 |
Michael Duncan Clark CBE (born 29 May 1962 [1] ) is a Scottish dancer and choreographer.
|
Michael Duncan Clark CBE (born 29 May 1962 [1] ) is a Scottish dancer and choreographer.
Clark was born in Aberdeen and began traditional Scottish dancing at the age of four. In 1975 he left home to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, and on his final day at the school he was presented with the Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award. In 1979 Clark joined Ballet Rambert, working primarily with Richard Alston, [2] who created roles for him in Bell High (1979), Landscape (1980), Rainbow Ripples (1981) and, subsequently, two solos: Soda Lake (1981) and Dutiful Ducks (1982). Later, attending a summer school with Merce Cunningham and John Cage led him to work with Karole Armitage, through whom he met Charles Atlas. [3]
Michael Clark has collaborated with fashion designers Alexander McQueen for his S/S04 Deliverance collection, BodyMap, artists Sarah Lucas and Peter Doig, performance artist Leigh Bowery, and musicians Wire, Laibach, The Fall, Jarvis Cocker and Scritti Politti.
Clark's commissions for major dance companies include the G.R.C.O.P. (Groupe de Recherche Chorégraphique de l'Opéra de Paris), The Paris Opera, Scottish Ballet, London Festival Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Phoenix Dance Company and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Clark has also produced considerable work for film and video, including Hail the New Puritan (1984) and Because We Must (1989) with Charles Atlas. He also choreographed and danced the role of Caliban in Peter Greenaway's Prospero’s Books (1991).
In 1998 he presented a new full-length work, current/SEE, in collaboration with Susan Stenger, Simon Pearson, Big Bottom, and Hussein Chalayan which became the subject of a BBC documentary directed by Sophie Fiennes, The Late Michael Clark. Before and After: The Fall (2001) was Clark's first major collaboration with the visual artist Sarah Lucas, followed by an evening entitled Would, Should, Can, Did (2003), for the Barbican, London. In the same year Clark created the first Satie Stud for William Trevitt of George Piper Dances, choreographed a solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov, and OH MY GODDESS opened London Dance Umbrella's 25th anniversary season. [4] In 2004 Rambert Dance Company revived SWAMP (1986), which received the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2005. [5]
In 2005 Clark embarked on the Stravinsky Project, a three-year project to produce a trilogy of works to seminal dance scores by Igor Stravinsky. He radically reworked Mmm... (1992) and 0 (1994), for this project, and in 2007 he premiered the final part of the trilogy, I Do. In 2009 he debuted come, been and gone at the Venice Biennale. Subsequent productions include New Work (2012) (later "animal / vegetable / mineral") and his most recent work "to a simple, rock 'n' roll . . . song." which premiered at the Barbican in London in October 2016. He has created major site-specific commissions for the Tate Modern, [6] Whitney Biennial, the 2012 Cultural Olympiad at Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom, and The Institute of Contemporary Art (Miami).
Clark was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to dance. [7]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1979 | Overground Trio C Belongings |
| 1980 | Surface Values |
| 1981 | Untitled Duet |
| 1982 | Of a feather, FLOCK A Wish Sandwich Rush |
| 1983 | Parts I – IV 1st Orange Segment The Artless Dodge (I'm in an evil mood tonight, don't you want want me baby? and Sexist Crabs) 12 X U Mission Accomplished: Tutu Invisible |
| 1984 | Flippin' eck oh thweet myth-tery of life Morag's Wedding 12 extemporay, thank yoU New Puritans (duet) Parts I – IV (duet) Do you me? I Did New Puritans Le French Revolting |
| 1985 | HAIL the classical Angel Food not H.AIR our caca phoney H.our caca phony H. |
| 1986 | Art for Money Drop Your Pearls and Hog It, Girl Swamp No Fire Escape in Hell |
| 1987 | Pure Pre-Scenes Because We Must |
| 1988 | I Am Curious, Orange |
| 1989 | Wrong Rights Heterospective |
| 1990 | Solo Because We Must world tour |
| 1991 | Modern Masterpieces |
| 1992 | Rite Now Mmm... Bog 3.0 |
| 1994 | O |
| 1998 | Yet ~ current/SEE |
| 2001 | fig – 1 Before and After: The Fall |
| 2003 | Satie Stud Would, Should, Can, Did Rattle Your Jewellery OH MY GODDESS Look at that picture... |
| 2004 | nevertheless, caviar Swamp |
| 2005 | A Physical Dialogue Stravinsky Project Part 1: O |
| 2006 | Stravinsky Project Part 2: Mmm... Merce's Nurse |
| 2007 | Stravinsky Project Part 3: I Do |
| 2009 | come, been and gone |
| 2010 | Tate Project: Part I |
| 2011 | th |
| 2012 | WHO'S ZOO? The Barrowlands Project New Work 2012 |
| 2013 | animal / vegetable / mineral |
| 2016 | to a simple, rock 'n' roll . . . song. |
| Year | Title | Director | Role/Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Hail the New Puritan | Charles Atlas | Himself/Choreographer |
| 1989 | Because We Must | Charles Atlas | Himself/Choreographer |
| 1991 | Prospero's Books | Peter Greenaway | Caliban/Choreographer |
| 2001 | The Late Michael Clark | Sophie Fiennes | Himself/Choreographer |
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Olivier Awards | Best New Dance Production | SWAMP | Won |
| 2011 | Robert Gordon University | Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts (Hon DArt) | n/a | n/a |
| 2013 | Manchester Theatre Awards | Robert Robson Award for Dance | New Work (2012) | Won [8] |
| 2013 | Ludwig Forum for International Art | Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation Award for Innovation in the Arts | n/a | Won |
William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer formerly resident in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and now based in Vermont. He is known for his work with the Ballet Frankfurt (1984–2004) and The Forsythe Company (2005–2015). Recognized for the integration of ballet and visual arts, which displayed both abstraction and forceful theatricality, his vision of choreography as an organizational practice has inspired him to produce numerous installations, films, and web-based knowledge creation, incorporating the spoken word and experimental music.
Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.
Dame Alicia Markova DBE was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally, she was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the twentieth century. She was the first British dancer to become the principal dancer of a ballet company and, with Dame Margot Fonteyn, is one of only two English dancers to be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta. Markova was a founder dancer of the Rambert Dance Company, The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, and was co-founder and director of the English National Ballet.
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.
Sir Richard Alston CBE is a British choreographer. He has been resident choreographer and artistic director for the Ballet Rambert and is currently artistic director at The Place. His works include "Windhover" (1972), "Soda Lake", and "Pulsinella" (1987).
Tamara Rojo CBE is a Spanish ballet dancer. She was the English National Ballet's artistic director and a lead principal dancer with the company between 2012 and 2022. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She became the artistic director of San Francisco Ballet in late 2022.
Sir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Earlier he had served as director of ballet for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He was also associate director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and artistic associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992.
Christopher Bruce is a British choreographer and performer. He was the Artistic Director of the Rambert Dance Company until 2002.
Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. At age 87, she was made a DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours List.
Dame Catherine Margaret Mary Scott, was a South African-born pioneering ballet dancer who found fame as a teacher, choreographer, and school administrator in Australia. As the first director of the Australian Ballet School, she is recognised as one of the founders of the strong ballet tradition of her adopted country.
Leigh Warren is an Australian contemporary dance choreographer and artistic director of Leigh Warren & Dancers (LWD) having previously been at the Australian Dance Theatre. He choreographed and directed the Portrait Trilogy of operas by Philip Glass performed by LWD, the Adelaide Vocal Project and the State Opera of South Australia.
Garry Stewart is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He was the longest-serving artistic director of the Australian Dance Theatre, taking over from Meryl Tankard in 1999 and finishing his term at the end of 2021. He is renowned for his unusual, post-modern interpretations of classical ballets.
Sir Wayne McGregor, CBE is a British choreographer and director who has won multiple awards. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 2011 for Services to Dance.
Javier De Frutos is a Spanish-Venezuelan director, choreographer and designer was named by the Evening Standard as one of 2016 most influential people in London.
Mark Phillip Baldwin OBE is a contemporary dance choreographer. He was born in Fiji and raised and educated in New Zealand. He was the Artistic Director of Rambert dance company from 2002–2018.
Rambert is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingdom, and today, as a contemporary dance company, continues to be one of the world's most renowned dance companies. It has previously been known as the Ballet Club, and the Ballet Rambert.
Anthony Van Laast is a British choreographer born 31 May 1951 in Sussex, UK. He has worked mainly for the stage, concerts, television and film. His works have appeared in the West End and on Broadway.
Will Tuckett is an English director and choreographer, who has created works for many international companies including the Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and English National Ballet.
Antonia Franceschi is an American actress, dancer, and choreographer.
Jean-Marc Puissant is a stage and costume designer. curator and consultant for live arts and exhibitions. Based in London, Puissant collaborates with international brands, directors, choreographers and curators in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Japan.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
