Born in Sussex, Alston studied at Croydon College of Art. It was a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet that sparked his fascination with dance. Soon after, whilst watching Ashton’s ‘La Fille mal gardée’ (1960), he realised that he wanted to choreograph. In this interview, Richard shares his memories from his early dance classes with the Rambert School at the Mercury Theatre through to his time as Artistic Director of the Company (1986-1992). He recalls his appointment as Resident Choreographer in 1980 and recreating, with Marie Rambert’s blessing, ‘The Rite of Spring’ in 1981.

During his directorship, collaboration with visual artists, composers and other choreographers developed. Richard tells us about some of his collaborators, including Howard Hodgkin, John Hoyland, Trisha Brown and Merce Cunningham. In telling his Rambert story, Richard remembers and describes some of the important characters from the Company’s rich history such as Sally Gilmour, Maude Lloyd, John Chesworth and of course, Marie Rambert.

00:03:49 Mercury Theatre
00:04:53 Angela Ellis
00:14:45 ‘The Rite of Spring: Pictures of Pagan Russia’ (Alston, 1981)
00:18:12 Marie Rambert
00:28:50 ‘Opal Loop’ (Brown, 1989)
00:32:35 ‘Touchbase’ (Cunningham, 1992)
00:35:21 Howard Hodgkin
00:45:38 ‘Pierrot Lunaire’ (Tetley, 1962/1967)
00:47:15 ‘Dark Elegies’ (Tudor, 1937)
00:54:37 Maude Lloyd

Interview recorded on 13 October 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.