The Place Visiting Professor to chair Jury of the Sadler’s Wells inaugural Rose International Dance Prize

Professor Christopher Bannerman, who joined The Place as Visiting Professor in October 2023, will be chairing a panel of four judges for the Inaugural Rose International Dance Prize, a brand-new biennial prize launched by Sadler’s Wells to celebrate original dance creations in any style from across the globe.

Christopher will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to this appointment as a dancer, choreographer and academic, and will be joined by jury members PJ Harvey, Karthika Naïr and Dame Arlene Phillips. The panel will announce an audience winner, alongside winners of the £40,000 Rose category prize and the £15,000 Bloom category prize at a special award ceremony on Saturday 8 February 2025.

Chris has had a relationship with The Place since the 1970s, as one of the earliest London Contemporary Dance School alumni and a member of London Contemporary Dance Theatre. A globally renowned expert for dance research within Higher Education settings, he has brought senior expertise in the development of research and knowledge exchange at The Place. As Visiting Professor at The Place, for the past year Christopher has led the Dance Research Matters network project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, titled ‘Future Ecologies: Producing Dance Network’, as Principal Investigator, working closely with several academic and industry partners from across the UK. He has also continued to lead on the development of ArtsCross, an intercultural dialogue and exchange project in and through the performing arts, which involves partners such as the Beijing Dance Academy (BDA), University of Taipei, and Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts.

Dr Efrosini Protopapa, Director of Postgraduate Courses and Research, says:

‘We are delighted that Chris will be chairing the star-studded Jury of this brand-new biennial prize for choreography. Chris has joined The Place as a Visiting Professor at an exciting moment, when we are intensifying activity in research and knowledge exchange, building on our distinctiveness as a significant specialist organisation that brings together academic and industry know-how. Chris’s work has supported such connections throughout the years in original and intelligent ways and I am certain that he will bring this distinct expertise to the Prize Jury. We look forward to finding out who this year’s winners are!’