Henri Oguike

(Choreographer/Artistic Director/Dancer)

Born in West Glamorgan, Nigerian/Welsh choreographer Henri Oguike studied music, drama and dance at Swansea College. He went on to train at the London Contemporary Dance School and danced with 4D, its postgraduate performance group. In 1994, he became a founder member of the Richard Alston Dance Company and danced with the Company until 1998. He then founded Henri Oguike Dance Company in 1999 which quickly made an impact, picking up the Time Out Live Award for Most Outstanding New Company in 2001.

Oguike is passionate about the relationship between live music and dance. His work regularly features music and composers from diverse musical genres ranging from baroque to contemporary - recent works have featured compositions by Handel, Vivaldi, Steve Martland and Iain Ballamy. In 2005, a commission from Bury St Edmunds Festival and DanceEast gave rise to a celebrated collaboration with Britten Sinfonia which premiered at St Edmundsbury Cathedral (UK).

As well as impressing with his own company, Oguike has been commissioned to make pieces for Phoenix Dance Theatre, Holland Dance Festival, South Bank Centre, Transitions Dance Company, Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo and National Youth Dance Wales of which he has been Artistic Director for 4 years.

Henri has taught, performed and choreographed extensively in the UK and abroad including Israel, Monaco, Holland, Germany, France, Austria, Portugal, China and most recently, the USA. Both he and his company have been the recipients of many prestigious awards. In June 2007, Henri Oguike was awarded the AoC Gold Award for Further Education Alumni in recognition of his achievements in his chosen career. Most recently, he has been nominated for the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards for Outstanding Repertoire and by the Manchester evening News Theatre Awards for Dance.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS

2007 THOUGHT LIKE RAINDROP
Commissioned by Nothern Contemporary Dance School for Verve Graduate Company

2007 SECOND SIGNAL
Rework for TAN Dance Ltd in association with the Dynion Project

2007 FALLING
Commission by Channel 4

2007 JUST FOR ME
Commissioned by National Youth Dance Wales

2007 Ex 1 TO...
Commissioned by National Youth Dance Wales

2007 START TO FALL
Commissioned by Intoto Dance

2007 FINDING RED
Commissioned by Swindon Youth Dance Academy

2006 SMALL THEATRES
Commissioned by National Youth Dance Wales

2006 QUACKERS
Created for Bedford Youth Dance Company for the Big Dance Celebration

2006 FINALE
Remount on dancers from London Contemporary Dance School

2005 HOW I LOOK
Commissioned by Wisselwerk Project, Holland Dance Festival

2005 WORKING LIGHTS
Commissioned by National Youth Dance Wales

2004 SPATIAL SIGNATURES
Commissioned by National Youth Dance Wales

2004 PARADE
Commissioned by London Contemporary Dance School for graduate students

2004 SIGNAL
Commissioned by Phoenix Dance Theatre

2003 DUET
Created for Escapade on the South Bank and commissioned by Akademi/South Asian Dance UK

2003 SPLINTER
Commissioned by Laban Centre for graduate students

2003 WITH MY SIGHS
Commissioned by West Glamorgan Youth Dance Company

2002 BUTTERFLY GRID
Commissioned by London Contemporary Dance School for graduate students

2002 VIOLET
Commissioned by the Curve Foundation

2002 F.P.S. (Frames Per Second)
Commissioned by First Class Air Male's UK tour in conjunction with DanceEast

2002 BROKEN STRINGS
Commissioned by Swindon National Youth

2002 BRIGHTSIDE
Commissioned by Transitions Dance Company

2001 LA, LA, LA...
Commissioned by National Youth Dance Company

2001 OF DEATH AND STILLNESS
Commissioned by Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo, Lisbon

2001 CASUAL GRACE
Commissioned by Bare Bones Dance Company

2001 APOLLO NEW APOLLO
Commissioned by Dance East. Henri Oguike and composer John Cooney exploring various starting points based on Stravinsky's ballet score Apollo

2000 TRAVEL MATRIX
Commissioned by UK Rocks National Tour

2000 PLAY TO WIN
Commissioned by Soho Theatre and co-produced with Yellow Earth Theatre

2000 LANGUAGE
Commissioned by Escola Superior de Danca, Lisbon

2000 SEEN OF ANGELS
Commissioned by Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo, Lisbon

1998 ILE AYE
Commissioned by Intoto Dance (London Studio Centre performance group)

1998 TRAIN (RIDE TO THE ABYSS)
Commissioned by Lewisham College

1998 PRIME ORIGIN
Commissioned by Acarte Theatre, Lisbon as part of 'The Body to Body' Festival

1998 THE BRUTALITY OF FACT
Created with an award from the Jerwood Foundation

1996 SKETCHES TO PORTRAITS
Commissioned by London Contemporary Dance School for graduate students

1996 SPOOL OF THREADS
Created with an award from the Robin Howard Foundation. Part of a programme of work presented at Acarte Theatre, Lisbon.

1996 AMONGST SHADOWS
Created with an award from the Robin Howard Foundation for Resolution 96! Season at The Place Theatre, London.

1996 PULSE
Commissioned by Harrison Birtwistle educational project in collaboration with musicians from the London Sinfonietta.

1994 DOORS AND SUNDIALS
Commissioned by 4D (London Contemporary Dance School postgraduate performance group)