Sir Richard Alston CBE (born 30 October 1948) is a British choreographer. He has been resident choreographer and artistic director for the

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 ...

and is currently artistic director at The Place. His works include "Windhover" (1972), "Soda Lake", and "Pulsinella" (1987).

Life and career

Educated at Eton College, Alston trained as a dancer at the London School of Contemporary Dance, and then choreographed for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre before forming the UK's first independent dance company, Strider, in 1972. In 1976, he went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to study at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio. In 1980 he was appointed resident choreographer with

, serving as the company's artistic director from 1986 to 1992. During that time he created 25 works for Rambert as well as the Royal Danish Ballet (1982), the Royal Ballet (1983), and two solo works for Michael Clark (''Soda Lake'' and ''Dutiful Ducks''). He returned to Rambert in 2001, creating ''Unrest'' for the company's 70th anniversary. In 1981, Alston's dance company, "Strider", had merged with choreographer Siobhan Davies' company "Siobhan Davies and Dancers", to form "Second Stride". A revival of his ''Dangerous Liaisons'' (1985) was toured by Scottish Ballet in 2003. In 1994, Alston took up the post of artistic director at The Place and formed The Richard Alston Dance Company; since then he has made over 50 pieces for the company. In 2011 Alston created a new ballet ''en pointe'', ''A Rugged Flourish,'' for New York Theatre Ballet

Honours

Alston was made an honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Dance) at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

in 1992 and in 2003 he received an honorary MA from University College Chichester. In 1995, he was named Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his work in France. In January 2001 he was appointed a CBE. Alston was knighted in the 2019 New Year's Honours List for Services to Dance.

Richard Alston Dance Company

Alston's own company was launched in 1994 to critical acclaim. In 2002 the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

commissioned Alston to choreograph excerpts from ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' for their Masterworks series, directed by Jonathan Haswell. In Autumn 2003, Martin Lawrance's ''Grey Allegro'' was introduced into the repertoire – the first time another choreographer's work has been performed by the company. In May 2004 the company made its New York debut with a week of performances at the

Joyce Theater The Joyce Theatre Foundation is a leading presenter of dance in New York City and nationally. It is runs, in part, from the Joyce Theater, a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea, Manhattan, Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in ...

. In March 2020 Richard Alston Dance Company ceased activity in line with new priorities for touring, agreed between The Place and Arts Council England.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Richard 1948 births Living people British ballet choreographers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor People educated at Eton College