National Dance Awards 2009
The National Dance Awards 2009, were organised by The Critics' Circle, and presented to recognise excellence in professional dance in the United Kingdom. The ceremony was held in the Paul Hamlyn Hall of the Royal Opera House, London, on 21 January 2010, with awards given for productions staged in the previous year. The awards were sponsored by Yvonne Sherrington in memory of her husband Richard Sherrington, the founder sponsor of the Awards; HIT Entertainment; The Dancing Times; Dance Europe; Dance UK; Artsworld Presentations; The Council for Dance Education and Training and the website ballet.co.uk
Awards presented
De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement
Alexander Grant, former Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet and Artistic Director of the National Ballet of CanadaPatron's Award
Richard Bonynge, international conductorDance UK Industry Award
Marie McCluskey, Artistic Director of Swindon DanceDancing Times Award for Best Male Dancer
- Paul Liburd, of the Scottish Ballet - '''WINNER'''
Richard Sherrington Award for Best Female Dancer
- Leanne Benjamin, of the Royal Ballet - '''WINNER'''
Dance Europe Award for Outstanding Company
- Ballet Black - '''WINNER'''
Best Classical Choreography
- Wayne McGregor, for Infra for the Royal Ballet - '''WINNER'''
Best Modern Choreography
- Christopher Bruce, for Hush for the Rambert Dance Company - '''WINNER'''
PMB Presentations Award for Best Foreign Dance Company
- Merce Cunningham Dance Company, United States of America - '''WINNER'''
Outstanding Female Performance (Classical)
- Melissa Hamilton, of the Royal Ballet - '''WINNER'''
Outstanding Male Performance (Classical)
- Sergei Polunin, of the Royal Ballet - '''WINNER'''
Outstanding Female Performance (Modern)
- Amy Hollingsworth, freelance artist - '''WINNER'''
Outstanding Male Performance (Modern)
- Thomasin Gülgeç, of the Rambert Dance Company - '''WINNER'''
Special awards
Two new awards for young people were given: the Angelina Ballerina Children’s Award sponsored by HIT Entertainment and the Council for Dance Education and Training award for student of the year at one of the CDETs accredited professional dance schools.Angelina Ballerina Children's Award
- Lucy Wood, of the Susan Robinson School of Dance
CDET Student of the Year Award
- Sam Chung, of the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts