Phoenix Dance Theatre, Leeds (30th May 2014) 001

Phoenix Dance Theatre is a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

company based in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, that has grown from small beginnings in inner-city Leeds to be one of Britain’s leading

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

companies. The company tours nationally and internationally.

History

Phoenix Dance Company was formed in 1981 in the inner-city

Harehills Harehills is an inner-city area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north east of Leeds city centre. Harehills is situated between the A58 (towards Wetherby) and the A64 (towards York). It sits in the Gipton & Ha ...

area of Leeds by three young men – David Hamilton (Artistic Director), Donald Edwards and Vilmore James – who had begun dancing at Harehills Middle School. They were taught there by Nadine Senior, who went on to be the first principal of

Northern School of Contemporary Dance Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) is a higher education institution in Chapeltown, Leeds, England specialising in contemporary dance. Students can obtain undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in dance, validated by the University of ...

. By the summer of 1982 Phoenix had acquired two other dancers, Merville Jones and Edward Lynch, both members of Harehills Youth Dance Theatre in Leeds, and in 1985 the company moved to its first permanent base in Chapeltown. In 1987 David Hamilton left the company to pursue a solo career, and in July Neville Campbell joined Phoenix as Artistic Director. In 1990 Phoenix won the Grand Prize at the International Choreographic Competition in

Bagnolet Bagnolet () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a small part of the commune o ...

for Aletta Collins' piece ''Gang of Five'' and was nominated for the

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

for the Most Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Dance. Under Artistic Director Margaret Morris, who joined the company in 1991, Phoenix became established on the UK touring circuit and performed internationally particularly in the USA. Following Margaret Morris' departure in 1997, Artistic Director Thea Nerissa Barnes led the company until 2000. In July 1998 Phoenix was commissioned by the BBC to perform with

Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

at the Windrush Gala concert, which was broadcast nationally. Artistic Directors David (Leo) Hamilton (1981 – 1987) Neville Campbell (1987 – 1991) Margaret Morris (1991 – 1996) Thea Narissa Barnes (1997 – 2000) Darshan Singh Bhuller (2002 – 2006) Javier De Frutos (2006 – 2008) Sharon Watson (2009 – 2020 ) Dane Hurst (2021 – present)

Phoenix Dance Theatre

Darshan Singh Bhuller Darshan Singh Bhuller (born 4 March 1961) is a British dancer, teacher, artistic director, filmmaker, and choreographer. Considered "one of the brightest stars of his generation" and a "darkly powerful performer," Bhuller danced for London Contempor ...

was appointed as Artistic Director in 2002 and oversaw a complete rebranding of the company, changing the name to Phoenix Dance Theatre. During his tenure as Artistic Director from 2002 to 2006 Phoenix also began performing in predominantly large-scale venues. He was succeeded as Artistic Director by

Javier de Frutos Javier De Frutos is a Spanish director, choreographer and designer (born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1963) was named by the Evening Standard as one of 2016 most influential people in London. He is one of only three artists in the history of the Olivi ...

, during whose tenure Phoenix won the "Company Prize for Outstanding Repertoire (Modern)" in the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, 2006. In 2007 the company was invited to perform at the 5th International Festival of Contemporary Dance -

La Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, closing the festival with the final performance.

Sharon Watson

Sharon Watson became the seventh Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance Theatre in May 2009, continuing a relationship with the company that stretches over 20 years. She first joined Phoenix as a dancer under the stage name Chantal Donaldson from 1989 to 1997, during which time she choreographed the pieces ''Shaded Limits'' and ''Never Still'' for the company. She returned to Phoenix in 2000 as Rehearsal and Tour Director, following which she embarked upon a fellowship with the Clore Leadership Programme, while continuing her freelance work mentoring emerging artists, lecturing in vocational dance schools and delivering bespoke training programmes. In 2008 Watson was one of 26 aspiring leaders from around the globe selected to attend Dance East’s fourth Rural Retreat, an intensive four-day think-tank exploring the challenges of the role of Artistic Directors in the 21st century. Prior to taking up post at Phoenix she also spent eight months as Director of Learning and Access at Northern Ballet Theatre. In 2010 she was named as one of the Cultural Leadership Programme’s Women to Watch, a list of 50 influential women working in arts and culture in the UK selected by a distinguished panel made up of figures from the cultural and creative industries.

New building

In autumn 2010 Phoenix moved from its home of more than 20 years at Yorkshire Dance into a purpose-built dance centre in the centre of Leeds, alongside

Northern Ballet Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company ...

. It is the largest space for dance outside London and is the only space for dance to house a national classical and a national contemporary dance company alongside each another.

Current repertoire

Mixed Programme 2021 * " BERNSTEIN DOUBLE BILL " - Choreographer Dane Hurst * 40 YEARS OF PHOENIX Mixed Programme 2019 * " THE RITE OF SPRING " - Choreographer Jeanguy Saintus * ''LEFT UNSEEN '' - Choreographer Amaury Lebrun Mixed Programme 2018 * " Kirke" - Choreographer Sandrine Monin * ''Windrush: Movement of the People'' - Choreographer Sharon Watson * ''Calyx'' - Choreographer Sandrine Monin * ''Shadows'' - Choreographer Christopher Bruce Mixed Programme 2017 * ''REfined'' - Choreographer Sharon Watson Mixed Programme 2016 * ''Undivided Love'' - Choreographer Kate Flatt Mixed Programme 2015 * ''Shift'' - Choreographer Christopher Bruce CBE * ''Shadows'' - Choreographer Christopher Bruce CBE * ''TearFall'' - Choreographer Sharon Watson * ''Bloom'' - Choreographer Caroline Finn Mixed Programme 2014 * ''See Blue Through'' - Choreographer Didy Veldman * ''Document'' - Choreographers Uri Ivgi and Johan Greben * ''Mapping'' - Choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller Particle Velocity Programme 2013 * ''All Alight'' - Choreographer Richard Alston * ''Ki'' - Choreographer Jose Agudo * ''Tender Crazy Love'' - Choreographer Douglas Thorpe * ''Repetition of Change'' - Choreographer Sharon Watson Crossing Points Programme 2012 * ''Signal'' - Choreographer Henri Oguike * ''Catch'' - Choreographer Ana Lujan Sanchez * ''Maybe Yes Maybe, Maybe No Maybe'' - Choreographer Aletta Collins * ''SoundClash'' - Choreographer Kwesi Johnson Reflected Programme Spring 2011 *Switch - Choreographer Richard Wherlock *What It Is - Choreographer Philip Taylor *Pave Up Paradise - Choreographer Lost Dog *Melt - Choreographer Sharon Watson Declarations Programme Autumn 2010 * ''The Audacious One'' - Choreographer Warren Adams * ''Locked In Vertical'' - Choreographer Isira Makuloluwe * ''Haunted Passages'' - Choreographer Philip Taylor * ''Maybe Yes Maybe, Maybe No Maybe'' - Choreographer Aletta Collins Leeds in Barcelona Spring 2010 * ''Never 2 Still'' - Choreographer Sharon Watson Ignite Programme Autumn 2009 / Spring 2010 * ''1976'' - Choreographer Alesandra Seutin * ''Beast'' - Choreographer Douglas Thorpe * ''Class'' - Choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller * ''Fast Lane'' - Choreographer Sharon Watson

Current dancers

#Aaron Chaplin #Alana Cowie #Alabama Seymour #Charlie Nayler #Matthew Topliss #Megan Lumsden #Melina Sofocleus #Shawn Willis #Reynaldo Junior Santos #Yuma Sylla

References

External links

Phoenix Dance Theatre websitePhoenix Dance Theatre YouTube channel
{{authority control Dance companies in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Leeds Culture in West Yorkshire