Associate Artists - Russell Maliphant

Russell Maliphant trained at the Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet Company before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. As a dancer he worked with companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre, Michael Clark & Company, Laurie Booth and Rosemary Butcher.

He created his first solo in 1992 and in 1996 he formed Russell Maliphant Company. For the past 20 years he has collaborated closely with the lighting designer Michael Hulls, and in addition to choreographing works for his own company of dancers, has also created works on renowned companies and artists including: Sylvie Guillem, Robert Lepage, English National Ballet, The BalletBoyz, Munich’s Bayerisches Staatsballett and Lyon Opera Ballet.

In 2002 he received the Time Out Live Award for outstanding collaboration for his work Sheer and in 2003 received a South Bank Show Dance Award for the piece Choice. At the end of that year he created Broken Fall for Sylvie Guillem and BalletBoyz which premiered at the Royal Opera House and received an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.

In 2005 Sylvie Guillem invited Maliphant to create an evening of work for them both, culminating in the duet PUSH, which premiered at Sadler’s Wells and received a South Bank Show Award and an Olivier award in 2006. PUSH toured throughout the world until the end of 2014.

Its creation was followed by two artistically diverse collaborations: Cast No Shadow with visual artist Isaac Julien, and Eonnagata, which was created and performed with theatre director Robert Lepage and Sylvie Guillem. In 2013 he collaborated with Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones on a film adaptation of The Rodin Project, titled Erebus with music by UNKLE. He also created Fallen for BalletBoyz, which was awarded the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards for Best Modern Choreography, and made three pieces for his own company in the evening titled Still Current.

In 2014 Maliphant choreographed Spiral Pass for Munich’s Bayerisches Staatsballett and Second Breath for English National Ballet that was part of their Lest We Forget evening which won of The South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2015. His latest company evening titled Conceal/Reveal premiered at the end of 2015 and is touring through 2016-17. He is currently creating a new duet for Natalia Osipova and Sergei Polunin which will open at Sadler’s Wells at the end of June.

Russell Maliphant became an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells in 2005 and was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts from Plymouth University in 2011.