National Dance Awards (for 2021)

[Irmgard]

The nominations for the 22nd Annual National Dance Awards have just been announced and make for interesting reading.  Congratulations to all the nominees!

[Bluebird]

4 minutes ago, Irmgard said:

The nominations for the 22nd Annual National Dance Awards have just been announced and make for interesting reading.  Congratulations to all the nominees!

 

https://criticscircle.org.uk/nominations-for-national-dance-awards-announced/

[Rob S]

Made for interesting searching as well but I’ve posted it here to spare you that 

 

https://criticscircle.org.uk/nominations-for-national-dance-awards-announced/

 

DANCING TIMES AWARD FOR BEST MALE DANCER 
Jeffrey Cirio (English National Ballet) 
Francesco Gabriele Frola (English National Ballet)
Brandon Lawrence (Birmingham Royal Ballet)  
Vadim Muntagirov (The Royal Ballet) 
Edward Watson (The Royal Ballet) 

BEST FEMALE DANCER  
(sponsored by Tendu)
Momoko Hirata (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Marianela Nuñez (The Royal Ballet)
Natalia Osipova (The Royal Ballet) 
Cira Robinson (Ballet Black)
Erina Takahashi (English National Ballet)

STEF STEFANOU AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING COMPANY
English National Ballet 
New Adventures 
Northern Ballet 
Rambert 
The Royal Ballet 

BEST MID-SCALE COMPANY
Ballet Black 
Ballet Cymru 
Hofesh Shechter Company 
Motionhouse  
Scottish Dance Theatre  

BEST INDEPENDENT COMPANY  
Amina Khayyam Dance Company  
Far From The Norm  
Impermanence  
Rhiannon Faith Company  
Yorke Dance Project  

BEST CLASSICAL CHOREOGRAPHY 
(sponsored by The Ballet Association)
Gene Kelly & Christopher Hampson for Starstruck(Scottish Ballet)
Wayne McGregor for The Dante Project (The Royal Ballet)
Mthuthuzeli November for The Waiting Game(Ballet Black)  
Arielle Smith for Jolly Folly (English National Ballet)
Valentino Zucchetti for Anemoi (The Royal Ballet)

BEST MODERN CHOREOGRAPHY 
(sponsored by Harlequin Floors)
Miguel Altunaga for City of a Thousand Trades(Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Matthew Bourne for The Midnight Bell (New Adventures) 
Robert Cohan for Afternoon Conversations with Dancers (Yorke Dance 
Project)
Dimitris Papaioannou for Transverse Orientation(Dance Umbrella/Sadler’s 
Wells)
Botis Seva for BLKDG (Far From The Norm)  

EMERGING ARTIST AWARD 
(sponsored by The L&M Trust)
Nafisah Baba (Freelance Dance Artist)
Lanre Malaolu (Performer, Choreographer and Writer)  
Bruno Micchiardi (Soloist, Scottish Ballet) 
Gina Storm-Jensen (Soloist, The Royal Ballet) 
Emily Suzuki (Artist, English National Ballet) 

OUTSTANDING FEMALE MODERN PERFORMANCE
Cordelia Braithwaite as Clara in Nutcracker! (New Adventures) 
Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes(Anything Goes/The 
Barbican)
Rosie Kay in Absolute Solo 2 (Rosie Kay Dance Company) 
Michela Meazza in the The Midnight Bell (New Adventures) 
Yolande Yorke-Edgell in Lamentation (Yorke Dance Project) 

OUTSTANDING MALE MODERN PERFORMANCE
Dan Daw in The Dan Daw Show (Dan Daw Creative Projects) 
Paris Fitzpatrick in The Midnight Bell (New Adventures)
Akram Khan in Xenos (Akram Khan Company)
James Vu Anh Pham in Outwitting the Devil (Akram Khan Company)
Richard Winsor in The Midnight Bell (New Adventures)

OUTSTANDING FEMALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE 
(sponsored by Lee McLernon)
Antoinette Brooks-Daw as Morgan in Merlin(Northern Ballet)
Alessandra Ferri in L’Heure exquise (The Royal Ballet/AF Dance/Ravenna Festival)
Marianela Nuñez in the title role as Giselle (The Royal Ballet)
Natalia Osipova in the title role as Giselle (The Royal Ballet) 
Beatriz Stix-Brunel in After the Rain (The Royal Ballet)

OUTSTANDING MALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE
(sponsored by London Ballet Circle)
Jeffrey Cirio in the title role as Creature (English National Ballet)
Vadim Muntagirov in the title role as Apollo (The Royal Ballet)
Tyrone Singleton as Romeo in Radio and Juliet(Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Joseph Sissens in The Statement (The Royal Ballet)
Edward Watson as Dante in The Dante Project (The Royal Ballet) 

OUTSTANDING CREATIVE CONTRIBUTION 
Thomas Adès (Composer, for The Dante Project)
Rickard Berg (Composer, for Coppélia, KVN Dance)  
Lez Brotherston (Designer, for The Midnight Bell) 
Tacita Dean (Designer, for The Dante Project)
Logela Multimedia (Digital Imagery in the work of Motionhouse)

BEST DANCE FILM  
Kyle Abraham/New York City Ballet for When We Fell
Rhiannon Faith/Rhiannon Faith Company for DROWNTOWN
William Forsythe/CLI Studios for The Barre Project 
Gene Kelly & Christopher Hampson/Scottish Ballet for Starstruck 
Jo Strømgren/Rambert for Rooms 

[Guest oncnp]

9 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Made for interesting searching as well but I’ve posted it here to spare you that 

 

https://criticscircle.org.uk/nominations-for-national-dance-awards-announced/

 

 Thank you for posting, My work computer flagged the site as malicious. 

[capybara]

Goodness, 17 nominations for the artists and company of The Royal Ballet and 7 for ENB and New Adventures.

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by capybara

[Sim]

Some of it interesting, some of it depressingly familiar and unoriginal.  I don't pay attention to these things, but many congratulations to the nominees.

[zxDaveM]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Some of it interesting, some of it depressingly familiar and unoriginal.  I don't pay attention to these things, but many congratulations to the nominees.

 

Some glaring ommissions make it depressing reading for me

[Guest oncnp]

8 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

Some glaring ommissions make it depressing reading for me

 

I would be interested in knowing who the omissions were.  

Edited April 21, 2022 by oncnp

[Rob S]

Maybe we should start the Balletcoforum Dance Awards.

[annamk]

Largely an uninspiring selection in odd categories ......

 

I don't think I understand what Outstanding Male CLASSICAL performance means here .... 

The Statement is a terrific piece which I really enjoyed and Joe Sissens was indeed excellent but it seemed to me to be dance theatre and not much to do with classical dance  ? 

Ed Watson stood around in a dress for most of The Dante Project ..... why not just give him a lifetime award if they want to recognise his achievements rather than this odd nomination. 

 

 

[FionaM]

Ditto Creature role is not classical either. 

[Sim]

2 hours ago, oncnp said:

 

I would be interested in knowing who the omissions were.  

Just my opinion:  Yasmine Naghdi, Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri, William Bracewell, Matthew Ball, Reece Clarke.  They all gave stunning performances in R&J, Giselle, Nutcracker…I know they are all RB but my ballet-going was limited last year due to Covid.  

[capybara]

The introduction to the list mentions that, in total, there were 355 companies, choreographers, performers and other creative artists nominated for the calendar year 2021. Apparently, there were 20 names on each long list and I have no doubt that those which are 'missing' from the shortlists will have been among them as everyone I can think of (in three companies) was definitely reviewed online as well as in print. Moreover, it is unusual for the Outstanding Classical Performances to 'duplicate' the Best Dancer nominations to the extent that they do this time.

 

There is quite a bit of excitement emanating from a number of the nominees online which is really nice to see. Congratulations to all.

 

 

 

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

----Yasmine Naghdi, Fumi Kaneko, William Bracewell. They all gave stunning performances in R&J, Giselle, Nutcracker…

 

 

To these, I'd add Federico Bonelli too

[Sim]

14 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

To these, I'd add Federico Bonelli too

Absolutely.  How could I forget?!

[Guest oncnp]

On 21/04/2022 at 11:12, capybara said:

Goodness, 17 nominations for the artists and company of The Royal Ballet and 7 for ENB and New Adventures.

 

 

 

 

Not that you'd know it from their social media sites (or the website but wouldn't expect it to be "news").....the ENB, Matthew Bourne and Ballet Black (at least) have posted congratulations but ROH? Crickets. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by oncnp

[capybara]

1 hour ago, oncnp said:

 

Not that you'd know it from their social media sites (or the website but wouldn't expect it to be "news").....the ENB, Matthew Bourne and Ballet Black (at least) have posted congratulations but ROH? Crickets. 

The RB’s silence on awards has been deafening in the past as well, especially where individuals are concerned.

[ChrisG]

Really pleased Beatriz Stix-Brunell has finished her career with a nomination. I saw her last performance in After the Rain and it was astounding 

[Dawnstar]

On 23/04/2022 at 06:45, oncnp said:

Not that you'd know it from their social media sites (or the website but wouldn't expect it to be "news").....the ENB, Matthew Bourne and Ballet Black (at least) have posted congratulations but ROH? Crickets. 

 

The ROH have now tweeted about it. Better a couple of days late than never I guess!

 

 

[JNC]

The best male dancers seem spot on to me! Bonelli not being included is a big oversight however. 

 

The Dante Project being described as classical choreography would be amusing if it didn’t indicate a severe problem if they don’t know why this is just wrong. Either they don’t know what classical choreography is (worrying) or they didn’t have enough classical works to nominate (also worrying). 

Nunez and Osipova’s best classical performances for Giselle (and overall best female dancers) spot on and well deserved also. I think Kaneko should have been mentioned (for me her Swan Lake was sensational). (I’m sure the other dancers nominated are fantastic also but I haven’t seen them perform so can’t comment.) 
 

agree that whilst Cirio was great I’m Creature neither that not the Dante Project for Watson is “classical”. Bonelli’s Swan Lake or Bracewell or Clarke maybe should have deserved a nod here. 

 

There should perhaps be a category of best debut in a role to give a nod to up and coming dancers debuting but acknowledging where they are at in their careers so not having to directly compete with the likes of Muntagirov/Nunez/Osipova etc. 

 

nonetheless congratulations to all those nominated and anything that keeps dance in the public consciousness is generally a good thing! 

[Bluebird]

18 minutes ago, JNC said:

I think Kaneko should have been mentioned (for me her Swan Lake was sensational).

 

If you click on the link you'll find the following: 

   

The qualifying period for performances, both live in the UK and digital (available in the UK) was between 1st January and 31st December 2021

 

Since Kaneko's Swan Lake was in 2022, it wouldn't qualify. She could, however, qualify for next year's nominations.  However, this would, of course, depend on how many members of the Dance Section of the Critics' Circle saw her performance.

 

Edited to add link referred to above:

https://criticscircle.org.uk/nominations-for-national-dance-awards-announced/

Edited April 24, 2022 by Bluebird

[capybara]

There will doubtless be a Press Release about the winners shortly. But here are some headlines:

Best Female Dancer: Marianela Nunez

Best Male Dancer: Edward Watson

Outstanding Company : ENB

Best Mid-Scale Company: Ballet Black

Best Independent Company: Yorke Dance Project

Best Classical Choreography: Valentino Zucchetti for Anemoi

Best Modern Choreography: Matthew Bourne for The Midnight Bell

Emerging Artist: Emily Suzuki (ENB)

Outstanding Female Modern Performance: Michela Meazza inThe Midnight Bell

Outstanding Male Modern Performance: James Vu Anh Pham in Outwitting the Devil

Outstanding Female Classical Performance: Natalia Osipova as Giselle

Outstanding Male Classical Performance: Jeffrey Cirio in the title role as Creature

Outstanding Creative Contribution: Thomas Ades, Composer The Dante Project

Best Dance Film: Gene Kelly and Christopher Hampson/Scottish Ballet for Starstruck

[KyleCheng]

This feels like a big year for the Royal Ballet. While it's no doubt a testament to RB's outstanding performances (I'm fortunate to have seen all the RB works nominated and was blown away in several instances), I do wonder if it makes sense to speculate that the landslide (if this is an appropriate term) partly reflects the fact that the less resourceful companies have been more harshly impacted by the pandemic? 

[bridiem]

I wouldn't call it an RB 'landslide'. Edward Watson was clearly chosen because of his retirement (and much as I appreciate his career I'm not sure that's how the 'best male dancer' award should be used), and when you have Nunez and Osipova around it's no wonder they win awards. My question would more be: what does the RB have to do to win the Outstanding Company award? Of course ENB are excellent, and they have regularly won this award as have other UK and visiting companies. But as far as I can see (though I could be wrong - I haven't found an easy way of checking back) the RB have never won it. The RB is currently very obviously in magnificent form, and dances a largely magnificent repertoire with even some of the new works in 2021 meriting award nominations. It seems to me that the NDA will find any way possible to NOT give the award to the RB. This is wholly unjust to the RB dancers as a company and to Kevin O'Hare as a director.

[JohnS]

Very pleased to see Thomas Ades’ outstanding creative contribution award.

[Jan McNulty]

Congratulations to all the awardees and nominees.

 

One of the issues with this type of award is that, particularly in these straitened times, most of the critics are London-based and not in such a good position to travel.  It does (for a Northerner) make the awards seem a little one or two-sided these days.

 

In the good old days critics were able to travel to see other companies and it did make a bit of a difference to the nominees if not the awards themselves.

[emmarose]

3 hours ago, bridiem said:

I wouldn't call it an RB 'landslide'. Edward Watson was clearly chosen because of his retirement (and much as I appreciate his career I'm not sure that's how the 'best male dancer' award should be used), and when you have Nunez and Osipova around it's no wonder they win awards. My question would more be: what does the RB have to do to win the Outstanding Company award? Of course ENB are excellent, and they have regularly won this award as have other UK and visiting companies. But as far as I can see (though I could be wrong - I haven't found an easy way of checking back) the RB have never won it. The RB is currently very obviously in magnificent form, and dances a largely magnificent repertoire with even some of the new works in 2021 meriting award nominations. It seems to me that the NDA will find any way possible to NOT give the award to the RB. This is wholly unjust to the RB dancers as a company and to Kevin O'Hare as a director.

 

I quite agree, the whole company at the RB, you take their stable of talent, the sets they have, the productions they've put on and the range of them. I can't see how they haven't won.

[FionaM]

5 hours ago, emmarose said:

 

I quite agree, the whole company at the RB, you take their stable of talent, the sets they have, the productions they've put on and the range of them. I can't see how they haven't won.

a good question to put to the critics!

[KyleCheng]

Winning in 5 out of the 12 possible categories (excluding the two companies awards RB are not eligible for) doesn't really invoke in me the question "has the RB been overlooked this year?".

To be clear, I do not disagree with the observation that RB deserves to win as a company; when you have the best male dancer, the best female dancer, and the best choreographed classical work, it makes sense that you are also the best company. But I do wonder if a more concerning issue is the regional disparity that may have been exacerbated by the pandemic, in ways such as the one @Jan McNulty pointed out. As a Londoner, I am really not devastated to see RB and ENB wining most of the awards, but at the same time I am not sure if it tells a healthy tale about the dance sector in this country as a whole.

[Lizbie1]

20 minutes ago, KyleCheng said:

But I do wonder if a more concerning issue is the regional disparity that may have been exacerbated by the pandemic, in ways such as the one @Jan McNulty pointed out. As a Londoner, I am really not devastated to see RB and ENB wining most of the awards, but at the same time I am not sure if it tells a healthy tale about the dance sector in this country as a whole.

 

It's a very interesting point.

 

I can't get my head around all of the different factors but - difficult though it may be to believe - isn't the RB normally one of the least heavily subsidised companies when judged by public subsidy per ticket sold? It's certainly true of the RO when compared to other opera companies. The ROH is unusually reliant on the box office.

 

If I am correct in thinking this then the pandemic (without the large injection of emergency cash - I'm not sure how others fared in comparison) in fact ought to have hurt the RB more than the average company, by this one measure at least.

[bridiem]

27 minutes ago, KyleCheng said:

Winning in 5 out of the 12 possible categories (excluding the two companies awards RB are not eligible for) doesn't really invoke in me the question "has the RB been overlooked this year?".

To be clear, I do not disagree with the observation that RB deserves to win as a company; when you have the best male dancer, the best female dancer, and the best choreographed classical work, it makes sense that you are also the best company. But I do wonder if a more concerning issue is the regional disparity that may have been exacerbated by the pandemic, in ways such as the one @Jan McNulty pointed out. As a Londoner, I am really not devastated to see RB and ENB wining most of the awards, but at the same time I am not sure if it tells a healthy tale about the dance sector in this country as a whole.

 

It was specifically the Outstanding Company award I am concerned about, since individual RB dancers do reasonably regularly (and understandably) win individual awards. But a collection of individual awards does not recognise the company as a whole.

 

And 2021 was obviously still very affected by the pandemic, so 2022 will perhaps be more of an indicator of the true post-Covid state of the dance sector.

 

[Jan McNulty]

I think that one of the potential issues of these awards is that the critics see the people who are dancing on the press night.  I know some of the critics go and see more than one cast but if there are particular dancers who get most of the press nights then it is from that group that they will get nominated.

 

I know I have banged on this drum before but many years ago Chi Cao was nominated for what was then called "best newcomer" - he had been with BRB for quite a few years and a principal for several at the time of nomination but he did not usually dance the press nights.

 

Realistically these days (and for some years before the pandemic) most of the British reviews by recognised dance critics are for performances that take place in London so in the main categories the odds will always be in favour of RB and ENB as the critics will have the opportunity to see more of those companies and their dancers rather than companies who do maybe one or two weeks in London per annum.

[emmarose]

On another note, did anyone see Nela's acceptance speech?

 

She dedicated her award to her cat Romeo, it was both funny and cute.