Matthew Bourne

A TRIPLE WIN FOR DANCE AT 2019 OLIVIER AWARDS

A new work commissioned as part of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of Sadler’s Wells building was named best new dance production at the Olivier Awards 2019, with two Sadler’s Wells Associate Artists also winning prizes.

At a ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 April, dancer and choreographer Botis Seva was recognised for his work BLKDOG, while Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artists Akram Khan and Matthew Bourne took home the outstanding achievement in dance and a special award recognising three decades of achievement in British dance, respectively.

The Olivier Awards are Britain’s most prestigious stage honours, recognising excellence in – and the world-class status of – professional theatre in London.

Let’s take a closer look at these award-winning dance artists…

From left to right: Botis Seva, Akram Khan and Matthew Bourne.

Botis Seva: BLKDOG

Botis Seva is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director of company Far From the Norm. He works within the realms of contemporary dance, physical theatre and hip hop.

BLKDOG. Image: Johan Persson

His highly praised piece BLKDOG premiered at Sadler’s Wells in October 2018 as part of Reckonings – a triple bill of new work we commissioned as part of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of our current theatre building, which also featured pieces by Alesandra Seutin and our New Wave Associate Julie Cunningham.

A “bleak and withdrawn commentary on having to cope with being a child-like adult and an untamed artist simultaneously”, BLKDOG took home best new dance production at yesterday’s Olivier Awards – a monumental win for hip hop dance, the UK’s wider dance industry and beyond.

Botis is currently the 2018-19 Guest Artistic Director of the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), which is run by Sadler’s Wells. Now in its eighth year, the company comprises of 38 young dancers from across England. Working under the guidance of Botis and his creative team, NYDC is currently in rehearsals ahead of the premiere of MADHEAD, a new piece combining Botis’ unique choreographic style with the young dancers’ energy and talent. The show has its premiere at Dance East on 20 April ahead of a national tour over the summer, with a final performance at Sadler’s Wells on 19 July. 

Akram Khan: XENOS

Akram Khan is one of the most internationally celebrated dance artists working today. He was among the first group of dance artists appointed as Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist in 2005, and we’ve been proud to co-produce many of the acclaimed works he has created since, including zero degrees, a collaboration with fellow Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui; Sacred Monsters, created with ballet star Sylvie Guillem; GnosisVertical RoadDESHiTMOi (in the mind of igor); Until the Lions; and XENOS.

XENOS. Image: Jean-Louis Fernandez.

Akram’s style blends the Indian classical dance form of Kathak with contemporary dance to tell moving and powerful stories that have universal resonance. Marking Akram’s final performances as a solo dancer in a full-length work, XENOS captured the shell-shocked experience of a colonial soldier in the First World War.

His stellar performance in the solo piece earned him the outstanding achievement in dance prize at the Olivier Awards.

Matthew Bourne

Ashley Shaw and Sam Archer in Matthew Bourne’s Production of The Red Shoes.
Image: Johan Persson.

Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular choreographer and director. He is the creator of the world’s longest running ballet production, a five-time Olivier Award-winner, and the only British director to have won a Tony Award for both best choreographer and best director of a musical. He was also one of the first Associate Artists appointed at Sadler’s Wells in 2005.

In 2017, Matthew’s company New Adventures, a Resident Company at Sadler’s Wells, celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Matthew was presented with a special Olivier Award recognising three decades of extraordinary achievement in dance. This was his 8th Olivier Award, making him joint holder of the most ever Oliviers, alongside actress Judi Dench.

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet, his latest work, will come to our stage on Wednesday 7 August.

Swan Lake curtain raiser is ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’ for students

Our Learning & Engagement team and our Resident Company New Adventures worked with 18 students from our Associate Schools programme over two weeks this month to create a short piece inspired by Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. Following intense rehearsals in our Studio A, the project culminated with the students premiering their new piece on our main stage before the company’s Swan Lake performance on 11 January.

Emily Massey, a student at City and Islington College, wrote about her experience taking part in the curtain raiser:

“When I first heard about the opportunity to audition for Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, I couldn’t contain my excitement. The thought of getting the chance to perform on a stage that thousands of amazing dancers have danced on was simply unbelievable. Come audition day, I was a bundle of nerves, yet once the audition started they all seemed to fade away. I was made to feel so comfortable and supported by the instructors and my fellow peers that the dreaded word, audition, no longer seemed so scary.

After rehearsals had started, that’s when the real fun began! I have personally always been taught that dance is about technique, but this experience has taught me that it is so much more than that. Dance is a combination of movement and storytelling, and throughout this adventure we were pushed to the limits not only to improve technically as dancers but to develop our characterisation. Trying to embody a swan is a lot harder than you would think, but we were given suggestions on several strategies to employ in order to be able to do that along the way, and lots of support. By far the most challenging, yet rewarding part of the curtain raiser was getting the chance to create our own swan motifs. We were pushed to think like swans, which is hard given we’re human, but with extra guidance, we all created swan-like movements that were incorporated in the dance

“The lessons I’ve learnt along the way from both dancers and choreographers will stay with me.” Hannah Rose

I also met some of the best people I will ever meet in my life and that’s thanks to this whole experience. Having come from four different schools, we originally started off quite separated, but within a day or so we all quickly became very close and supportive of each other; it was an amazing environment to be in.

“Having the chance to be part of such an amazing experience reminds me of why I love to dance and what I would like to achieve in the future.” Isis

Getting to dance on the Sadler’s Wells stage was incredible! I have never done anything like it in my life and will never forget it. It was like I was dreaming the whole thing because it was so great. The most amazing part was meeting the man behind it all, Matthew Bourne, who choreographed Swan Lake for his company New Adventures. I was in absolute awe, it was a totally surreal moment.

“We gained insight into how a professional company works.” Mia

Getting to meet the professional company before dancing was unreal. They are our idols, the people we are striving to be, and meeting them as well as dancing on the same stage as them was too good to be true. It was truly an unforgettable experience and I will cherish the memories of it forever, as well as hope that I get to do it again next year!”

“The curtain raiser was fantastic! I saw most of my students afterwards and they were really buzzing and so excited about the whole experience. Thank you for facilitating this project, it makes such a difference to the students’ whole approach to dance and its possibilities.” Siobhan White, dance teacher at City and Islington College

“Wow – what an evening! Our students are so inspirational and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying their performance was incredible. Blown away by their talent and performance abilities! Thank you so much – opportunities like these are second to none and your support has played a great part in helping our young dancers to find and enjoy their passion.” Gemma Anderson, dance teacher at Bow School

Akram Khan and Micheal Keegan-Dolan win at National Dance Awards

The National Dance Awards were announced today and we were delighted that a number of Sadler’s Wells’ associate artists and companies were among the winners.

Our Associate Artist Michael Keegan-Dolan’s moving Swan Lake/Loch na hEala for Teac Damsa was awarded Best modern choreography. Our Associate Artist Akram Khan’s wonderful Giselle for Associate Company English National Ballet won the Best classical choreography award, with Lead Principal Alina Cojocaru receiving the Outstanding classical performance (female) award for her performance in the title role.

Resident Company New Adventures’ Ashley Shaw took the Outstanding contemporary performance (female) award for her performance as Vicky Page in our Associate Artist Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes. Lez Brotherston, Matthew’s long-time collaborator and creator of New Adventures’ spectacular set designs, was honoured with the Ninette de Valois award for outstanding contribution to dance.

Among other winners, Richard Alston Dance Company’s Liam Riddick received the award for best male dancer and former principal of The Royal Ballet Zenaida Yanowsky, who recently performed as part of Sadler’s Wells Sampled,  won best female dancer. The full list of winners is available here.

Many congratulations to all on their awards!

 

Image: Michael Keegan-Dolan’s Swan Lake/Loch na hEala. Photo: Marie-Laure Briane.

Celeb Spotting at Cinderella Gala Performance

With Christmas only a week away, we decided to roll out the red carpet and invite some famous faces to a special one-off performance of Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella at Sadler’s Wells. This star-studded evening was attended by the biggest names from stage and screen including David Walliams, Lily James, Matt Smith, Susanna Reid, Susan Calman, Jeremy Vine and many more.

Take a look at the image gallery above.

Matthew Bourne’s unique take on a classic fairytale transports the audience back to 1940s London, during one fateful night when Cinderella meets a dashing young RAF pilot and are together just long enough to fall in love before being parted by the horrors of the Blitz.

Many performances of Cinderella are now sold out, but you can catch this unmissable show when it will be broadcast to TV screens across the UK on Boxing Day at 5.35pm on BBC2.

Our associate artists and companies win four Oliviers

The winners of this year’s Olivier Awards were announced at the Royal Albert Hall on 9 April and we are thrilled that Sadler’s Wells’ associate artists and companies won four awards.

Our Associate Artist Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young received the Best New Dance Production award for Betroffenheit. Our Associate Company English National Ballet won Outstanding Achievement in Dance for expanding the variety of their repertoire with our Associate Artist Akram Khan’s Giselle and triple bill She Said at Sadler’s Wells. Our Associate Artist Matthew Bourne received the Best Theatre Choreographer award, while his latest production The Red Shoes, performed by our Resident Company New Adventures, won in the Best Entertainment and Family category.

Many congratulations to all!

 

Image: Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young’s Betroffenheit. Photo: Wendy D Photography

Sadler’s Wells hosts Cinderella-inspired supper club

To celebrate the return of Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella on our stage this festive season, we are hosting a number of special pre-performance supper clubs. adidas nmd Held on the Mezzanine level, Supper at Sadler’s transports diners back to 1940s London, the evocative setting of Bourne’s war-time romance. Mochilas Kanken Online From the Union Jack bunting, to the floral table settings and even the ration book-style menus, diners will be immersed in a vintage wonderland. new balance homme Supper at Sadler’s runs before performances of Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella on selected dates between 12th December and 27th January 2018.

New Adventures wins International gong at The Stage Awards

Sadler’s Wells’ Resident Company New Adventures won the International award at The Stage Awards 2017. Winners were announced at a ceremony at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane last Friday.

The award recognised the company’s international touring and audience engagement activities, which in 2016 included a mammoth tour of New Adventures’ Sleeping Beauty in Asia, with audiences of over 70,000.

Many congratulations to Sir Matthew Bourne, Robert Noble and all the dancers and company members! We look forward to seeing New Adventures back on our main stage in April with Matthew Bourne’s Early Adventures.

New Year’s Honours list recognises Matthew Bourne, Tamara Rojo and Christopher Wheeldon

Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artists Matthew Bourne and Christopher Wheeldon and Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Company English National Ballet, received a knighthood, an OBE and a CBE respectively as part of the 2016 New Year’s Honours list. Our warmest congratulations to all!

Matthew Bourne to receive UK Theatre’s outstanding contribution award

Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Matthew Bourne is to be honoured at the UK Theatre Awards 2015 for his contribution to theatre.

The choreographer and Artistic Director of dance company New Adventures will receive the The Stage award for outstanding contribution to British theatre at a ceremony in London on 18 October. A five-time Olivier Award-winner and the only British director to have won a Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical, Bourne is one of the most popular and successful choreographers working today.

Following a 14-year career as a professional dancer, he quickly established himself as an audience favourite with his endlessly inventive and witty versions of classical ballets, such as Nutcraker!, Swan Lake and Cinderella, as well as innovative productions like The Car Man and Edward Scissorhands.

Rachel Tackley, President of UK Theatre, said: “I am a huge fan of Matthew Bourne’s work which has been inspiring and thrilling audiences all over the UK and around the world for many years. I am delighted that his incredible contribution to our industry is being honoured at this year’s award ceremony. I can’t wait to see what he has planned next.”

New Adventures will perform Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty at Sadler’s Wells between 1 December and 24 January 2016. To book tickets, visit www.sadlerswells.com

 

Image: Matthew Bourne. Photo: Hugo Glendinning