Kevin Richmond, dancer (1958 -)

Kevin Richmond was born in Nottingham on 21st February 1958, was the eldest of three boys. His interest in theatre began at primary school where he was encouraged to participate in drama classes. At the age of 10, he was recruited as a child actor to appear in a number of productions including Waiting for Godot with Peter O’Toole and in the 1972 Harold Becker film The Ragman’s Daughter. He wasn’t keen to
learn to dance initially but was convinced by his teachers that it may help his acting career. His first professional dance job was with an education project called Dance for Everyone when Richmond was just seventeen. He joined London Festival Ballet in 1977 under the directorship of Dame Beryl Grey and remained with the company, now English National Ballet, for 22 years. He worked with 5 directors during this time and among his most memorable experiences was working with the choreographer Christopher Bruce on Swansong. Bruce created the piece on Richmond, Matz Skoog and Koen Onzia in 1987 and this work and its cast were celebrated worldwide. Other important roles included the title role in Christopher Hampson’s Scrooge, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and Dr Coppelius in Coppélia.

After retiring from the stage, he completed the Professional Dancer’s Teaching Diploma at the RAD and taught at London Studio Centre, Basler Ballett, Cathy Sharp Dance Ensemble and latterly, at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künst in Zürich where he taught the BA in Contemporary Dance course. He also guest taught in many companies including Rambert.