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Reece Clarke

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Reece Clarke
Born (1995-03-27) 27 March 1995 (age 29)
NationalityScottish
EducationRoyal Ballet School
Occupationballet dancer
Years active2013–present
Height6 ft 2.5 in (189 cm)[1]
Career
Current groupThe Royal Ballet

Reece Clarke (born 27 March 1995[2]) is a Scottish ballet dancer. He joined the Royal Ballet in 2013, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022.

Early life and training

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Clarke is from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire. His father was a steelworker and Clarke's mother worked as a child minder.[1] He is the youngest of four brothers.[3] Clarke began ballet at age three.[1] He initially attended weekly classes at a local dance school that his brothers also attended, before he joined the Royal Ballet School Junior Associates programme, and travelled to London every weekend for training.[2]

In 2006, the 11-year-old Clarke entered the Royal Ballet School, where all three of his brothers attended.[4] This marked the first time four boys from the same family attended the school. The school provided a scholarship, while the Airdrie community helped fund his tuition and equipments.[1] Clarke attended the lower school for five years, before moving to the upper school. In his second year at the upper school, he often performed with the Royal Ballet.[2] In 2012, Clarke won Young British Dancer of the Year.[5] The following year, he won the Lynn Seymour Prize.[2] Clarke did not officially graduate from the school as he was offered a position from the Royal Ballet early, hence did not complete the full three years at the upper school. He nevertheless received a certificate of attendance.[2]

Career

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In October 2013, weeks into Clarke's third and final year at the upper school, he was offered a position at the Royal Ballet.[2][6] In 2014, Clarke performed his first major role, in Ashton's Symphonic Variations. Clarke was covering the role, but was cast to dance opposite Marianela Núñez after a dancer dropped out.[2] In the 2015/16 season, Clarke and Federico Bonelli co-created the role of Samuel Jean Pozzi in Wheeldon's Strapless.[2] In 2016, Clarke was promoted to first artist.[7] Later that year, he originated a role in Edmonds' Meta.[8] He won the Emerging Artist Award at the 2016 National Dance Awards.[9] Other roles Clarke debuted in his early career include the Prince in The Nutcracker, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, the First Officer in MacMillan's Anastasia, as Antigonus in Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale, in After the Rain and McGregor's Obsidian Tear.[2]

In 2017, Clarke was promoted to soloist.[10] That year, he originated a role in Scarlett's Symphonic Dances.[11] In 2019, Clarke filled in as Des Grieux in Manon, when Steven McRae got injured mid-show, resulting in Clarke having ten minutes to prepare before performing with Akane Takada, whom Clarke had never danced with.[3] In January 2020, Clarke was promoted to first soloist, shortly before he filled in for Vadim Muntagirov as the titular role in Cranko's Onegin, alongside Natalia Osipova's Tatiana.[12][13] In June, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clarke and Fumi Kaneko danced the second movement pas de deux from MacMillan's Concerto for an online performance.[14] In October, at the first full company performance since the pandemic, Clarke and Kaneko danced Marston's In Our Wishes.[15]

In March 2022, Clarke appeared in a gala benefitting the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal at the London Coliseum, performing Balanchine's Tchaikovsky pas de deux with Núñez.[16] Two months later, he danced in Royal Ballet's special performance of Swan Lake, also to raise fund for DEC, in which the lead roles were split among several dancers. Clarke danced as Prince Siegfried in the fourth act, opposite Osipova.[17] As soloist and first soloist, Clarke had also performed as Albrecht in Giselle,[18] in Ashton's Monotones, Enigma Variations,[3] The Two Pigeons[19] and Scènes de Ballet,[20] and Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour.[21]

In May 2022, the Royal Ballet announced Clarke's promotion to principal dancer, which took effect at the start of the 2022/23 season.[1][22]

Personal life

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As of 2019, Clarke lives in Chiswick, West London.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Kelly, Liam (22 May 2022). "Meet William Bracewell, the Welsh dragon who became a swan". The Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Willis, Margaret (1 November 2016). "Dancer of the month". Dancing Times.
  3. ^ a b c d Craine, Debra (26 October 2019). "Fumi Kaneko and Reece Clarke on being the Royal Ballet's star couple". The Times.
  4. ^ Akwagyiram, Alexis (19 July 2006). "Ballet brothers keep it in the family". BBC News.
  5. ^ "Airdrie-born ballet student Reece Clarke scoops dance title". BBC News. 19 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Two Royal Ballet School Students Awarded Contracts with The Royal Ballet". Royal Ballet School. 12 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Royal Ballet: Promotions and joiners for the 2016/17 season". DanceTabs. 10 June 2016.
  8. ^ Watts, Graham (15 November 2016). "The Royal Ballet: Meta/Void and Fire". Bachtrack.
  9. ^ "2016 National Dance Awards – Winners Announced". DanceTabs. 6 February 2017.
  10. ^ "News – Royal Ballet Promotions, Joiners and Leavers, 2017/18 Season". DanceTabs. 9 July 2017.
  11. ^ Mackrell, Judith (20 May 2017). "Royal Ballet mixed bill review – Scarlett and Yanowsky deliver a mesmerising melodrama". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Levene, Louise (20 January 2020). "Reece Clarke performs with power and subtlety in the Royal Ballet's Onegin". Financial Times.
  13. ^ @TheRoyalBallet (7 January 2020). "👏 Congratulations to Reece Clarke, who has been promoted to the rank of First Soloist Reece joined the Company in the 2013/14 Season and has since risen through the ranks, performing major roles in works including The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Manon" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Parry, Jann (1 July 2020). "Royal Opera House/Royal Ballet – Live from Covent Garden: Third Concert (27 June)". DanceTabs.
  15. ^ Parry, Jann (13 October 2020). "Royal Ballet – Back on Stage – London". DanceTabs.
  16. ^ Craine, Debra (20 March 2022). "Dance for Ukraine review — a fundraising gala of incredible skill and spirit". The Times.
  17. ^ Byrne, Emma (6 May 2022). "Swan Lake: special performance for Ukraine at the Royal Opera House review - stunning". Evening Standard.
  18. ^ Levene, Louise (9 November 2021). "Giselle at the Royal Opera House — rich and exultant". Financial Times.
  19. ^ Watts, Graham (20 January 2019). "Asphodel Meadows/ The Two Pigeons, a beautiful pairing of The Royal Ballet repertoire". Bachtrack.
  20. ^ Winship, Lyndsey (24 April 2022). "Royal Ballet triple bill review – daredevil effervescence and virtuosity". The Guardian.
  21. ^ Winship, Lyndsey (15 November 2022). "Royal Ballet Live: Within the Golden Hour review – sheer, ravishing class from top to pointed toe". The Guardian.
  22. ^ Woodfield, Ashley (23 May 2022). "The Royal Ballet announces Principal Dancer Promotions". Royal Opera House.
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