Richard Alston has been awarded the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance at the ninth annual Critics' Circle National Dance Awards.
Alston received the award, whose previous winners have included Val Bourne, Celeste Dandeker, Sir Anthony Dowell and Sir Peter Wright, in recognition of his 40-year career as a choreographer. It comes ahead of Richard Alston Dance Company embarking on the spring leg of its UK tour, which begins on Tuesday 10 February in Yeovil and continues until May, before the company returns to The Place for performances in June.
The 2008 National Dance Awards were announced at a ceremony held on Monday 26 January at Sadler's Wells. Alston headed a list of several winners closely associated with The Place, the UK’s premier centre for contemporary dance.