Mark Baldwin, Artistic Director
Mark Baldwin was born in Fiji and raised and educated in New Zealand. His interest in the arts led him to pursue a degree in Fine Art at the University of Auckland, something which has influenced his approach to creativity ever since.
He danced with the Royal New Zealand Ballet before coming to England and joining Rambert Dance Company (then Ballet Rambert). He performed with Rambert for ten years and while with the Company was also encouraged to develop his choreographic skills.
On leaving Rambert he was appointed Resident Choreographer for the Lilian Baylis Theatre at Sadler's Wells, where he established the Mark Baldwin Dance Company, which ran from 1993 to 2001. His status as a leading choreographer was affirmed with the creation of over 40 works for the Mark Baldwin Dance Company and other major dance companies including: The Royal Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Berlin State Opera House, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Scottish Ballet (where he was also Resident Choreographer in 1996), London City Ballet and Rambert Dance Company. In January/February 2006 Mark choreographed The Wedding for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, which was shown on television on Christmas Day 2006.
Mark has been the recipient of numerous awards. These include the Bonnie Bird Choreographic Award (1992), the 1995 Time Out Award for Dance, and the South Bank Show Award for the Mark Baldwin Dance Company's The Bird Sings With Its Fingers (2001). In 1996 he received the French Grand Prix Award for Film, for Echo, a collaboration with visual artist Anish Kapoor and composer Brian Elias. In 2002 Mark received the Dance Artist Fellowship for Outstanding Contribution to Dance.
In December 2002, Mark returned to Rambert Dance Company as its Artistic Director. His vision since then has been to commission works that encourage collaboration with other artforms such as music and design in order to create a body of work that is visually and aurally entertaining for audiences. Critically praised for reinvigorating the Company and its repertoire, to date Mark has commissioned new works by Karole Armitage, Javier De Frutos, Walker Dance Park Music, Ian Spink, Kim Brandstrup, Rafael Bonachela, Christopher Bruce, Aletta Collins, Darshan Singh Bhuller, André Gingras and Garry Stewart. In May 2005, Mark premièred Constant Speed, his first work for Rambert since becoming Artistic Director, which was nominated for a 2006 Olivier Award. In October 2005, Mark won the TMA Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance, for the creation of Constant Speed and the high calibre of his artistic directorship of Rambert Dance Company.
Photo: © Hugo Glendinning