National Dance Awards nominations announced

The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle has announced the nominations for the 2024 National Dance Awards, which cover UK performances in that calendar year.

This year, 365 companies, choreographers, performers and other creative artists were nominated by the professional critics of the Dance Section, up from 311 in 2023. The year also saw the widest spread of companies with nominations yet at 34, up from 29 in 2023.

The Royal Ballet once again tops the shortlists with twelve nominations, followed by seven for English National Ballet, and Aakash Odedra Company and Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company, who have four nominations for their joint production of Mehek.

The nominations are dominated by UK-based companies with just five nominees coming from visitors UK: The National Ballet of Canada, Sarasota Ballet and New York City Ballet from North America; and flamenco artists, Rocío Molina and Eve Yerbabuena from Spain.

The short-listed nominees are:

Best Male Dancer
Tommy Franzén
Francesco Gabriele Frola
Aakash Odedra
Marcelino Sambé
Joseph Sissens

Best Female Dancer
Rebecca Bassett-Graham
Francesca Hayward
Sangeun Lee
Erina Takahashi
Eva Yerbabuena

Stef Stefanou Award for Outstanding Company
Birmingham Royal Ballet
National Ballet of Canada
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures
The Royal Ballet
Sarasota Ballet

Best Mid-scale Company
Acosta Danza
Ballet Black
Boy Blue
Gandini Juggling
Scottish Dance Theatre

Best Independent Company
Mark Bruce Company
London City Ballet
Lost Dog
Pagrav Dance
Yorke Dance Project

Best Classical Choreography
Joshua Junker for Never Known
Akram Khan and Others for Gigensis
Crystal Pite for Angel’s Atlas
Aakash Odedra and Aditi Mangaldas for Mehek
Pam Tanowitz for Or Forevermore

Best Modern Choreography
Kyle Abraham for Love Letter (on Shuffle)
Kim Brandstrup for the Greek Mythology choreographies
Marc Brew and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for An Accident/A Life
Susan Kempster for Mother
Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young for Assembly Hall

Emerging Artist Awards
Ivana Bueno (dancer)
Daichi Ikarashi (dancer)
Caspar Lench (dancer)
Kennedy Junior Muntanga (dancer & choreographer)
James Pett & Travis Clausen-Knight (as choreographers)

Outstanding Female Modern Performance
Rebecca Bassett-Graham in Autobiography
Isabela Coracy in The Waiting Game
Kristen McNally in The Statement
Aishwarya Raut in Analogue
Hannah Shepherd in Ruination

Outstanding Male Modern Performance
Isaac Baptiste (Turbo) as the Mad Hatter in The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
Marc Brew in An Accident/A Life
Harrison Dowzell as the Swan in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Tommy Franzén in Minotaur & as Ernest in The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
Jonathan Goddard as Frankenstein’s Monster in Frankenstein

Outstanding Female Classical Performance
Marge Hendrick as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire 
Aditi Mangaldas in Mehek
Rocío Molina in Al Fondo Riela
Beatrice Parma as Lise in La Fille mal gardée
Erina Takahashi as Giselle in Akram Khan’s Giselle

Outstanding Male Classical Performance
William Bracewell as Des Grieux in Manon
Francesco Gabriele Frola as Albrecht in Giselle
Johan Kobborg as Il Matto in La Strada
Aakash Odedra in Mehek
Marcelino Sambé in Different Drummer

Outstanding Creative Contribution
Sam Amidon (Singer/Songwriter, Nobodaddy)
Dick Bird (Designer, Nutcracker)
Maria Seletskaja (Conductor)
Joseph Sissens (Producer, The Legacy Project)
Tom Visser (Lighting Design)

Best Dance Film and Best Short Dance Film
A call for entries for the two film categories has been launched for films that were made or first shown in 2024. The closing date for entries is midnight on April 27, 2025, and the nominees in these categories will be announced in May.

The winners of all the National Dance Awards will be announced at a ceremony to be held on Monday June 9, 2025 at a London venue to be announced shortly.

The event will also play host to the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement for which there are no prior nominations.