Michael Clark (1962-). Dancer, choreographer and director

Known as the enfant terrible of British contemporary dance during the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Clark is an innovative choreographer whose work has incorporated elements of classical ballet, punk, Dada, pop and rock, as well as collaborations with fashion designers and visual artists, notably Body Map, Leigh Bowery and Sarah Lucas. Openly gay, Clark has been at the forefront of queer culture since the beginning of his career, and has been open about his struggles with addiction.

Clark was born in Aberdeen in 1962. His earliest introduction to dance came through his sister’s Scottish dancing lessons, and he went on to study at The Royal Ballet School from 1975, where his talent was immediately recognised, not least by his teacher and future mentor, Richard Glasstone. Clark has described his love of the discipline of classical dance, but his creative mind, at the time of his graduation, was stretching towards different horizons. In 1979 he joined Ballet Rambert, working primarily with choreographer Richard Alston. He also studied with Merce Cunningham and John Cage, and the video artist and film director Charles Atlas. In 1982, Clark was invited to become choreographer in residence at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith.

In 1984 he formed his own company, Michael Clark Company, for whom he has both danced and choreographed. Among his creations are New Puritans, No Fire Escape In Hell, Because We Must, I am Curious, Orange and to a simple, rock ‘n’ roll . . . song, as well as a series of works to music by Igor Stravinsky. He collaborated with Sarah Lucas on The Fall in 2001. Since 2005, Clark’s company has been based at London’s Barbican Centre, where he is an artistic associate.

Clark has created work for many companies, including Scottish Ballet, London Festival Ballet, the Paris Opéra Ballet, Rambert Dance Company and the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. His work has been presented in many venues, including the Venice Biennale, Tate Modern, the Glastonbury Festival and the Whitney Biennial. He was appointed CBE for services to dance in 2014.