maliphantworks | In Focus: Russell Maliphant

maliphantworks sees acclaimed choreographer/dancer Russell Maliphant return to the London stage having last performed at the Coliseum in July 2014 with Sylvie Guillem.

Born in Ottowa, Canada in 1961, Russell Maliphant was raised in Cheltenham and trained at the Royal Ballet School. He graduated to Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (which later became Birmingham Royal Ballet) for seven years, after which he joined Dance Advance, and left ballet altogether in 1988, pursuing a career in independent dance.

He appeared in Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men by physical theatre company DV8, and worked with companies such as Michael Clark & Company, Laurie Booth and Rosemary Butcher. While working with Booth, Maliphant met lighting designer Michael Hulls, with whom he has collaborated closely for 20 years.

Maliphant created his first solo work in 1992, and founded Russell Maliphant Company in 1996. It was during the 90s that he produced works such as Shift (1996), Unspoken (also 1996) with James de Maria, and Two (1998).

In 2001, William Trevitt and Michael Nunn (The Ballet Boyz) performed the duet Critical Mass, choreographed by Maliphant in 1991, and then commissioned Torsion in 2002. This led to Broken Fall, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in December 2003 and was awarded an Olivier Award in 2003. Broken Fall marked the beginning of a collaborative relationship with Sylvie Guillem, which led to the award winning works Push and Solo.

Russell Maliphant continues to work with his own company, which acts as a creative lab for the development and presentation of new work. 2007 saw Russell Maliphant Company featured in Cast No Shadow, a new work exploring the ideas of identity and migration created in collaboration with the visual artists Isaac Julien which was presented at Sadler’s Wells and BAM in New York. In 2009, as part of the Spirit of Diaghilev programme at Sadler’s Wells, Maliphant choreographed Afterlight (Part One) for Daniel Proietto, for which he was Olivier Award-nominated in 2010. Maliphant created The Rodin Project with Sadler’s Wells in 2012 which included The Wall, a duet for Tommy Franzen and Dickson Mbi.

Russell Maliphant became an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells in 2005 and in 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Plymouth University.

 

maliphantworks | 28 Feb – 11 Mar | More Info