Peter Royston (born 1952 in

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 ...

) is an English

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, teacher and director. He was a successful dancer, but his success increased after he began choreographing new works.

Early life

Royston started dance classes at age 5. He is a Royal Academy of Dancing scholar (1963–1968) and trained at The

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

(1968–1970) Arts Educational (1970–1971)

Career

He danced in the

Royal Ballet of Flanders The Royal Ballet of Flanders is a dance company based in Antwerp, Belgium, specializing in classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet. In its current incarnation, the company was established in 1969. It tours internationally. History The ...

, Munster State Ballet, Kiel State Ballet, and the Scottish Ballet (1975–1985). He choreographed major works for The Scottish Ballet: ''Steps to ?'' (1981), ''To The Last Whale'' (1982), ''Randombach, Quarrels not their own'' (1983), ''Pococurantis'' (1985), ''Ringed by the flat horizon'' (1985). For Scottish Dance Theatre: ''Friction'' and ''Touch'' (both with Graham Bowers, 1985), ''Brief Encounter'' (1986), ''Love minus zero no limit'' (1986), '' 5 Women'' (1986) and ''

Consuming Passions ''Consuming Passions'' is a 1988 black comedy film which stars Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, and Sammi Davis and was directed by Giles Foster. The film is based on '' Secrets'' by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, a BBC television play broadc ...

'' (1987) Other choreography: ''Red Hot Shoes'' for

Tron Theatre The Tron Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The theatre was formerly known as the Tron Kirk. It began as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne. The Tron Theatre building is home to the Tron Theatre Company and serves as a prod ...

(writer

Liz Lochhead Liz Lochhead Hon FRSE (born 26 December 1947) is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland, and served as Poet Laureate for Glasgow between 2005 and 2011. ...

1987), ''Columba'' (opera to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Glasgow Cathedral 1987), ''Great Scot'' (director

John Cairney John Cairney (16 February 1930 – 6 September 2023) was a Scottish stage, film and television actor who found fame through his one-man shows on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Service, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William McGo ...

1988). His successful career as a ballet dancer led to a choreographic career initiated by

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1 ...

Director

Peter Darrell Peter Darrell (''né'' Skinner; 16 September 1929 – 2 December 1987) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Scottish Ballet. For almost four decades Darrell was one of the most productive and imaginative talents in Br ...

, who chose Royston's workshop piece Steps to ..? for the company repertoire. This was followed by several commissions by Scottish Ballet. He created Scottish Dance Theatre in 1985 (not to be confused with the current Scottish Dance Theatre based in Dundee). This company was supported by The Scottish Arts Council. They toured Scotland and appeared in London (1985–1988). Initial performances explored a close collaboration with Designer Graham Bowers that had started with Pococurantis (Scottish Ballet) and developed with Friction and Touch (Scottish Dance Theatre). It was performed at the inaugural performances of SDT at The Tron Theatre in Glasgow and following tour to favourable reviews. He represented the UK at The International Course for Choreographers and composers 1984 Directed by

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 ...

. He served on the dance committee at The

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

1994 - 1999. He was appointed lecturer at

Dundee College Dundee (; ; or , ) is the fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea. Under t ...

in 1991. He developed a foundation course into the now

Scottish school of contemporary dance The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance is a dance and performing arts school affiliated with the Dundee College. It offers a four-year training from foundation level and prepares students for careers as dance performers, choreographers, and co ...

based at The Space a £5million lottery funded studio and theatre complex which is home to the school.Space, the new dance frontier
/ref> He was appointed Dance Artist in Residence to Borders Region (1988–1991); he cCreated Borders Dance Festival and many works including a site specific work with composer Savourna Stevenson. He was appointed dance lecturer at Dundee College 1991. He was Director of the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance (2000–2011). He was appointed as Dance development officer for Perth and Kinross Council in August 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royston, Peter People educated at the Royal Ballet School English choreographers Ballet choreographers Ballet in Scotland Living people Dancers from London 1952 births