21st National Dance Awards: Nominations News

Congratulations to all the artists and companies for their nominations from all of us here at English National Ballet!

We have received nominations in the following categories:

DANCING TIMES AWARD FOR BEST MALE DANCER

Matthew Ball (The Royal Ballet)
Jeffrey Cirio (English National Ballet)
César Morales (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Vadim Muntagirov (The Royal Ballet)
Marcelino Sambé (The Royal Ballet)

BEST FEMALE DANCER (sponsored by Tendu)

Alina Cojocaru (English National Ballet)
Lauren Cuthbertson (The Royal Ballet)
Simone Damberg Würtz (Rambert)
Marianela Nuñez (The Royal Ballet)
Anna Rose O’Sullivan (The Royal Ballet)

EMERGING ARTIST AWARD (sponsored by The L&M Trust)

Aitor Arrieta (First Soloist, English National Ballet)
Jerome Anthony Barnes (Soloist, Scottish Ballet)
Leo Dixon (First Artist, The Royal Ballet)
Azara Meghie (Multi-disciplinary Artist)
Arielle Smith (Choreographer)

OUTSTANDING MALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE

Matthew Ball as Lensky in Onegin (The Royal Ballet)
William Bracewell in Dances at a Gathering (The Royal Ballet)
Jeffrey Cirio as Conrad in Le Corsaire (English National Ballet)
César Morales as Albrecht in Giselle (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Marcelino Sambé as the Instrument in The Cellist (The Royal Ballet)

BEST COMPANY RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC

Birmingham Royal Ballet
Dutch National Ballet
English National Ballet
New York City Ballet
Rambert
Scottish Ballet

BEST DIGITAL CHOREOGRAPHY

Rhiannon Faith for Drowntown Lockdown (Rhiannon Faith Company)
Jessica Lang for Ghost Variations (Pacific Northwest Ballet)
Stina Quagebeur for Take Five Blues (English National Ballet)
Arielle Smith for Jolly Folly (English National Ballet)
Wim Vandekeybus for Draw From Within (Rambert)

BEST DANCE FILM (sponsored by Marquee TV)

Paul Lightfoot and Sol Léon for Standby/She Remembers
Michael Nunn and William Trevitt for Romeo and Juliet Beyond Words
Alice Pennefather for her dance films in the Summer Shorts Festival (Dreams of Giverny/The Sun is God/Esprit du Jardin/In Her Hands)
Scottish Ballet for The Secret Theatre
English National Ballet for the five new films in their digital season:

• Take Five Blues, a film by Shaun James Grant, choreographed by Stina Quagebeur
• Senseless Kindness, a film by Thomas James, choreographed by Yuri Possokhov
• Laid in Earth, a film by Thomas James, choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
• Echoes, a film by Michael Nunn & William Trevitt, choreographed by Russell Maliphant
• Jolly Folly, a film by Amy Becker-Burnett, choreographed by Arielle Smith

Choreographer Arielle Smith has also been nominated for the Emerging Artist Award, and regular collaborators, choreographer-filmmakers Jess and Morgs have been nominated for the Outstanding Creative Contribution Award. Congratulations to them!

The 21st National Dance Awards celebrate works performed between 1 September 2019 and 31 December 2020 on stage and, in response to the pandemic, online.

The short-listed nominees are taken from nominations made by the members of the Dance section of the Critics’ Circle, thirty of whom participated in the judging process this year.

The winners will be announced at an online ceremony to be streamed on Sunday 27 June 2021. Follow the National Dance Awards on Twitter.