In Residence: Studio Wayne McGregor

As the first in a series of four onsite public residencies, Catarina Carvalho and Neil Fleming Brown, dance artists from Studio Wayne McGregor, spend three days in the gallery. During this time, they use the space as a studio and the works as collaborators, exploring the crossover interest of long-term collaborators Haroon Mirza and Wayne McGregor. The new interaction produced in response to the installation is presented within, and as part of, For A Partnership Society.

The performance will loop, with three repetitions at approximately 7.15pm, 7.45pm and 8.15pm.

McGregor and Mirza have collaborated creatively on works performed in the UK and internationally. In 2015, McGregor conceived Alea Sands in conjunction with Mirza for the Paris Opera Ballet, in honour of the legendary French conductor and composer Pierre Boulez. Mirza created a captivating lighting system which interacted with Boulez's electronic score and the architecture of the Palais Garnier, with dance choreographed by McGregor. The following year, The Kettle’s Yard at the University of Cambridge commissioned a new dance and sound piece by McGregor and Mirza for the exhibition Into boundless space I leap. The piece, which explored the body, sound and space, was performed at the Maxwell Centre in 2016. Mirza’s piece Light Work xxv, 2017, on loan from Lisson Gallery, is currently installed at Studio Wayne McGregor, McGregor’s world class creative arts space at Here East on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Wayne McGregor is a multi-award-winning British choreographer and director and Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor. McGregor has choreographed over 30 works for his own group of dancers, Company Wayne McGregor, the chief exponents of his distinctive visual style. He is also Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, where his productions are acclaimed for their daring reconfiguring of classical language. He is Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance an Honorary Doctor of Science from Plymouth University and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from University of Leeds.

McGregor is regularly commissioned by and has works in the repertories of the most important ballet companies around the world, including Paris Opera Ballet, New York City Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. He has choreographed for theatre, opera, film (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Legend of Tarzan, and most recently Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them), music videos (Radiohead), fashion (Gareth Pugh at New York Fashion Week, 2014), campaigns (Selfridges), TV (Paloma Faith’s Brit Awards performance, 2015), and site specific performances (Big Dance Trafalgar Square, 2012).

McGregor's work has earned him four Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, two Time Out Awards, two South Bank Show Awards, three Olivier Awards, a prix Benois de la Danse and two Golden Mask Awards. In 2011 McGregor was awarded a CBE for Services to Dance.

Studio Wayne McGregor is the creative engine for choreographer and director Wayne McGregor, and the home of his life-long choreographic enquiry into thinking through and with the body. It describes the dynamic team of individuals and resources that supports his vision, and comprises dance artists, writers, composers, film-makers, visual artists, scientists, designers, architects, stage technicians, software engineers, administrators and producers who form his collaborative network. In March 2017 Studio Wayne McGregor moved into its own newly created studio space at Here East in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a shared space for making where the creative brains of the day can exchange knowledge and invent together.

Studio Wayne McGregor fuels the breadth of McGregor’s creative work including the development and touring of signature works on his ensemble of world-class dancers, Company Wayne McGregor (Resident Company at Sadler’s Wells); a portfolio of international commissions and artistic collaborations across genres including dance, visual arts, film, theatre and opera; a highly specialized programme of creative learning for individuals and communities; artist development initiatives; and collaborative research projects across the interface of the arts with science, technology and academic research.