Mark Baldwin: Artistic Director, Rambert Dance Company

Mark Baldwin was born in Fiji and brought up in New Zealand. His interest in the arts led him to pursue a degree in Fine Art at the University of Auckland, something that has been instrumental in his individual approach to creating dance. He trained as a dancer at the New Zealand Dance Centre where he helped establish Limbs Dance Company.

After his appointment as Resident Choreographer for the Lilian Baylis Theatre at Sadler’s Wells, he established the Mark Baldwin Dance Company, which ran from 1993 to 2001, set up to perform works by Mark nationally and internationally. It was this that provided him with a platform for further artistic expression and development.

[Photo: © Hugo Glendinning]

His global status has been affirmed with the creation of over 40 works for the Mark Baldwin Dance Company and major dance companies around the world including The Royal Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Limbs Dance Company, Berlin State Opera House, Phoenix Dance Company, Scottish Ballet (where he was also Resident Choreographer in 1996), London City Ballet, Turkish State Opera House, Dhagdha Dance Company, the Modern Dance Company of Argentina, Cisne Negro Dance Company in Brazil and Rambert Dance Company.

Mark Baldwin is a well-established and respected choreographer. His position has been acknowledged and reflected through the many awards he has received. These include the Bonnie Bird Choreographic Award (1992), the 1995 Time Out Award for Dance, and the South Bank Show award for the Mark Baldwin Dance Company’s The Bird Sings With Its Fingers (2001). In 1996 he received the French Grand Prix Award for Film for Echo, a collaboration with visual artist Anish Kapoor and composer Brian Elias. His most recent award has been the 2002 Dance Artist Fellowship for Outstanding Contribution for Dance. His most recent projects include Ihi Frenzy for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the film Frankenstein!! due to be screened in July 2003 by the BBC and the opera, Romanza, at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome in 2003.

Mark joined Rambert Dance Company as Artistic Director in December 2002.