The Critics' Circle centenary

As part of the Centenary Celebrations of the Critics’ Circle, the Circle's five sections – film, visual arts, music, drama and dance – were asked to come up with twenty names each of people who, or institutions which, had made a major contribution to the arts in Britain in their respective fields during the Circle's first hundred years. The Critics’ Circle aims to promote the art of criticism, to uphold its integrity in practice, to foster and safeguard members’ professional interests, to provide opportunities to meet, and to support the advancement of the arts. Admission to the Circle is by invitation of the Council and there are currently 430 members, mostly from the UK, the majority of whom write regularly for national and regional newspapers, magazines and online. Listed in alphabetical order, the list is both interesting and challenging, and whilst contribution itself may be objective, the arts are very much subjective and open to interpretation and debate. Those recognised as contributors for dance are listed below in an acknowledgement of the fantastic work that has been done over the past 100 years of the Critics’ Circle’s existence. It's hard to narrow the list down to twenty, Dancewear Central can think of more...who would be in yours? Sir Frederick Ashton OBE - Dancer and Choreographer Fred Astaire - Dancer George Balanchine - Choreographer and Ballet Master Lilian Baylis - Theatre Producer, Manager of English National Theatre and English Royal Ballet Matthew Bourne OBE - Choreographer Val Bourne OBE - Director of Dance Umbrella Christopher Bruce CBE - Choreographer Robert Cohan – Choreographer and Co-founder of The Place Dame Ninette de Valois - Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer and Director Serge Diaghilev - Ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes Dame Margot Fonteyn - Dancer Robin Howard – Co-founder of The Place Akram Khan MBE – Dancer and Choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan - Ballet Dancer and Choreographer Dame Alicia Markova – Dancer and Choreographer Lloyd Newson - Dancer and Choreographer Dame Marie Rambert - Founder of The Ballet Rambert Rudolf von Laban - Dance artist and Theorist Sir Peter Wright CBE - Choreographer