John Travis became director in 1995 – he was integral to the development of the BBO’s Scholar’s schemes and government recognition of the organization’s qualifications. The BBO moved to purpose-built premises in Battersea Reach in 2015 and continues to ensure excellence in dance training based on the French infused syllabus of their founder.