We were thrilled to hear the news that Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Crystal Pite is to be honoured at Dance Magazine 61st Annual Awards for her “lasting impact on dance”.
The awards, which began in 1954, will be held in December at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre in New York. Crystal’s contribution to choreography is being celebrated alongside the work of her peers Ronald K. Brown, Lourdes Lopez and Michael Trusnovec. CEO and Chairman of Dance Media Frederic Segal complimented a “stellar group of honourees”. Past recipients include Margot Fonteyn in 1963, Sir Frederick Ashton in 1970, William Forsythe in 2003 and Wayne McGregor in 2014.
Since establishing her company Kidd Pivot in 2002, Crystal’s work has become highly regarded for its blending of movement, original music, text and visual design into works that analyse the human condition with a distinctly eerie tone. She became Sadler’s Wells’ 16th Associate Artist in 2013.
In 2016 Sadler’s Wells co-produced Betroffenheit, a dance-theatre hybrid piece Crystal created with fellow Canadian actor and playwright Jonathon Young. It examined the psychological states of trauma, grief and addiction, and won the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2016. It returned to Sadler’s Wells for a sold-out run in 2017, where it was recorded and subsequently broadcast on BBC Four.
This year, Crystal choreographed two pieces that graced our stage – Solo Echo for Ballet British Columbia and The Statement for Nederlans Dans Theater’s NDT1, both of which emerged as critical favourites within their troupe’s respective mixed bills.
This will be the latest in a long line of awards and honours for Crystal. She is the personal recipient of the Banff Centre’s Clifford E. Lee Award, the Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award, and the Isadora Award.
Congratulations!