The choreographer Richard Alston, who has died aged 77, was a landmark figure in contemporary dance. He began his career in 1967 at a foundational point in British dance history, with the establishment of the London Contemporary Dance School and Theatre that year. He played a leading role in developing the independent dance scene through the 1970s and early 80s, before going on to direct Ballet Rambert for six years from 1986, and then the Richard Alston Dance Company from 1994 to 2020.
He developed and refined a signature style, a combination of lyrical elegance, compositional refinement, musical inspiration and spacious design, as well as a distinctive movement quality that melded flow, breath, sweeping lines and fleet-footedness; dance students and teachers continue to use the word “Alstony” as a shorthand to describe a certain style of motion and phrasing.
