Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance
# Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance

The Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.

This award was first presented in 1977, as Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Ballet, then was retitled to Outstanding Individual Performance of the Year in a New Dance Production in 1983, before settling on the current title in 1986. With the exception of 1983–1985, when the criteria focused only on an individual dancer, this award`s criteria covers the breadth of a commingled group of specialties, including: dancers, choreographers, designers (individual or combination of costume, visual, set, lighting – in dance, as opposed to the individual Olivier awards for designer categories, which also exist), and artistic directors.

## Winners and nominees

### 1970s

| Year | Nominee | Category | Production |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1977 |
| 1977 | London Festival Ballet | Dance company | Romeo and Juliet |
| 1977 | Maurice Béjart | Choreographer/director | Ballet of the 20th Century |
| 1977 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | The Sleeping Beauty |
| 1977 | Rudolf Nureyev | Dancer/director | Nureyev and Friends |
| 1978 |
| 1978 | Robert Cohan | Artistic director | London Contemporary Dance Theatre |
| 1978 | Christopher Bruce | Choreographer | Ballet Rambert |
| 1978 | Siobhan Davies | Dancer | Harmonica Breakdown |
| 1978 | Lynn Seymour | Dancer | A Month in the Country |
| 1979 |
| 1979 | Peter Schaufuss | Choreographer | La Sylphide |
| 1979 | Kenneth MacMillan | Choreographer | Playground |
| 1979 | Ballet Rambert | Dance company | The Tempest |

### 1980s

| Year | Nominee | Category | Production |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1980 |
| 1980 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Gloria |
| 1980 | Ballet of the 20th Century | Dance company | Gaîté Parisienne |
| 1980 | London Festival Ballet | Dance company | Sphinx |
| 1980 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Rhapsody |
| 1981 |
| 1981 | Stuttgart Ballet | Dance company | Forgotten Land |
| 1981 | London Contemporary Dance Theatre | Dance company | Death and the Maiden |
| 1981 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Dances of Albion |
| 1981 | Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet | Dance company | Night Moves |
| 1982 |
| 1982 | Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris | Dance company | Le songe d'une nuit d'été |
| 1982 | Ballet Rambert | Dance company | Ghost Dances |
| 1982 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Illuminations |
| 1982 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | L'Invitation Au Voyage |
| 1983 |
| 1983 | Alessandra Ferri | Dancer, The Royal Ballet | Valley of Shadows |
| 1983 | Patrick Armand | Dancer, Ballet Théâtre Français | Songs of a Wayfarer |
| 1983 | Natalia Makarova | Dancer, The Royal Opera | The Nightingale |
| 1983 | Koen Onzia | Dancer, London Festival Ballet | The Seasons |
| 1984 |
| 1984 | David Bintley | Dancer, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet | Petrushka |
| 1984 | Wayne Eagling | Dancer, The Royal Ballet | Different Drummer |
| 1984 | Patricia Ruanne | Dancer, London Festival Ballet | Onegin |
| 1985 |
| 1985 | Yoko Morishita | Dancer, Matsuyama Ballet Company | Giselle |
| 1985 | Stephen Jefferies | Dancer, The Royal Ballet | The Sons of Horus |
| 1985 | Roland Price | Dancer, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet | The Sleeping Beauty |
| 1985 | Bryony Brind | Dancer, The Royal Ballet | Young Apollo |
| 1986 |
| 1986 | Ballet Rambert | Dance company | 60th Anniversary Season |
| 1986 | Bolshoi Ballet | Dance company | Performances at the London Coliseum |
| 1986 | Michael Clark | Dancer | Individual Impact and Contribution |
| 1986 | Irek Mukhamedov | Dancer | Bolshoi Ballet |
| 1986 | Jerome Robbins | Choreographer | Range of Work |
| 1986 | Jorge Salavisa | Artistic director | The Ballet Gulbenkian |
| 1987 |
| 1987 | Trisha Brown | Dancer/choreographer | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |
| 1987 | London Contemporary Dance Theatre | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |
| 1987 | Richard Alston | Choreographer | Pulcinella and Dutiful Ducks |
| 1987 | Merce Cunningham Company | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |
| 1987 | Ichikawa Ennosuke III | Kabuki performer | The Thousand Cherries of Yoshitsune |
| 1988 |
| 1988 | Kirov Ballet | Dance company | Season in London |
| 1988 | London Festival Ballet with special mention to Christopher Bruce for his choreography and Koen Onzia for his performances | Dance company | Swansong and Cruel Garden |
| 1988 | Cumbre Flamenca | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |
| 1988 | Hayden Griffin | Designer | Still Life at the Penguin Café |
| 1988 | London Contemporary Dance Theatre | Dance company | Arden Court and Shift |
| 1988 | Second Stride | Dance company | Weighing the Heart |
| 1989/90 |
| 1989/90 | London Contemporary Dance Theatre | Dance company | Kim Brandstrup's Orfeo |
| 1989/90 | Nina Ananiashvili and Irek Mukhamedov | Dancers | Bolshoi Ballet |
| 1989/90 | David Bintley | Choreographer | Hobson's Choice |
| 1989/90 | Siobhan Davies | Choreographer | Embarque |
| 1989/90 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | The Prince of the Pagodas |
| 1989/90 | Paul Taylor Dance Company | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |

### 1990s

| Year | Nominee | Category | Production |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1991 |
| 1991 | Twyla Tharp and Jennifer Tipton | Choreographer and lighting designer | In the Upper Room |
| 1991 | Siobhan Davies and Dancers | Choreographer and dancers | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |
| 1991 | Darcey Bussell | Dancer | Winter Dreams and Stravinsky Violin Concerto |
| 1991 | Kenneth MacMillan | Choreographer | Winter Dreams |
| 1991 | Mark Morris | Choreographer | Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes |
| 1991 | The Phoenix Dance Company | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells Theatre |
| 1992 |
| 1992 | William Forsythe and The Royal Ballet | Choreographer and performance | In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated |
| 1992 | Adventures in Motion Pictures most promising small dance company to present a West End season | Dance company | Season at the Royal Court Theatre |
| 1992 | Stephen Jefferies | Dancer | Cyrano |
| 1992 | Philippe Genty | Director and concept | Driftings |
| 1992 | Graham Lustig and Henk Schut | Choreographer and designer | Inscape |
| 1992 | Northern Ballet Theatre | Dance company | Romeo and Juliet |
| 1993 |
| 1993 | Siobhan Davies | Choreographer | Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues |
| 1993 | David Bintley | Choreographer | Tombeaux |
| 1993 | Lez Brotherston | Scenery and costume designer | Northern Ballet Theatre's Season at the Royalty Theatre |
| 1993 | Joseph Cipolla | Dancer | The Green Table |
| 1994 |
| 1994 | London Contemporary Dance Theatre | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 1994 | Darcey Bussell | Dancer | Ballet Imperial and La Ronde |
| 1994 | Sylvie Guillem | Dancer | Herman Schmerman |
| 1994 | Marion Tait | Dancer | Romeo and Juliet |
| 1995 |
| 1995 | Peter Mumford | Lighting designer | Fearful Symmetries and The Glass Blew In |
| 1995 | Thomas Edur | Dancer | The Sleeping Beauty |
| 1995 | John MacFarlane | Designer | The Nutcracker |
| 1995 | Nuria Moreno | Dancer | Cinderella |
| 1996 |
| 1996 | Siobhan Davies | Choreographer | The Art of Touch |
| 1996 | Deborah Bull | Dancer | Steptext |
| 1996 | Sylvie Guillem | Dancer | Episodes |
| 1996 | Marion Tait | Dancer | Pillar of Fire |
| 1997 |
| 1997 | Rambert Dance Company | Dance company | Season at the London Coliseum |
| 1997 | Sue Blane | Designer | Alice in Wonderland |
| 1997 | Viviana Durante | Dancer | Anastasia and ...Now Langourous, Now Wild... |
| 1997 | Thomas Edur | Dancer | Alice in Wonderland and Giselle |
| 1998 |
| 1998 | Lez Brotherston | Set design and costume | Cinderella |
| 1998 | Altynai Asylmuratova | Dancer | Swan Lake |
| 1998 | Mark Morris | Choreographer | L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato |
| 1999 |
| 1999 | William Forsythe and Ballett Frankfurt | Choreographer/artistic director and dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 1999 | Trisha Brown | Choreographer | L'Orfeo |
| 1999 | Bill T. Jones and company | Choreographer/dancer and dancers | We Set Out Early...Visibility Was Poor |
| 1999 | Twyla Tharp and company | Choreographer/dancer and dancers | Season at the Barbican Theatre |

### 2000s

| Year | Nominee | Category | Production |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Jirí Kylián | Choreographer/director | NDT I's season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2000 | Nina Ananiashvili | Dancer | Don Quixote |
| 2000 | Pina Bausch and company | Concept and production | Viktor |
| 2000 | David Bintley and creative team | Choreographer, designers, music | Edward II |
| 2001 |
| 2001 | Deborah Colker | Choreographer | Mix |
| 2001 | Matthew Bourne | Concept and dramatisation | The Car Man |
| 2001 | Robert Parker | Dancer | Shakespeare Suite |
| 2001 | Michael Revie | Dancer | Mozartina |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | Mark Morris | Choreographer/director | Mark Morris Dance Group's season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2002 | Ushio Amagatsu | Concept, direction, choreography and performance | Hibiki |
| 2002 | Dana Caspersen | Dancer | Artifact and Eidos:Telos |
| 2002 | William Forsythe | Choreographer | Artifact and Eidos:Telos |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | Robyn Orlin | Choreographer | Daddy, I've Seen This Piece Six Times and I Still Don't Know Why They're Hurting Each Other |
| 2003 | Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal | Dance company | Kontakthof |
| 2003 | Chiaki Nagao | Dancer | Madame Butterfly |
| 2003 | Christopher Wheeldon | Choreographer | Tryst and Polyphonia |
| 2004 |
| 2004 | Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks | Dancers | 2 Human |
| 2004 | Carlos Acosta | Dancer and choreographer | Tocororo - A Cuban Tale |
| 2004 | Javier de Frutos | Choreographer | Elsa Canasta |
| 2004 | Rambert Dance Company | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2005 |
| 2005 | San Francisco Ballet | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2005 | Julien Macdonald | Costume designer | Shimmer |
| 2005 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Sylvia |
| 2005 | Rambert Dance Company | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | Pina Bausch | Choreographer | Nelken and Palermo, Palermo |
| 2006 | Ballet Nacional de Cuba | Corps de ballet (dancers) specifically | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2006 | Johan Kobborg | Dancer and director | The Lesson and La Sylphide |
| 2006 | Russell Maliphant | Choreographer/dancer | PUSH |
| 2007 |
| 2007 | Carlos Acosta | Dancer and producer | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2007 | Steven McRae | Dancer | Homage to the Queen and Chroma |
| 2007 | Marianela Núñez | Dancer | DGV, The Sleeping Beauty, Acosta season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2007 | Wayne McGregor | Choreographer | Chroma |
| 2008 |
| 2008 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Jewels |
| 2008 | Savion Glover | Dancer | Live for London |
| 2008 | Jonathan Goddard | Dancer | Performances with Richard Alston Dance Company |
| 2008 | Wendy Whelan | Dancer | Fool's Paradise |
| 2009 |
| 2009 | Royal Ballet of Flanders | Dance company | Impressing the Czar |
| 2009 | The Royal Ballet | Dance company | Infra |
| 2009 | Savion Glover, Marshall Davis, Jr. and Maurice Chestnut | Dancers | Bare Soundz |

### 2010s

| Year | Nominee | Category | Production |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Rambert Dance Company | Dance company | Outstanding Year of New Work |
| 2010 | Colin Dunne | Dancer | Out of Time |
| 2010 | Michael Hulls | Lighting designer | Two:Four:Ten, Afterlight, Ex Machina and Eonnagata |
| 2011 |
| 2011 | Antony Gormley | Visual designer | Babel (Words) |
| 2011 | John MacFarlane | Designer | Asphodel Meadows |
| 2011 | Yoshie Sunahata (Kodo) | Drummer | Gnosis |
| 2012 |
| 2012 | Edward Watson | Dancer | The Metamorphosis |
| 2012 | The Design Team | Set, costume, lighting, visual projections | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
| 2012 | Tommy Franzen | Dancer | Some Like It Hip Hop |
| 2012 | Sylvie Guillem | Dancer | 6000 Miles Away |
| 2013 |
| 2013 | Marianela Núñez | Dancer | Aeternum, Diana and Acteon and Viscera |
| 2013 | ILL-Abilities | Dance company | Breakin' Convention |
| 2013 | Lez Brotherston | Set and costume designer | The Sleeping Beauty |
| 2014 |
| 2014 | Michael Hulls | Lighting designer | Body of work including Ballet Boyz: The Talent |
| 2014 | Mark Morris | Dancer and choreographer | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2014 | Arthur Pita | Choreographer | Ballet Black: A Dream Within a Midsummer Night's Dream |
| 2014 | Clemmie Sveaas | Dancer | Witch-Hunt |
| 2015 |
| 2015 | Crystal Pite | Choreographer | A Picture of You Falling, The Tempest Replica and Polaris |
| 2015 | Rocío Molina | Dancer | Bosque Ardora |
| 2015 | The Elders Project | Dance group | Elixir Festival |
| 2015 | Christopher Wheeldon | Choreographer | The Winter's Tale |
| 2016 |
| 2016 | Alessandra Ferri | Dancer | Chéri and Woolf Works |
| 2016 | Javier de Frutos | Choreographer | Anatomy of a Passing Cloud |
| 2016 | Sasha Waltz | Choreographer | Sacre |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | English National Ballet | Dance company | Akram Khan's Giselle and She Said |
| 2017 | Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | Dance company | Season at Sadler's Wells |
| 2017 | Luke Ahmet | Dancer | The Creation |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Francesca Velicu | Dancer | Pina Bausch's Le Sacre Du Printemps |
| 2018 | Rocío Molina | Dancer | Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo) |
| 2018 | Zenaida Yanowsky | Dancer | Liam Scarlett's Symphonic Dances |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Akram Khan | Dancer | Xenos |
| 2019 | John MacFarlane | Designer | Swan Lake |
| 2019 | Dimitris Papaioannou | Choreographer | The Great Tamer |

### 2020s

| Year | Nominee | Category | Production |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Sara Baras | Choreographer and Dancer | Ballet Flamenco Sobras |
| 2020 | Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker | Dancer | Mitten wir im Leben sind/Bach6Cellosuiten |
| 2020 | Gisèle Vienne | Choreographer | Crowd and Dance Umbrella |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Arielle Smith | Choreographer | Jolly Folly in Reunion |
| 2022 | Acosta Danza | Dance company | De Punta A Cabo in 100% Cuban |
| 2022 | NDT2 Dancers | Dancers | NDT2 Tour |
| 2022 | Edward Watson | Dancer | Wayne McGregor's The Dante Project |

* 1 2 Due to late March 2020 to late July 2021 closing of London theatre productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2022 awards recognise productions that launched anytime from February 2020 to February 2022
