Congratulations, Sir Richard!

“I didn’t fall!” was one of the first things the newly knighted Sir Richard was beamingly telling his friends and colleagues when he returned from Buckingham Palace to celebrate at his home base, The Place. We are certain he performed just perfectly going down on one knee as he received his honours from HRH Prince Charles! To this day there are only eight knights appointed for dance; if reduced to choreographers honoured for work outside the ballet world, the list is trimmed to just two, with Sir Richard now alongside Sir Matthew Bourne. It clearly means a lot. "I've never considered such things and I'm astonished at how important I think it is", Richard confessed, "I feel wonderful about it."

Here are some of the beautiful words from colleagues and friends across the industry:

Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE‏ @KennethTharp

So happy for & proud of Sir Richard Alston. The strength & consistent quality of his creative output over the last 50 years is almost without exception,creating 25 works for @Rambertdance & more than 45 dances for his own company, alongside many for companies & schools worldwide.

Alastair Macaulay‏ @AlastairMacaul3 

Wonderful to see this photograph of the newly knighted choreographer Richard Alston (in morning suit; fresh from Buckingham Palace) with London Contemporary Dance School colleagues outside The Place. He is the ninth dance knight in British history, the second from modern dance.

DanceEast‏Verified account @dance_east

Huge congratulations to Sir Richard Alston! Thank you for investing time in our @DanceEastCAT - we can't wait for tomorrow!