Christopher Wheeldon - Artist, Choreographer, Human

Christopher Wheeldon in class with the San Francisco Ballet,  2017 Truth be told, I originally choose Christopher Wheeldon from the list of choreographers because his name sounded cool. However, little did I know, this would be a great person to discover.   His views on connection, reciprocity , and  humanity  display a c lear cohesive understanding of this art form. Even further, Wheeldon’s accolades and experience speak for  themselves ,  showcasing  his  expertise  in this field to  a remarkably high  degree. In interview he is humble and has a certain mindset, that I can only hope to find and emulate. His works never cease to amaze and neither do his performers. In the video,  Christopher Wheeldon – Becoming a Choreographer ,  he explains in his approach to a ballet, he wants to entertain the audience. He expresses that his perspective of  the majority of  dance today has morphed into appearing  fierce...

          Christopher Wheeldon’s  artistic abilit ies speak for themselves. The video ,  Chri s topher Wheeldon and New York City Ballet ,   exemplifies  the organic  way   he  choreographs. In the video, Wheeldon   states, “no fuss, just make  a ballet”  emphasizing the relaxed nature behind his creative p rocess . Wheeldon then extrapolates on how  in  his beginni ngs  of  choreography at the New York City Ballet, he learned the importance of human connection  within the art.  Not only t he connection between performers, but Wheeldon in relations to his students , specifically Wendy Whelan .  Ms. Whelan  was a principal dancer in one of Wheeldon’s most popular works, Polyphonia .  Wheeldon s tates that  he “ I think my  choreographic  style is in some ways indebted to that relationship that we have.”   He goes on to say that because of h...

Christopher Wheeldon in rehearsal for Alice in Wonderland, 2011       Christopher  Wheeldon began li ke many other dancers, and was  exposed to the arts at  an early age .  In the video “Christopher Wheeldon ,”  the choreographer himself speaks about how he  saw  ballet on television  as a  7-year-old   and expresse d how he was captivated by the dancing chickens in the ballet .  Wheeldon’s parents were members of  the  theatre and supported his  artis tic  endeavors  in whatever  capacity  that mea nt .  As articulated by his official biography, Christopher Wheeldon began  training  in the Royal Ballet School and joined the Royal Ballet in 1991.   He then went on and joined the New York City Ballet in 1993 and was promoted to Soloist in 1998. Wheeldon was then made the first resident  choreographer   of the New York City Ballet  in  2001 and...