Prix de Lausanne Announces Lifetime Achievement Award 2021
Career Retrospective Presented Live February 6
The Prix de Lausanne will offer the Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 to the British choreographer Wayne McGregor CBE. The visionary and multi-faceted artist, who is acclaimed in both artistic and academic circles, will accept this Award live on Arte Concert on 6 February 2021, at the competition’s final evening.
Every year since 2017, the Prix de Lausanne has been giving an Award to a dancer or a choreographer who has made a strong and significant contribution to the dance world. Beyond the anecdotal statuette for this Award, the main purpose is to highlight the careers of personalities and artists likely to inspire both young talents in the competition as well as accomplished dancers gravitating around the Prix de Lausanne. Previous recipients are John Neumeier, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Marcia Haydée and Carolyn Carlson. Now, it’s the turn of British choreographer Wayne McGregor to receive this Award made in Lausanne.
“Wayne McGregor is an innovative and exceptional contemporary dance choreographer. He has evolved the concept of dance in the 21st century and I congratulate him for his rich virtuosity and brilliance!,” said Kathryn Bradney, Artistic and Executive Director, Prix de Lausanne.
After the Finals, the audience will be able to watch the Lifetime Achievement Award Ceremony with Wayne McGregor live and enjoy a retrospective of his career’s highlights. This presentation will be part of the program broadcasted live on Arte Concert from February 1 – 6.
Resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet (London), Director and Founder of Studio Wayne McGregor as well as Company Wayne McGregor, and recently appointed Director of Dance at La Biennale di Venezia, he has worked with many famous Operas and Companies around the world (Opéra National de Paris, Alvin Ailey, New York City Ballet, Bolshoi, etc.). His visionary approach mixing different arts and technologies has made him an acclaimed choreographer in popular culture, where he has collaborated on major productions: films (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Legend of Tarzan or The Fantastic Beasts trilogy), music videos (Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers), fashion shows and advertising campaigns. Wayne McGregor’s talent is also recognised in the academic world, where he is Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance and holds Honorary Doctorates from four English universities.
As of 2018, the Prix de Lausanne is lucky to count in its contemporary repertoire two of his variations (Becomings & Chroma), which were very generously offered by McGregor.
In Australia most recently, The Australian Ballet have performed McGregor’s works of Infra, Dyad 1929 and Chroma; while his company’s Tree of Codes have featured at the Melbourne Festival and Sydney Festival.
Read Wayne’s full biography here.
