Michael Clark : the British iconoclast who brought punk ballet to the masses : in Conversation with Les Child

The list of the people he has collaborated with since then reads like an inevitable who’s who and including – among others – such compelling artists like Sarah Lucas, Leigh Bowery, Peter Doig, Charles Atlas, Wolfgang Tillmans, Cerith Wyn Evans,  Silke Otto-Knapp, Body Map, Duncan Campbell, and musicians Mark E. Smith, Wire, Scritti Politti, and Relaxed Muscle.

From the outset, Michael Clark’s performances have been marked by a mixture of technical rigour and experimentation, intense and fine-tuned choreography intersecting with elements of punk, Dada, pop and rock. His productions repeatedly break new ground, provoking and electrifying audiences. As The Guardian noted of a recent performance at the Barbican, London: “throughout the evening, the dancers’ prodigious command and affectless efficiency make them look superhuman.”

Clark founded his own company in 1984 when he was aged 22. It has since toured worldwide to perform at leading houses in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, as well as on its home stage at the Barbican, where it has been a resident company since 2005. Michael Clark Company has also introduced dance to new audiences both by performing at unorthodox venues such as the Glastonbury Festival, the legendary Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London, and in the Whitney Biennial 2012 in New York where the company occupied an entire floor for four weeks and through Clark’s collaborations with leading artists, fashion designers, and musicians.