Nominations for the National Dance Awards

Posted on November 4, 2016

Nominations have been announced for the 17th National Dance Awards, chosen by the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle.

The nominees were chosen from a long list of more than 400 dancers, choreographers and companies nominated. The single most nominated production is Akram Khan Company’s Until The Lions (pictured above), with four nominations. Northern Ballet’s 1984, the Bolshoi Ballet’s The Taming of the Shrew, Richard Alston Dance Company’s An Italian in Madrid and English National Ballet’s Broken Wings have three nominations each, while Will Tuckett’s Elizabeth, Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young’s Betroffenheit and Rambert’s Transfigured Night also received multiple nominations.

For the very first time, one of the nominations in the Best Male Performance category is for a ballerina role, with Chase Johnsey of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo shortlisted for his performance as Paquita. Johnsey is also nominated for the Dancing Times award for Best Male Dancer.

Graham Watts, chairman of the dance section, said: “The Awards committee wishes to express grateful thanks to our sponsors, without whom the event would not be possible; to the body of dance critics across the UK for giving their time to ensure the best possible list of nominees; and, above all, the companies, choreographers and performers for giving us such a rich variety of choice.”

The awards ceremony will be held on February 6, 2017.

DANCING TIMES AWARD FOR BEST MALE DANCER

Tobias BATLEY (Northern Ballet)

Alexander CAMPBELL (The Royal Ballet)

Chase JOHNSEY (Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo)

Vadim MUNTAGIROV (The Royal Ballet)

Liam RIDDICK (Richard Alston Dance Company)

GRISHKO AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE DANCER

Francesca HAYWARD (The Royal Ballet)

Ekaterina KRYSANOVA (Bolshoi Ballet)

Laura MORERA (The Royal Ballet)

Tamara ROJO (English National Ballet)

Zenaida YANOWSKY (The Royal Ballet)

STEF STEFANOU AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING COMPANY

BOLSHOI BALLET

ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET

LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO

NORTHERN BALLET

SCOTTISH BALLET

BEST INDEPENDENT COMPANY

BALLET CYMRU

DeNada DANCE THEATRE  

GARY CLARKE COMPANY

PROTEIN DANCE

SWEETSHOP REVOLUTION

BEST CLASSICAL CHOREOGRAPHY

sponsored by The Ballet Association

Anabelle LOPEZ OCHOA – BROKEN WINGS for English National Ballet

Jean-Christophe MAILLOT – TAMING OF THE SHREW for the Bolshoi Ballet

Cathy MARSTON – JANE EYRE for Northern Ballet

Will TUCKETT – ELIZABETH for The Royal Ballet

Jonathan WATKINS – 1984 for Northern Ballet

BEST MODERN CHOREOGRAPHY

Kim BRANDSTRUP – TRANSFIGURED NIGHT for Rambert

Javier De FRUTOS – ANATOMY OF A PASSING CLOUD for Royal New Zealand Ballet

Akram KHAN – UNTIL THE LIONS for Akram Khan Company

Russell MALIPHANT – SPIRAL PASS for Bavarian State Ballet, Munich

Crystal PITE – BETROFFENHEIT for Kidd Pivot/Electric Company Theatre

EMERGING ARTIST AWARD

Sponsored by The L&M Trust

Reece CLARKE (first artist, The Royal Ballet)

Julie CUNNINGHAM (freelance choreographer)

Tierney HEAP (soloist, The Royal Ballet)

Katja KHANIUKOVA (junior soloist, English National Ballet)

Vidya PATEL (guest artist, Richard Alston Dance Company)

OUTSTANDING FEMALE PERFORMANCE (MODERN)

Ching-Ying CHIEN in Until The Lions for Akram Khan Company

Marivi DA SILVA in Young Man for DeNada Dance Theatre

Christine Joy RITTER in Until The Lions for Akram Khan Company

Hannah KIDD as Penelope in The Odyssey for Mark Bruce Company

Vidya PATEL as Princess Maria Barbara in An Italian in Madrid for Richard Alston Dance Company

OUTSTANDING MALE PERFORMANCE (MODERN)

Miguel ALTUNAGA in Transfigured Night for Rambert

Daniel COLLINS as Jekyll in Jekyll and Hyde for The McOnie Company/The Old Vic

Akram KHAN in Until The Lions for Akram Khan Company

Liam RIDDICK as Prince Ferdinand in An Italian in Madrid for Richard Alston Dance Company

Jonathon YOUNG in Betroffenheit for Kidd Pivot/Electric Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING FEMALE PERFORMANCE (CLASSICAL)

Sponsored by Lee McLernon

Francesca HAYWARD in Rhapsody for The Royal Ballet

Ekaterina KRYSANOVA as Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew for the Bolshoi Ballet

Martha LEEBOLT as Julia in 1984 for Northern Ballet

Tamara ROJO as Frida Kahlo in Broken Wings for English National Ballet

Zenaida YANOWSKY in the title role of Elizabeth for The Royal Ballet

OUTSTANDING MALE PERFORMANCE (CLASSICAL)

Sponsored by The Office for Architectural Culture

Tobias BATLEY as Winston Smith in 1984 for Northern Ballet

Cesar CORRALES as Ali in Le Corsaire for English National Ballet

Chase JOHNSEY in the title role of Paquita for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Vladislav LANTRATOV as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew for the Bolshoi Ballet

Irek MUKHAMEDOV as Diego Rivera in Broken for English National Ballet

Picture: Ching-Ying Chien and Christine Joy Ritter in Akram Khan Company’s Until The Lions. Photograph: Jean-Louis Fernandez

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.