Guest Artist Speaker Series: Christopher Wheeldon
CTSA International Initiatives
Guest Artist Speaker Series: Global Perspectives and Artistic Practice
Christopher Wheeldon
In conversation with UCI Professors Vitor Luiz and Lisa Naugle
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
10:00-11:20 a.m.
Free and open to the public.
CTSA International Initiative Director, Lisa Naugle, is pleased to announce the new Guest Artist Speaker Series: Global Perspectives and Artistic Practice. The series intends to engage the UCI Community with national and international participants and focuses on promoting diversity of thought and practice in the arts.
Christopher Wheeldon, O.B.E. (Director & Choreographer) trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet in 1991. In 1993, he joined New York City Ballet (NYCB) and was promoted to Soloist in 1998. He was named NYCB’s first Resident Choreographer in July 2001. Since then, he has created and staged productions for many of the world’s major ballet companies.
In 2007, Wheeldon founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and was appointed an Associate Artist for Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. He now serves as Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet and has created many works for the company including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale. Career highlights include directing and choreographing the musical version of An American In Paris, which had productions in Paris, on Broadway, and in London (2014). The world premiere of The Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker ( 2016), the gala presentation of Lerner & Leowe’s Brigadoon at New York City Center (2017), An American In Paris and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Tokyo, and the premiere for Corybantic Games and a re-staged version of Cinderella (2019).
Among Wheeldon’s awards are a Tony Award ® for Best Choreography, an Outer Critics Award for Best Choreography and Direction, the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, the American Choreography Award, the Dance Magazine Award, multiple London Critic’s Circle Awards, the Léonide Massine Prize for new choreography, the Benois de la Danse, and he is an Olivier Award winner. In 2016, he was named an O.B. E. and was made an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Photo Credit: Angela Sterling