Choreographer Christopher Bruce CBE is to be the new Patron of Rambert School following the death of former Patron Sir Robert Cohan last year.
Bruce studied at the Rambert School from 1959 and joined the company in 1963, quickly becoming a leading dancer. He was Associate Director of the company from 1974 to 1979 and later performed as a guest with the company as well as serving as Associate Choreographer until 1987 and as Artistic Director from 1994 until his retirement in 2002.
He was also Associate Choreographer with English National Ballet from 1986 to 1991 and Resident and Associate Choreographer with Houston Ballet from 1989 to 2021.
Rambert School will perform a restaging of Bruce’s Dancing Day, created for the school in 1981, as part of its performance at the Next Generation Festival at the Linbury Theatre this summer.
Of his appointment, Bruce said, “I have been part of the Rambert family for over 60 years and feel deeply honoured to have been invited to continue my association with the School by becoming a Patron. I very much look forward to working with Amanda and the staff in the hope I can contribute to the development of a school that has, for over a century, regularly produced remarkable dancers and choreographers who have, in turn, made an invaluable contribution to the world of dance”.
Principal, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Rambert School, Amanda Britton said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Christopher will take up the role of Patron... As a student at the school, he was trained by Marie Rambert, and he went on to become leading dancer, Associate Choreographer and Artistic Director of Rambert Dance Company... no one has more ‘Rambert’ in their DNA than Christopher.”