Richard Alston Dance Company
The Richard Alston Dance Company has a rich and long history dating back over 40 years. The renowned dance company has worked with over 80 composers.
Richard Alston is the heart of the company, and serves as Artistic Director of The Place. He is known for being one of the most inspirational choreographers of all time.
Alston derives inspiration directly from the music he uses to truly bring the melody to life.
After his education at Eton, Alston transitioned to the London Contemporary Dance School as one of the first students. It was during this time that he started choreographing and never looked back.
The Richard Alston Dance Company was founded in 1994 after a few decades of success in his career.
The dance company has several shows in its repertoire, including:
- Brisk Singing
- An Italian in Madrid
- Chacony
- Burning
- Carnaval
- Holderlin Fragments
- Nomadic
- Madcap
- Illuminations
- Tangent
- Rejoice in the Lamb
- Phaedra
- Unfinished Business
- Mazur
- Stronghold
- Gypsy Mixture
The company is home to several talented dancers, including:
- Ihsaan de Banya. Born in London, Ihsaan started trained at Advance Training and Shift before transferring to the London Contemporary Dance School. He became a full member in 2014 and created a dance for the company’s At Home season.
- Elly Braund. Elly trained at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. After graduating in 2011, she performed at the Royal Festival Hall. She began her apprenticeship at the company that year and became a full member soon after.
- Nicholas Bodych. Nicholas trained at the Rambert School and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He has worked with several dance companies, including National Dance Company Wales, New Movement Collective, 2Faced Dance Company and the Musicall Compass.
- Jennifer Hayes. Jennifer trained at the London Contemporary Dance School and began performing with the Chickenshed theatre company. She became an apprentice at the Richard Alston Dance Company in 2013 and is now a full member.
- James Muller. James started training at the Linda Shipton School of Dance before moving on to the Royal Ballet School and Central School of Ballet. He joined the company in 2013.
- Ellen Yilma. Ellen trained at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts before transferring to the London Contemporary Dance School. She became a company member in 2017, and has worked with several dance companies, including Clod Ensemble, IJAD Dance Company and Watkins Dance Company.
- Nicholas Shikkis. Nicholas trained at both the Rambert School of Ballet and London’s Contemporary Dance. He appeared in the Royal Opera House’s La Traviata, and joined Alston’s dance company in 2016.