Royston Maldoom
The British choreographer Royston Maldoom has been the initiator and leader of numerous dance projects all around the globe for the past 30 years. His work was especially honored by the movie Rhythm is it! which received the German Lola Movie Award for best documentary film in 2005 and reached large audiences world-wide.
From 1980 to 1983, he was Dance - Artist - in - Residence for Fife/Scotland. During that time he organized numerous workshops, summer schools and dance festivals, founded community dance groups for teenager and adults and began to develop his philosophy of Community Dance. In 1994 he acted as Dance Research Officer for Stirling District Council, setting up a Dance Artist in Residency scheme alson similar lines led by long time colleague, Tamara McLorg .
Subsequently Maldoom began to work more on an international basis. He directed dance projects in Lithuania in 1991 during the independence movement, in Croatia and Bosnia during the Balkan War, in South Africa during Mandela`s election, as well as other projects in Zimbabwe, Georgia and Oregon/USA and others throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.
The dance project Le Sacre du Printemps with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, in which 250 kids participated, gained popular attention through the movie Rhythm is it!
Prior to his collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Royston Maldoom had already worked with major orchestras, including London Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Natal Symphony Orchestra. Royston Maldoom`s choreographies for Le Sacre du Printemps and Carmina Burana have been performed by numerous youth dance groups in Addis Abeba, Lima, Belfast, London, Vilnius, Duisburg, New York, Washington D.C. and several venues in Great Britain. Engagements for choreographic projects, workshops and speeches have brought him to institutions and initiatives worldwide.
Next to other international awards, in 2005 Maldoom received the German Honors Prize in Dance (Deutscher Ehren-Tanzpreis) in Essen for his continuous and groundbreaking engagement for dance throughout the years. For his work with Le Sacre du Printemps with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra he, the orchestra, and Sir Simon Rattle received the Special Schiller Award of the City of Mannheim.
In 2006 The Queen presented Royston Maldoom with the Order of The British Empire (O.B.E.) from the British Government for Services To Dance. In 2007 he received the German - British Forum Award for his engagement for the British - German relations in London and the prize of the Club der Optimisten in Hamburg.
Royston enjoys working with all kinds of people, from the homeless to children with special needs, convicted felons, people living in conflict areas. He likes uncovering their potential, revealing their passions and abilities. He is convinced art can change lives as well as societies and that it can improve understanding among people and cultures.
