Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE
Kenneth Tharp is Chief Executive of The Place, the UK’s premier centre for contemporary dance.
Kenneth trained at The Place’s London Contemporary Dance School, and his 25-year performing career included London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1981-1994) and Arc Dance Company (1994-2005). He has also worked extensively as a choreographer, teacher and director.
From 2005-2007 he was Lead Artist and Artistic Advisor for The Royal Ballet School’s Dance Partnership & Access Programme and also Assistant to the Head of Contemporary Dance at Millennium Dance 2000 until August 2007. He was Dancer in Residence at Queens’ College Cambridge from 1998-2006 and with composer Simon Redfern was co-director of Artyfartyarts, a multi disciplinary arts group.
Kenneth completed a NESTA-funded Fellowship on the Clore Leadership Programme before taking up his current role at The Place in September 2007. He served on the Board of the Royal Opera House from 2002 - July 2010. He is a visiting professor at the University of Lincoln. In 2003, he was made an OBE in recognition of his services to dance, and he was named in the 2010 Powerlist of Britain’s 100 most influential black Britons.
Chief Executive telephone: 020 7121 1072
Kate Jones PA to the Chief Executive