Glenn Wilkinson

Glenn Wilkinson talks about his many years as a Rambert dancer and teacher.

Dance was a part of Glenn’s life from an early age as his mother ran a dance school from the front room of their terraced house in Leeds. He was introduced to, and fell in love with contemporary dance whilst at secondary school and made the decision to go to London to study at the Rambert School. Whilst at the school he would regularly join the Company’s class and eventually was offered a position as a dancer by Richard Alston in 1986.

In this interview, Glenn recounts the seventeen years he spent with the Company and gives us a fascinating insight into working with Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown. Glenn also discusses the ways in which these life-changing experiences fed into his own teaching and creative practices and how they still feature today. Glenn recalls touring extensively in both the UK and internationally and, having danced under the directorship of both Alston and Bruce, Glenn is able to illustrate how their contrasting approaches shaped the Company.

00:06:15 Rambert School
00:08:28 Richard Alston
00:10:50 Merce Cunningham
00:19:30 Chiswick Studios
00:22:52 East Berlin
00:28:31 Christopher Bruce

Interview recorded on 16 January 2017 at Rambert, London.
Interviewer: Claire Izzard; Filmmaker: Paul Izzard

The Rambert Voices oral history project is part of Rambert at 90, a project marking the company’s 90th anniversary, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.