Paul Lightfoot

Paul Lightfoot

Choreographer

Photo: Rahi Rezvani

Paul Lightfoot (1966, England) joined Nederlands Dans Theater in 1985, starting as a dancer with NDT 2. Two years later Lightfoot joined NDT 1, where he danced until 2008. During his dancing career, he started choreographing together with Sol León. From September 2011 until August 2020 he also was Artistic Director of the company.

León and Lightfoot have been a choreographer’s duo since 1989 and together they have created more than fifty pieces for the company, for which they received prestigious awards. In 2002 León and Lightfoot were appointed house choreographers for NDT, a position they held until August 2020.

Awards & Honours

Incentive Prize for Choreography of the Amsterdan Art Prize for Seconds

Nomination Laurence Olivier Award for Best Dance Production of the Year for SH-Boom (1994)

Lucas Hoving Prize 1994 (for Paul Lightfoot)

Incentive Prize Choreography 1997 of Stichting Dansersfonds ’79 (for Paul Lightfoot)

VSCD Golden Theatre Dance Prize 2002 (for Paul Lightfoot)

Merit Award 2003 of Stichting Dansersfonds’79 (for Sol León)

VSCD Dance Award ‘Zwaan’ for best dance production 2003-2004 for Shutters Shut and Subject to Change

Benois de la Danse 2005 for Signing Off

Herald Archangel, Edinburgh International Festival 2006

VSCD Dance Award ‘Zwaan’ for best dance production 2005-2006 for Shoot the Moon

León & Lightfoot repertoire

The Bard of Avon (NDT 2, 1989)
Spilt Milk (NDT Workshop, 1990)
Step Lightly (NDT 2, 1991)
Satchinananda (NDT Workshop, 1992)
Seconds (NDT 1, 1992)
Sigue (NDT Workshop, 1993)
Solitaire (NDT 2, 1994)
Susto (NDT 3, 1994)
SH-BOOM (NDT Workshop, 1994)
So Sorry (NDT 3, 1994)
Softly, as I Leave You (NDT 1, 1994)
Syllabus (NDT Workshop, 1995)
Skew-whiff (NDT 2, 1996)
Start to Finish (NDT 1, 1996)
Shangri-La (NDT 1, 1997)
Stilleven (NDT 1, 1997)
Sad Case (NDT 2, 1998)
Singing Apes (NDT 1, 1998)
Small Moves (NDT 3, 1999)
Speak For Yourself (NDT 1, 1999)
Squeaky Wheel (NDT 3, 2000)
Said and Done (NDT 2, 2001)
Safe as Houses (NDT 1, 2001)
Subject to Change (NDT 2, 2003)
Shutters Shut (NDT 2, 2003)
Signing Off (NDT 1, 2003)
Source of Inspiration (NDT 1, 2004)
drawn onward (NDT 1, 2004)
SH-BOOM (adapted version, NDT 1, 2004)
Postscript (NDT 2, 2005)

Silent Screen (NDT 1, 2005)
Shoot the Moon (NDT 1, 2006)
Sleight of Hand (NDT 2, 2007)
Sooner or Later (NDT 1, 2007)
Same Difference (NDT 1, 2007)
Passe-Partout (NDT 2, 2009)
Sehnsucht (NDT 1, 2009)
Limbo (NDT 1, 2009)
Studio 2 (NDT 2, 2009)
Swan Song (NDT 1, 2010)
Schmetterling (NDT 1, 2010)
Skipping over damaged area (NDT 1, 2011)
Short time together (Het Nationale Ballet, on the occasion of the Jubilee, 2012)
Shine a Light (NDT 1, 2012)
School of Thought (NDT 1, 2013)
Stop-Motion (NDT 1, 2014)
Spiritwalking (NDT 1, 2014)
Sad Case (adapted version, NDT 2, 2014)
Schubert (NDT 2, 2014)
Some Other Time (NDT 2, 2014)
Short time together (The Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen, 2015)
Shut Eye (NDT 1, 2016)
Singulière Odyssée (NDT 1, 2017)
Sisters (NDT 1, 2017)
Subtle Dust (NDT 2, 2018)
Kunstkamer (NDT 1 & NDT 2, 2019)
Postscript (NDT 2, 2020)