New Adventures |

SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

FOR

THE NEW ADVENTURES CHOREOGRAPHER AWARD

New Adventures are delighted to announce the shortlist for the very first New Adventures Choreographer Award (NACA). Nearly 100 aspiring choreographers applied for the award that has been created by colleagues and friends in celebration of Matthew Bourne’s 50th birthday last year. The Award is to also honour both the work and achievements of Matthew and his company New Adventures within dance and musical theatre.

The recipient of this award will be granted an amount of money (in excess of £15,000) to work on their choreographic skills over a period of 12 months. Throughout the year, the recipient will have the chance to be mentored by Matthew and other New Adventures associate artists to research and develop a programme of work with a company of New Adventures dancers. In addition, they will receive advice and support from the management and administrative staff at New Adventures and Re:Bourne, including creating and managing budgets, marketing and general management. A showcase performance of the created programme of work will be the culmination of the award, to which leading industry figures will be invited.

The shortlist is listed below.

JAMES COUSINS
TOM JACKSON – GREAVES
DANIEL HAY-GORDON
SOLEDAD DE LA HOZ
KRISTEN McNALLY
CHRISTOPHER MARNEY
DREW McONIE
ERNST MEISNER
JELCA MILIC
ASH MUKHERJEE
RACHAEL NANYONJO
SOPHIE ROBINSON
SHANE SHAMBHU
NEIL WESTMORELAND
JAMES WILTON

Matthew Bourne said today "I am delighted today to be able to announce the Shortlist for the first New Adventures Choreography Award. We received an astonishingly varied group of applications, both in style and experience, from almost 100 choreographers representing everything from Dance Theatre to Classical Ballet, Musical Theatre to Contemporary, Kathak to Hip Hop and even Ice Dance!

I have been impressed by the creative ingenuity, passion and sheer talent of the applicants who in many cases are struggling to find a way to realise their vision as a dance maker. We have tried to select those choreographers that we feel will benefit most from what New Adventures has to offer, at this stage in their careers. Along with our distinguished panel of industry experts, I look forward to exploring the shortlisted choreographers ideas and ambitions even further, and making what will undoubtedly be the very difficult decision to pick the eventual winner"

The NACA Finalists Judging Panel will consist of

MATTHEW BOURNE - Artistic Director NEW ADVENTURES (Head Judge)

LEZ BROTHERSTON - Tony and Olivier winning Theatre Designer

ASSIS CARRIERO - Director DanceEast

ALETTA COLLINS - International Choreographer and Director

CHRISTOPHER HAMPSON - International Ballet Choreographer

SHARON WATSON - Artistic Director PHOENIX DANCE COMPANY

Aided by NEW ADVENTURES leading artistes, Scott Ambler, Nina Goldman and Etta Murfitt

The winner of the award will be announced in August.

For further press information please contact Simon Raw or Mark Senior on simon@rawpr.co.uk/mark@rawpr.co.uk