English National Ballet announces Aaron Watkin as new artistic director

English National Ballet announces Aaron Watkin as new artistic director 

The 52-year-old Canadian will succeed Tamara Rojo in August 2023 and arrives after 16 years as artistic director of Semperoper Ballett in Dresden.

Watkin has described his artistic vision [for Semperoper Ballett] as "based upon removing the borders that traditionally exist between classical and contemporary dance styles and redefining dance as the culmination of both."

Watkin is expected to continue to develop ENB along the path started by Tamara Rojo, who has spent the past decade improving and modernising the company - retaining classical work at the heart of the company while bringing in choreographers to create new contemporary work on the company. 

Watkin's greatest challenge  - especially after 16 years working in Germany's well-funded arts sector - is likely to be the UK's much less generous, penny-pinching approach to arts funding - not to mention a dwindling audience for dance following years of under-funding, neglect and outright vandalism by our Conservative overlords.