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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), 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 p ...

during the 1970s, and became one of its leading

choreographers Choreography is the art 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 creates choreographies thro ...

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 London Contemporary Dance School (informally LCDS) is a contemporary dance school located in London, England. Previously part of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, since 2022 LCDS has been independently registered with the Office for Student ...

. Her works ''White Man Sleeps'' and ''Wyoming'' have been included on the dance GCE

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

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 choreography, choreogr ...

Robert Cohan Sir Robert Paul Cohan (26 March 1925 – 13 January 2021) was a British dancer, choreographer, and the founding artistic director of The Place, London Contemporary Dance School, and London Contemporary Dance Theatre (LCDT), which he directed f ...

in 1967. She was made resident choreographer in 1984 before leaving the company in 1985. In 1986, Davies won the

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Arts Fellowship, the first ever to be awarded to a choreographer. In 1982, she joined forces with Richard Alston and

Ian Spink Ian Spink (8 October 1947 – 11 October 2023) was an Australian-British choreographer. Life and career Born in Melbourne on 8 October 1947, Spink trained at the Australian Ballet School. After graduating in 1968, he danced and choreographed for ...

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 to 1992, 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 Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, 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 stron ...

company in the United Kingdom, in 1988. From 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 her eponymous studio (

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

), designed by architect

Sarah Wigglesworth Sarah Wigglesworth (born 16 May 1957, London) is a British architect. She was also a professor of architecture at the University of Sheffield until 2016. Career Wigglesworth founded her own architectural practice in 1994. Her practice has a repu ...

within the shell of a derelict brick school building in south London. It won the 2006

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

Award. 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, Siob ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE), Davies was promoted to

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(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