The Place

They will each receive a commission of £3,000 and go forward to make work for the next phase of the competition, a series of performances at The Place in September. The winner of The Place Prize will receive the top award of £25,000 after the showcase final on Saturday 25 September.

They are: Jean Abreu, Rafael Bonachela, Mayuri Boonham & Subathra Subramanian, Rosemary Butcher, Robin Dingemans, Sarah Dowling, Marie-Louise Flexen, Celia Grannum, Henrietta Hale & Rachel Lopez De La Nieta, Sean Tuan John, Martin Lawrance, Liz Lea, Henry Montes & Deborah Saxon, Tharan Revfem, Tom Roden & Pete Shenton, Marie Gabrielle Rotie, Hofesh Shechter, Bawren Tavaziva, Carmen Vilches and Angela Woodhouse.

The 20 were selected from 198 entrants, following assessment of three-minute video submissions by 31 European dance promoters, and interviews with John Ashford and Theresa Beattie, Theatre Director and Director Artist Development at The Place, and Guy Cools, dance dramaturge and Artistic Director of the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perrault in Montreal.

Guy Cools said of the competitors:

“The applications for The Place Prize showed a variety and diversity, both stylistically, culturally and content wise that you would never find in any other European country. The twenty choreographers selected reflect this diversity in an artistically very articulated way.”

The Place Prize winner will be selected by a combination of audience votes and a judging panel which comprises Iwona Blazwick, Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Keith Khan, Chief Executive of Rich Mix, David R White, Consulting Producer-at-Large Director of Dance Theatre Workshop, New York and Jan Younghusband, Commissioning Editor for Arts and Performance at Channel 4, together with Guy Cools and chaired by John Ashford.

On the following pages there is further information on each commissioned choreographer, their proposed work and comments from the interview panel.