2024 Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer
The School has a long history of nurturing the next generation of choreographers, and our annual Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer event is one example of this. The performances was held last week at White Lodge, where ten students from Year 10 and 11 presented a new piece of choreography, created by them, to a captivated audience of supporters, staff, students, and a panel of industry judges.
The Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer takes place each December and is one of three events in our Ninette de Valois Choreographic Programme. Each stage of the programme gives students the chance to explore their creative instincts and discover their choreographic voice as they progress through the School. Our founder Dame Ninette de Valois was passionate about fostering young artists and nurturing their creative curiosity, and our choreographic programme created in her name ensures that her legacy is kept alive.
The students created their pieces themselves, with the support of Choreographic Tutor, Rhian Robbins. The process covers everything from idea conception, music selection and inspiration gathering, to casting their classmates as dancers in the piece, scheduling their own rehearsal time amidst their busy school days, and contributing their opinion and vision on the costume, lighting, and stage design.
Audience members were treated to a variety of dance styles across the afternoon, including a neo-classical creation titled Infatuation by Kanoko Aoyama, Year 11, a Bob Fosse inspired work by Rose Milner, Year 11, Rich Man’s Frug, and many more original works showcasing the students’ individual voices and creativity.
After the performance, our panel of judges, Ryoichi Hirano, Dame Monica Mason and Kristen McNally, provided invaluable feedback to the students about their work. Some of the student pieces may have the opportunity to be developed further and performed at our Summer Performances next year. This is a great privilege for the students to get their work not only seen, but cared for, by people they look up to through their professional insights.
Congratulations to all our students who created a piece, and thank you to all the dancers, ballet teachers, stage managers and wardrobe staff who helped to bring these pieces to life.
