Mohnish SinghBy: Mohnish Singh
Sadler’s Wells has unveiled the inaugural shortlist of the Rose International Dance Prize, with seven nominated pieces from Brazil, Israel, Portugal, Greece, France, Taiwan, and the USA.
The Rose International Dance Prize is a biennial prize for new dance creations in any style, showcasing some of the most inventive and daring choreographers at work today. It consists of the Rose category, for established choreographers presenting a full-length performance of 50 minutes or longer, and the Bloom category, for emerging choreographers with a maximum of ten years’ experience.
Four Rose Prize productions and three Bloom Prize productions have been shortlisted by a process involving 14 international nominators (presenters, artists, producers, and writers), followed by a refined selection process by six selectors, who nominated the seven international shortlisted productions.
The Rose Prize Shortlist:
An Untitled Love by Kyle Abraham
CARCAÇA by Marco da Silva Ferreira
Larsen C by Christos Papadopoulos
Encantado by Lia Rodrigues
The Bloom Prize Shortlist:
Sepia by Stav Struz Boutrous
Maldonne by Leïla Ka
Beings by Wang Yeu-Kwn
There will also be an opportunity for audiences to have their say, with an online vote to choose an audience winner.
A prize of £40,000 will be awarded to the Rose category winner and a prize of £15,000 will be awarded to the Bloom category winner.
Sadler’s Wells CEO Sir Alistair Spalding hopes the award will “do for dance what the Turner Prize has done for visual arts”.
Choreographer Akram Khan said Sadler’s Wells decision to launch the prize was “extremely important”.
Sadler’s Wells has launched the Rose International Dance Prize, an award for choreography they hope will become as well-known as the Turner Prize for art.
Choreographer Akram Khan tells #BBCWato the audience the competition attracts is as important as the works. pic.twitter.com/Y4YjSJ75re
— The World at One (@BBCWorldatOne) April 29, 2024
He said, “It’s going to be such a varied audience, and that’s what’s really exciting. Usually when dance is celebrated, usually it’s because of the dancer or the production, but what’s interesting here is it’s celebrating the choreographers.”
In early 2025, the nominated works will be performed across venues around London over a two-week period.
