London Dance Award Nomination Alexander Whitley: ‘.. seeks to break down the barriers between dance and other art forms, infusing contemporary dance with the emotional fecundity of the ‘embodied mind’ ’

The avant-garde choreographer and dancer Alexander Whitely is one of the most exciting rising stars of the British dance scene, a fate sealed by being twice nominated for Critics’ Circle National Dance Award. He is the lithe embodiment of modern-meets-classic, a hybrid of old values and progressive thinking, with diverse influences and pioneering vision.

Whitley seeks to break down the barriers between dance and other art forms, infusing contemporary dance with the emotional fecundity of the ‘embodied mind’, meshing European intellectual sensibilities with the technical excellence of the classical dance tradition. Whitley’s open-minded approach to his work is precisely what makes it so exhilarating, and his most recent offering, ‘Mythos/Logos’ (part of the Royal Opera House’s Exposure: Dance programme) is no exception.

‘Mythos/Logos’ features three dancers - two women and a man - and pulses with a strange, high-octane energy that scatters and divides. As the old saying goes: ‘Two’s company; three’s a crowd’. Whitley understands that, visually and emotionally, a threesome is a more perplexing composition - disturbing, even - than a twosome. Thus, Whitley uses his choreography to provoke his audience. It is intriguing and uncomfortable, and highlights the emotive undercurrent of contemporary dance. Whitley has something important to say, and he wants us to see it.

The Guardian Review.