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Sir Peter Wright

Choreographer

Sir Peter Wright is a British ballet teacher, choreographer, director and former professional dancer. He is one of the most eminent names in ballet, and between 1977 to 1995 he held the position of artistic director to the Birmingham Royal Ballet (previously the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet), where he still holds the title of Director Laureate. In collaboration with The Royal Ballet he created several of their best known productions, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Coppélia.

Wright made his debut as a dancer with Ballets Jooss during World War II. He created his first ballet, A Blue Rose, for Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet in 1957. In 1961 he joined John Cranko’s new Stuttgart company as Teacher and Ballet Master, choreographing several ballets and mounting his first production of Giselle. Wright’s productions of the classics now feature in the repertories of companies around the world. In 1969 he joined The Royal Ballet as Associate to the Directors, later Associate Director. In 1977 he was appointed Director of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, supervising the company’s transformation into Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1990. He had the title Director Laureate conferred on him by Princess Margaret on his retirement from the company in 1995.

Wright has been presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation award (1990) by the Royal Academy of Dance, an Honorary Doctorate from London University and was made a Fellow of the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music in 1991. He was awarded a knighthood (1993), an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Birmingham (1994), the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance (2004) and the Centenary Award for Dance (2013). He is President of the Benesh Institute, a Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Dance and Patron of the London Ballet Circle. His autobiography Wrights & Wrongs: My Life in Dance was published in January 2018.

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