Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer 2022

On Wednesday 7 December, our Year 10 and 11 students presented nine original pieces to a panel of experts as part of the Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer performance. They not only conceived of and choreographed the pieces, but they also cast their ballets with their classmates, timetabled their rehearsals, and had input into the costumes and lighting.

The School has a long tradition of encouraging choreographic work with students, from our origin as The Academy of Choreographic Art to today’s comprehensive Choreographic Programme, now led by Mikaela Polley. It’s an integral part of our teaching to nurture creative experiment and expression in our dancers, so they develop into well-rounded artists in their own right. We put on three annual choreographic events and match students with mentors so that they can find their voices and have the experience of sharing their work with their peers and with an audience.

After the Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer performance, a panel of experts provide valuable feedback for the students. The panel also highlighted pieces they feel have the potential to be developed further. We hope that, as in previous years, these pieces may then be performed again during our summer performance season or at other demonstrations and events. We’re so grateful to our panel of experts, Dame Darcey Bussell, Cira Robinson and Will Tuckett who offered their feedback to the students, and to Rhian Robbins, Choreographic Tutor, who continues to foster our students’ creative voices.