Leigh Warren (born 1952) is an Australian

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 ...

choreographer and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of Leigh Warren & Dancers (LWD) having previously been at the

Australian Dance Theatre Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), known as Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre from 1993 to 1999, is a contemporary dance company based in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman . The ADT was the first moder ...

. He choreographed and directed the ''Portrait Trilogy'' of operas by

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

( Akhnaten (2002),

Einstein on the Beach ''Einstein on the Beach'' is an opera in four acts composed by Philip Glass with libretto in collaboration with Robert Wilson (director), Robert Wilson, who also designed and directed early productions. The opera eschews traditional narrative in ...

(2006) and

Satyagraha Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is ...

(2007)) performed by LWD, the Adelaide Vocal Project and the

State Opera of South Australia State Opera South Australia (SOSA) is a professional opera company in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1976. History State Opera South Australia was established in 1976 as a statutory corporation under the ''State Opera of South Au ...

Training

Warren studied at Valrene Tweedie's Australian Academy of Ballet in Sydney and the

Australian Ballet School The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne. History The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scot ...

. He was awarded an Australian

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

to study in 1974 at

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York where he studied with Kazuko Hirabayashiu of the Martha Graham School.

Career

Warren has danced with: *the

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

(1970 to 1972 when he was promoted to soloist) *

Ballet Rambert 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 ...

in London (two periods) *The Dance Company (NSW) now the

Sydney Dance Company Sydney Dance Company is a contemporary dance company in Australia. They have performed at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Joyce Theater in New York, the Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, and the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. His ...

(1975) *

Nederlands Dans Theater Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT; literal translation Netherlands Dance Theatre) is a Dutch contemporary dance dance company, company. NDT is headquartered at the ''Amare'' building in The Hague. NDT also performs at other venues in the Netherlands ...

as a dancer and contemporary dance teacher (two periods) * Nureyev and Friends *and as a freelance dancer (1984–1985). He lectured at the Victorian College of the Arts before being appointed artistic director of the Australian Dance Theatre (1987–1992). He formed and has directed Leigh Warren & Dancers from 1992 to the present.

Awards

*Australian Dance Award **1999 for outstanding achievement in choreography for ''Shimmer''. *Adelaide Critics' Circle: **2004 Individual Award for the direction and choreography of Einstein on the Beach **2005 Award for Innovation for "Petroglyphs – Signs of Life", choreographed with Gina Rings *2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

Training

Career

Awards

See also

Notes

Further reading