The Place

Chaired by John Ashford, Theatre Director of The Place, the judging panel comprises:

•    Robyn Archer, Artistic Director for Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008
•    Guy Cools, dance dramaturg and producer
•    Brian Eno, musician, producer, artist and author
•    Rose Fenton, independent arts producer and co-founder of LIFT
•    Chris Ofili, artist

In addition to dance expert Cools, the judging panel is made up of cultural experts from different areas of the arts, demonstrating the crossover of dance with other art forms, and bringing a fresh perspective to the Prize.

The Place Prize, sponsored by Bloomberg, is Europe’s largest choreography competition, with a prize fund of £140,000.   The prize was created by The Place in 2004, and takes place for the second time in 2006.   The Place is the UK’s premier centre for contemporary dance, uniting training, creation and performance in one unique building.

The competition is open to all UK-based choreographers.  From over 200 entries, the commissions, in alphabetical order, are from:

1.    Alex Broadie
2.    Mark Bruce
3.    Tom Dale
4.    Fleur Darkin
5.    Maxine Doyle & Felix Barrett
6.    Sarah Fahie
7.    Henrietta Hale
8.    Louise Katerega
9.    Rachel Lopez de la Nieta & Ben Ash
10.    Jonathan Lunn
11.    Cathy Marston
12.    Jane Mason
13.    Anh Ngoc Nguyen
14.    Freddie Opoku Addaie
15.    Tanya Raman
16.    Nina Rajarani
17.    Sonia Sabri
18.    Luca Silvestrini
19.    Lucy Suggate
20.    Ben Wright

John Ashford, Theatre Director of The Place and creator of The Place Prize, said today:

“The focus, clarity and determination of all this year’s entrants have represented a step beyond the first competition in 2004. The diverse character, background and ideas of the 20 we’ve commissioned reflects the diversity of the entrants, but the difficult selection was made using one simple criterion – we picked the 20 who promised the best choreography. I’m hugely looking forward to seeing what they produce.”

The commissions for 2006 include:

•    a cast which incorporates a former builder and ex-gas fitter, both disabled dancers in their fifties
•    a piece ‘choreographed’ by 4 million people – the 4 million people who dance in British nightclubs each weekend
•    men in business suits performing the classical Indian Bharata Natyam, more traditionally danced by women in saris
•    collaborations with musicians, video artists, and writer/director Anthony Minghella

In spite of the international make-up of the UK’s dance scene, the 2006 commissions are overwhelmingly British born and trained – only four were born overseas, and only two did not train at UK dance schools (in 2004, nine of the 20 commissioned artists came from outside the UK). The British artists are from across the UK: the South West, Wales, the Midlands, Yorkshire and London, and the non-UK artists hail from Australia, Finland, Italy and Vietnam.  Twelve women and ten men (two joint entries) appear on the shortlist, and their experience ranges from graduating dance school in 2005 to nearly 30 years working in the dance profession.

The selection also highlights the deep pool of talent in UK dance. Several artists who entered in 2004 submitted new entries in 2006, but only Henrietta Hale and Rachel Lopez de la Nieta (who made a joint entry in 2004) have been commissioned again for 2006, this time with two separate entries (Lopez’s a joint entry with Ben Ash).

Each of the 20 works will receive a commission award of £5,000, and the choreographers will be given studio time and technical support to create their new works over the summer.  Their works will be premiered at The Place in London in September 2006.  

From the 20 commissions, five will then be chosen for further performances where they will compete for £10,000 of audience-voted prizes.  Following the final performance, the judges will award the grand prize of £25,000 to The Place Prize Winner 2006.

The winner of The Place Prize 2006 will be announced at 10.30pm on Saturday 30 September