Sadler's Wells announce shortlist for 'dance Oscars'

Britain's internationally renowned Sadler's Wells theatre on Monday announced the shortlist for the first global dance prize, aimed at raising the profile of contemporary dance just as the Turner prize did for contemporary art.

The first biennial Rose international dance prize will be awarded next year, said Alistair Spalding, artistic director of the London theatre.

He said the seven shortlisted works explored themes that have dominated the world agenda in recent years -- Covid, post Covid, climate change, identity politics and conflict.

They include Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues' "Encantado", inspired by "notions of enchantment" and performed by dancers trained in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Another, "An Untitled Love" by the American Kyle Abraham, depicts black love and community in the United States.

Greece's Christos Papadopoulos is nominated for his work "Larsen C", named after the vast Antarctic ice sheet which broke away in 2017.

Other countries included on the shortlist are France, Israel, Portugal and Taiwan.

"We would like the Rose Prize to do what the Turner prize has done for visual arts, what the Booker has done for publishing," Spalding said.

The prize will be divided into two categories -- the Rose category for established choreographers with a prize of £40,000 ($50,000), and the Bloom category for emerging choreographers with a prize of £15,000.

Eligible works must be more than 50 minutes long and have staged their premiere between October 2021 and February 2023.

A jury will judge the entries at Sadler's Wells in January and February 2025.

The winners of the two categories will be announced on February 10.

British dancer and choreographer Akram Khan, whose dance company created a section of the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012, hailed the creation of an award specifically for choreographers.

He said it was a "rare" opportunity to "put a spotlight on the importance of story telling through movement".