Dame Siobhan Davies DBE (born Susan Davies; 18 September 1950 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

), often known as Sue Davies, is an English dancer and choreographer. She was a dancer with the

London Contemporary Dance Theatre The London Contemporary Dance Theatre (LCDT) was a contemporary dance company, based at The Place, founded by Robin Howard with Robert Cohan as its Artistic Director. Founded in 1967, and strongly influenced by the ideas of American modern and pos ...

during the 1970s, and became one of its leading

choreographers Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

creating work such as ''Sphinx]'' (1977). In 1988, she founded her own company, Siobhan Davies Dance. Originally trained in art, Davies was one of the first year's intake of full-time students at the London School of Contemporary Dance. Her works ''White Man Sleeps'' and ''Wyoming'' have been included on the dance GCE A-Level syllabus. Her work ''Bird Song'' is being used in GCSE Dance syllabus as Set Work (2008–2010). She is among the top contemporary choreographers in the UK.

Personal life and career

She was born Susan Davies in 1950 and first performed with the company that came to be

Dance Theatre Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...

Robert Cohan in 1967. She was made resident choreographer in 1984 before leaving the company in 1985. In 1986, Davies won the Fulbright Arts Fellowship, the first ever to be awarded to a choreographer. In 1982, she joined forces with Richard Alston and

Ian Spink Ian Spink (born 8 October 1947) is an Australian-British choreographer. Born in Melbourne, he trained at the Australian Ballet School. After graduating in 1968, he danced and choreographed for The Australian Ballet, Australian Dance Theatre and ...

to create Second Stride, which has been lauded as one of the most influential dance companies of the 1980s as well as the first contemporary dance company to tour the United States. From 1988-92 she was the associate choreographer of

Rambert Dance Company Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) 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 Kingd ...

Dance Company

Davies founded Siobhan Davies Dance Company, a contemporary dance company in the United Kingdom, in 1988. From the year 2000, Davies began a change in choreographic style, moving towards creating site-specific dance work, and in 2007 decided to abandon touring dance productions altogether.

Siobhan Davies Dance

In 2006 Siobhan Davies opened

Siobhan Davies Studios Siobhán is a female given name of Irish origin. The most common anglicisations are Siobhan (identical to the Irish spelling but omitting the acute accent over the 'a'), Shevaun and Shivaun. A now uncommon spelling variant is Siubhán. It is de ...

, created by architect

Sarah Wigglesworth Sarah Wigglesworth MBE RDI is a British award-winning architect and was a Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield until 2016. Career Wigglesworth foundeSarah Wigglesworth Architectsin 1994. Her practice has a reputation for sust ...

, and winner of the 2006

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

award. This marked a permanent change in Davies' work from a touring dance company into a contemporary arts organisation. The new company focuses on the investigation and exploration of choreography and movement within a contemporary arts context. The company produces and commissions new work from live performance to contemporary film, and actively takes part in industry and academic exploration. It also uses its London-based building as a visual art gallery as well as a dance studio space. The company regularly takes part in the annual

Dance Umbrella Dance Umbrella is an annual festival of modern and contemporary dance in London every October, founded by Val Bourne and Jeremy Alliger. First held in 1978, companies such as London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Si ...

season. Already

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE), Davies was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to dance.

References

External links

Siobhan Davies RePlay digital archiveSiobhan Davies Dance Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Siobhan English choreographers 1950 births Living people Dance companies in the United Kingdom Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire