Notes to Editors: The Steering Group (responsible for developing the concepts of the Retreat and the selection process): Assis Carreiro (DanceEast), Cynthia Harvey (ex Principal Dancer, The Royal Ballet/American Ballet Theatre), Bruce Sansom (Director, Central School of Ballet), Deborah Bull (Creative Director ROH2), Roanne Dods (Director, Jerwood Foundation), David Nixon (Artistic Director, Northern Ballet Theatre), Jeanette Siddall (freelance consultant), Prof. Christopher Bannerman (RESCEN, Middlesex University), Sue Hoyle (Deputy Director, Clore Leadership Programme), Alistair Spalding (Artistic Director, Sadler’s Wells). (PR Enquries: Debra Boraston T. +44 (0)20 7483 1950 E. [email protected]) 2008 Rural Retreat Participants Adrian Burnett (Australia) developed as a choreographer while Jeff Edwards (USA) became associate artistic director of the scaling the ranks of professional dancing, primarily with The Washington Ballet in 2003. His dancing career spanned Europe Australian Ballet, for whom he became resident choreographer and the US, most notably with New York City Ballet (1984-93). in 2003. Other companies for whom he has choreographed He has been a repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust since included Houston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and New York 2001, director of Education for Twyla Tharp Dance (2001-3) City Ballet Choreographic Institute. and was also a Management Fellow (2002-3) at the prestigious Kennedy Center Institute for Arts Management. Christophe Béranger (France) studied dance and music and joined Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine in 1992. When André Gingras (Canada). After an extensive career in dance the company became the ‘Centre Choreographique National – and theatre, he began to choreograph in 1999, revealing a Ballet de Lorraine’ in 1999 he also became closely involved highly physical and visual personal language that finds with the educational and training aspects of the organisation inspiration in martial arts, breakdance, the physical symptoms while continuing to pursue his choreographic and performance related to specific medical conditions and in post-modern dance career. and theatre. Working with directors such as Robert Wilson and Peter Stein and choreographing for companies such as Marc Brew (Australia). A car accident in 1997 which left him Nederlands Dans Theatre and, most recently, Rambert Dance paralysed from the chest down did not deter Marc Brew from Company has developed his ability to engage dance with other continuing his dancing. He ardently pursues a career as a multi-media arts as well as contemporary issues. choreographer, dancer, director, teacher and motivational speaker from his wheelchair and is setting new goals Daniel Gwirtzman (USA) Choreographer Daniel Gwirtzman internationally and at home in Australia concerning issues with danced with Mark Morris Dance Company and Garth Fagan arts and disability. For the last three years he has been working Dance before founding Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company in with the UK’s CandoCo Company. 1998 as a performing and teaching company. He is committed to teaching and increasing the accessibility of dance: the Farooq Chaudhry (Pakistan/UK) has worked in a variety of teaching arm of his company has taught over 7000 public dance media including contemporary dance, opera, film, pop school children, parents and administrators and he has also videos, pop tour, and musical theatre. In 1999 he formed an helped develop the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the association with Akram Khan with whom he founded the Akram Arts, the new NYC arts curriculum. Khan Company in August 2000. He continues to work with Akram Khan as his producer and is currently a Project Rex Harrington (Canada) was a member of the National Ballet Champion in the Clore Leadership programme. of Canada 1983– 2004 (15 of which were as principal dancer), dancing and creating major roles in the repertoire as well as Tamas Detrich’s (USA) distinguished 25-year dancing career guesting around the world and partnering numerous ballerinas has been entirely with Stuttgart Ballet which he joined after including Carla Fracci, Karen Kain, Susan Jaffe, Ekaterina graduating. He retired from the stage in 2002 and became the Maximova and, most famously, Evelyn Hart. In 2000 he was company’s full-time ballet master and was appointed artistic appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of associate of the company in 2004. his achievement in dance. Thomas Edur (Estonia/British citizen since 2000) has enjoyed Václav Kunes (Czech Republic), having danced with a16 year association with English National Ballet (ENB) as Nederlands Dans 1 & 2 since 1993, has been working freelance leading principal and is guest artist with many international for the last two years as a dancer, teacher and choreographer companies. He has a celebrated partnership with his wife with, among others, Copenhagen International Ballet and Agnes Oaks. As an award-winning dancer, teacher and Teshigawara. choreographer he fulfils a lifelong commitment to promoting excellence in dance and has been a patron of the British Ballet Organisation since 2004. Cathy Marston (UK) has run a successful career as a Minna Tervamäki (Finland) has been associated with the choreographer alongside that of a dancer from the outset. Her Finnish National Opera and Ballet since 1986 and, as principle early career in the ‘90s as a dancer with Switzerland’s three dancer, has performed many major roles in the classical ballet companies in Zurich, Luzern and Berne was followed by repertoire. She has choreographed in workshop and for a freelance career in the UK. She has created works for most fashion events. of the UK’s major ballet companies and was the Royal Opera House’s first Artistic Associate (2002-6). She recently launched Kenneth Tharp’s (UK) main affiliations as a dancer have been her own company, The Cathy Marston Project, and becomes with London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1981-1994) and artistic director of Bern Ballet in August 2007. Arc Dance Company (1994-2005). He has also worked extensively as a choreographer, teacher and director combining Ernst Meisner ‘s (Holland) scholarship to the Royal Ballet dance with many different media. With composer Simon School led directly to a contract with the Royal Ballet in 2000 Redfern he is co-director of Artyfartyarts, a multi disciplinary becoming a First Artist in 2002. He choreographed for First arts group, as well as being on the Board of Trustees at the Drafts in the Clore Studio at The Royal Opera House – Royal Opera House and Phoenix Dance Company. He is also a something he has done every year since. In 2005, at the age of fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme. just 23, he produced and directed his own show, BalletMoves, with dancers from the Royal and Kirov Ballets. In January this Michael Trent (Canada) has achieved national recognition as a year he produced and directed a two-day workshop in Kent choreographer, dancer, teacher and producer and was involving students of dance, design and stage management. appointed artistic director and resident choreographer of Dancemakers and the Centre for Creation in Toronto in 2006. Otto Neubert (Germany/USA) began his performance career He has a close association with Toronto Dance Theatre having with Stuttgart Ballet and joined New York City Ballet as a danced with them for many years and been a senior member soloist. Since 1992 he has been ballet master for Pacific of the school faculty for the last ten years. Northwest Ballet where he has worked closely with the artistic directors on many aspects of the company’s profile and Will Tuckett (UK) is a choreographer, dancer and director of development. theatre, opera and film. Trained at the Royal Ballet School, he was a member of the Royal Ballet from1990 – 2005 working as Tilman O’Donnell (USA) graduated in 2000 and is currently a choreographer and dancer. He is now a principal guest artist. making the transition to The Forsyth Company following four He has choreographed extensively for both the Royal Ballet years dancing with the Cullberg Ballet. As well as dancing, he and ROH2 and created more than twenty ballets for The Royal has also choreographed. Ballet, Sadler’s Wells and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Tamara Rojo (Spain/UK) began her dancing career at the age Karol Urbanski’s (Poland) performance career has included of 16 with the Victor Ullate dance Centre in Madrid, moving to the National Ballet in Warsaw and the Norwegian National the UK at the age of 20. She is a highly acclaimed principal Ballet. He has also been involved in choreography and teaching dancer with the Royal Ballet, which she joined in 2000 following of both ballet and contemporary dance and in 2006 co-founded three years with English National Ballet, and is a guest artist the Centre for Contemporary Dance Foundation in Warsaw. with The Tokyo Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba and English National Ballet. Sharon Watson (UK). Since leaving Pheonix Dance Company in 1998 she has pursued an active career as a choreographer, Ana Luján Sánchez’s (Spain) career as a dancer has been producer, lecturer, teacher, rehearsal director and tour director almost exclusively with Rambert Dance Company (1996-2006), and is currently a fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme. during which time she also ventured into choreography and teaching. Since leaving she has embarked on a coaching Natalie Weir (Australia), choreographing professionally for course, guested in Spain and the UK as rehearsal director and more than 20 years, she has created over 100 works for most teacher with, among others, Phoenix Dance Theatre and of Australia’s contemporary and classical ballet companies as assisted with a Spanish tour for Rambert Dance Company. well as for overseas companies including American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet. She has also Christopher Stowell (USA) became artistic director of Oregon been the recipient of an Australia Council Fellowship towards Ballet Theatre in 2003 following an 16-year dancing career with her development as an Artistic Director.