Sir Richard Alston CBE

Richard Alston is a British choreographer and teacher. He trained as a dancer at London School of Contemporary Dance at The Place. He choreographed his first work in 1968, formed the UK’s first independent dance group Strider in 1972 and three years later went to New York to study at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio and with Alfredo Corvino. On his return in 1977, he worked throughout the UK and Europe as an independent choreographer and teacher.

In 1980 Alston was appointed Resident Choreographer with Ballet Rambert becoming Artistic Director in 1986. In his time there he created 25 dances for the company.

In 1992 Alston left Rambert and in 1994 started the Richard Alston Dance Company when he became Artistic Director of The Place. Over 25 years Alston made more than 50 dances for his company before it closed in March 2020.

Alston was made Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1995 and was awarded the CBE in the New Year Honours list of 2001. He received the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards in 2008 and the Award for Excellence in International Dance by the International Theatre Institute in 2012. In 2019 he received a Knighthood for Services to Dance.

Richard Alston continues to create work as an independent choreographer, but the Richard Alston Foundation was not established to support new work. Further details of Alston’s continuing choreography career can be found at richardalstondance.org