17 National Dance Award nominations for our alumni
Yesterday the National Dance Awards announced its short-listed nominees. We were thrilled to see the dancing and choreographic talents of so many of our alumni recognised; over 10% of this year’s nominees are alumni of the School.
We were delighted that both of our parent companies, The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, are nominated several times. The Royal Ballet is nominated for Outstanding Company and is the most recognised company with a total of 17 nominations.
Wayne McGregor’s The Dante Project for The Royal Ballet is the second most nominated production; four of our Year 8 students were lucky enough to be part of this production for the duration of its run. Our alumnus, Edward Watson, gave the final performance of his professional dancing career in McGregor’s piece and is fittingly acknowledged for his triumphant performance in both categories, Best Male Dancer and Outstanding Male Classical Performance.
About the National Dance Awards
The National Dance Awards are organised by the dance section of the Critics’ Circle, which brings together over 60 dance writers and critics, and presented to celebrate Britain’s vibrant dance culture. They are the only awards given by the body of professional dance critics in the UK.
A special award in honour of our founder, Ninette de Valois, is given for outstanding contribution to dance.
The Chair of the National Dance Awards, Graham Watts, said:
The 2021 dance year was reduced to around seven months’ of live performances and so there was less scope for the critics to make nominations. However, what we lacked in quantity was more than compensated by the outstanding quality of the work presented and the choices in all categories were closely contested with at least 20 on the long list for each award.
Congratulations to all the nominees! We look forward to Britain’s dance industry coming together in celebration of dance when the winners are announced at a London ceremony on 13 June 2022.
Alumni nominated
Dancing Times Award For Best Male Dancer
Brandon Lawrence (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Vadim Muntagirov (The Royal Ballet)
Edward Watson (The Royal Ballet)
Best Female Dancer
Momoko Hirata (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Marianela Nuñez (The Royal Ballet)
Best Classical Choreography
Christopher Hampson for Starstruck (Scottish Ballet)
Valentino Zucchetti for Anemoi (The Royal Ballet)
Emerging Artist Award
Bruno Micchiardi (Soloist, Scottish Ballet)
Gina Storm-Jensen (Soloist, The Royal Ballet)
Outstanding Female Classical Performance
Antoinette Brooks-Daw as Morgan in Merlin (Northern Ballet)
Alessandra Ferri in L’Heure exquise (The Royal Ballet/AF Dance/Ravenna Festival)
Marianela Nuñez in the title role as Giselle (The Royal Ballet)
Outstanding Male Classical Performance
Vadim Muntagirov in the title role as Apollo (The Royal Ballet)
Tyrone Singleton as Romeo in Radio and Juliet (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Joseph Sissens in The Statement (The Royal Ballet)
Edward Watson as Dante in The Dante Project (The Royal Ballet)
Best Dance Film
Christopher Hampson/Scottish Ballet for Starstruck
