Christopher Wheeldon (1973-). British dancer, choreographer and director

Christopher Wheeldon was born in 1973 in Yeovil, Somerset. He started dancing at the age of eight, and from 1984 to 1991 attended The Royal Ballet School. He won the gold medal at Lausanne in 1991 and that same year joined The Royal Ballet. In 1993 he joined the New York City Ballet, becoming a soloist in 1998.

Wheeldon began choreographing for the New York City Ballet in 1997, retiring from dancing in 2000 to concentrate on a career in choreography. In 2001, Wheeldon became the New York City Ballet’s first resident choreographer and first resident artist. He also choreographed for San Francisco Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and The Royal Ballet, and by 2003 had created more than 20 works. From 2006 to 2010 Wheeldon also ran his own company, the Morphoses/Wheeldon Company.

In 2011, Wheeldon choreographed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for The Royal Ballet. He became an associate artist for The Royal Ballet the following year, and in 2014 created The Winter’s Tale for the company. Wheeldon was appointed OBE in 2016 for services to dance.