Member Profiles

Patrick’s career began at the Rambert Company’s Dance Unit after less than 2 years training at the Rambert School. He progressed to dance with the main company before successfully making the unusual and difficult move from contemporary to classical dance. He performed with ENB and Scottish Ballet and toured with Galina Samsova’s New London Ballet, choreographing workshop ballets & a full evening of ballet for The Bermuda Civic Ballet. He appeared on stage with Margot Fonteyn & Rudolf Nureyev.

An opportunity to use his early musical training saw him in the leading roles of Munkustrap and Skimbleshanks The Railway Cat in the West End production of Cats. He has danced in many films and videos including Shakespeare in Love and appeared in Die Fledermaus at Covent Garden in Joan Sutherland’s final performance at The Royal Opera House alongside Pavarotti. He is currently starring in the music video of Don Fardon’s hit single remix ’I’m Alive’. ’Proper ballet dancer Patrick Wood was clearly brilliant in the lead role, Denzil Armour-Brown lit everything beautifully and speedily, ...’ 26 May 2010: www.promonews.tv/2010/05/26/don-fardon’s-im-alive-by-tom-kingsley/

Recent years have been passionately devoted to Ballet, as a teacher repetiteur and dancer. As a dance thinker he has contributed to the Ballet Independents Group. His teaching flows from Roger Tully’s work with whom he studied for many years. He has worked with Jennifer Jackson of Surrey University on Ballet Research projects, and has been company teacher for Akram Khan, DV8, Ann Dickie (director of From here to Maturity company) and Susie Crow’s Black Maria production. He is a Visiting Lecturer at Surrey University and Lewisham College.

His work has been supported in recent years by Pembroke House in Walworth (www.pembrokehouse.org.uk) where he teaches ballet classes on Thursdays, 11am at professional level & Fridays 6.30pm for beginners.

I’d like to salute the work of The Arts Centre Group particularly in building the confidence I felt as I discovered in the distant 1970’s that, Yes I could be a fully committed dancer and not be any less of a real Christian. It seems a strange thing to our ears these days that anyone should think any differently but at that time Nigel Goodwin’s total confidence in the value of Dance was like breathing clear fresh air. He never gave a list of art forms the ACG wanted to foster and celebrate without including Dancing in all its forms - I’m sure that affirmation is one of the reasons I’m still dancing and teaching today. Thank you Nigel and all at ACG.

 

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