Wayne McGregor

Wayne McGregor awarded Honorary Science Fellowship

Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Wayne McGregor has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the British Science Association for his dedication to engaging and inspiring people with science.  He joins an illustrious rank of honorary fellows, including Professor Brian Cox and Sir David Attenborough.

Wayne’s work has long been at the forefront of dance innovation, exploring the possibilities of the human body and movement through our cognitive and scientific processes. He has worked closely with researchers to create work informed by cognitive science and social anthropology, and even devised a choreographic thinking tool, Mind and Movement, now used in schools and other educational environments.

His long-standing interest in scientific research is reflected in his choreographic works, which are often at the cutting edge of scientific and technological advancements. Atomos, performed at Sadler’s Wells in 2013, probes the idea of choreography growing from the form of an atom, exploring the movement and manipulation of the body with wearable technology mapping the dancer’s biometrics and reflecting their own emotional algorithms. His upcoming production Autobiography, premiering at Sadler’s Wells in October, is similarly ambitious, a deeply personal work stemming from world-leading geneticists sequencing Wayne’s genetic material, and thereby re-processing and exploring nature’s code through dance.

Many congratulations to Wayne on this important recognition!

Image credit: Nick Mead

National Dance Awards are announced

The 2015 Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards were announced during a ceremony at The Place today, with many of Sadler’s Wells associate artists, companies and friends featuring among the worthy winners.

Our Associate Artist Crystal Pite received the award for Best modern choreography for her epic work Polaris, produced by Sadler’s Wells as part of its Thomas Adès: See the Music, Hear the Dance programme.

The Outstanding company award went to our irrepressible Resident Company New Adventures, with their brilliant dancer Zizi Strallen receiving the Outstanding female performance (modern) award for her portrayal of Lana in Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man.

Our Associate Artist Wayne McGregor won the Best classical choreography award for Woolf Works, created for the Royal Ballet, while flamenco dancer Israel Galván was given a special award for exceptional artistry.

Finally, our Associate Artist Sylvie Guillem was honoured with the De Valois award for outstanding achievement, in recognition of her extraordinary career. She shared the award with Caroline Miller, who was recognised for her 10-year tenure as Chief Executive of Dance UK.

Many congratulations to all!

For a full list of nominations, visit londondance.com

 

Image: Crystal Pite’s Polaris, by Andrew Lang