Introduction & Biography

Christopher Wheeldon in rehearsal for Alice in Wonderland, 2011

    Christopher Wheeldon began like 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 expressed how he was captivated by the dancing chickens in the ballet. Wheeldon’s parents were members of the theatre and supported his artistic endeavors in whatever capacity that meant. 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 then became the Artistic Association with The Royal Ballet. He now lives in New York City as a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States.

 

In addition, Christopher Wheeldon has earned many awards and accolades for his artistic ventures. Most notably he received the London Critics’ Circle Award and Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production for his ballet Polyphonia; a Tony Award for Best Choreography in An American in Paris; and has earned the ‘Oscar of dance’ or Benois de la Danse in the Choreographers' category for his work The Winter’s Tale for The Royal Ballet.