Performance Art Glasgow - by Ashley Page, Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet

Apart from a visit to Glasgow with my parents in the early 1960s, I didn't come to the city until 1999, during the Year of Architecture and Design when I saw great places like the Glasgow School of Art and the Botanic Gardens.

I already knew that Glasgow had been City of Culture in 1990 and had pulled itself up by its boot laces. I think winning this title was probably the beginning of the beginning for Glasgow. Sometimes, it takes an accolade such as that to really give a city confidence in its own ability. Glasgow has always had a magnificent raw energy that just keeps on growing as the years go on. This new branding campaign is a natural progression. Not only does Glasgow have an amazing cultural identity but it also has style.

Glasgow is an industrial city, but it has a very European feel to it; wide avenues, green spaces and fantastic architecture. You can tell that Glasgow comes from good stock.

It also has a thriving dance scene. As well as Scottish Ballet, Glasgow has the New Territories Festival and a wealth of young exciting dance talent.

It was a pleasure to come and work in a city that isn't a carbon copy of everywhere else; Glasgow has real character. I moved here from London in 2002 to join Scottish Ballet - an incredibly interesting job as well as being a real challenge.

Working with Scottish Ballet has been a fantastic experience, and the Company is now a real success and a credit to this great city.

Glasgow is also now firmly established on the map as far as the UK's visual arts scene goes. Just look at how many Becks Futures Award winners live and work here! And we have some unique venues, like the Tramway in the Southside which houses fantastic performances and exhibitions, as well as the remarkable Hidden Gardens. Urban regeneration in this area of town will help maintain audiences at Tramway and hopefully build on them.

And of course, we are now known as the city of rock with bands like Franz Ferdinand, Sons and Daughters and Kain putting us firmly on the map. Glasgow is a great place to be and it's the perfect home for Scottish Ballet. It feels really exciting to be right in the thick of all that is happening in the UK.