Andrew Wilson
Ballet Tutor
Andrew was born in Dublin, Ireland, and trained with Jill Wigham and at Bird College, Kent, on a scholarship under the direction of Doreen Bird. He went on to train at the Royal Ballet Upper School, London, where he was chosen to represent the school at the 1984 International Ballet Competition, the Prix de Lausanne, alongside former Royal Ballet Principal Ballerina Viviana Durante. He was also awarded the Cyril Beaumont prize for making the most progress in his first year of study.
Andrew was a member of Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, promoted to coryphée in 1989, and to soloist of Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1991.
His principal and soloist roles include leads in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Elite Syncopations (Golden Hours, Hot House Rag), Dances Concertantes (Side Boys), Sir Peter Wright's Giselle (Peasant Pas de Six) and The Nutcracker (Drosselmeyer, Chinese, Spanish, Arabian, Winds, King Rat), John Cranko's Card Game (5 of Hearts) and The Lady and the Fool, George Balanchine's Theme and Variations (Demi Soloist), Sir Frederick Ashton's Jazz Calendar (Tuesday's Child) and Façade (The Dago, Foxtrot, Yodelling Boys), and Sir David Bintley's Brahms Handel Variations, Hobson's Choice (Albert Prosser, original bride) and The Snow Queen (original Wolf).
He has also danced soloist and corps de ballet roles in Sir Peter Wright and Galina Samsova's Swan Lake (Waltz, Pas de Six, Mazurka, Czardas, Spanish) and The Sleeping Beauty (Cavaliers, Waltz, Wolf), Coppélia (Mazurka/Czardas, Work Hours, Betrothal), Raymonda (Act 3), Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet (Mandolin Dance) and Sir Frederick Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée (Tall Boys).
He has danced in works by Dame Ninette de Valois (Job, Checkmate), Léonide Massine (Choreartium, which won an Evening Standard Award), Hans van Manen (Five Tangos), Agnes de Mille (Fall River Legend), Susan Crow (Track and Field), Graham Lustig (Paramour), Kurt Jooss (The Green Table), Sir David Bintley (Flowers of the Forest) and George Balanchine (Prodigal Son).
Andrew joined the staff of Bird College in 2000, where he was responsible for teaching classical pas de deux across all years. He was promoted to Head of Ballet in 2006 and to Head of Contemporary and Ballet in 2015, and was also production manager for the college's annual show at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford. He co-choreographed the Year 3 musicals with Erica Lawrence, including Children of Eden, The Life, Bat Boy, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me, Kate and Fame.
He has guest taught at Scapino Ballet, Rotterdam, and Ballet Ireland, Dublin, and was invited to teach at the Hungarian Dance Academy, Budapest, taking the artistic director's class of boys for a week. He has taught for the Phyllis Bedells Bursary Award (RAD) at White Lodge, and adjudicated and taught for the Baines Hewitt Award and the Imperial Classical Ballet Awards (ISTD).
Andrew taught on the RAD Summer School in Tokyo, Japan, for eight years, and was responsible for setting the Advanced 2 Boys Syllabus (ISTD, Imperial Classical Ballet), which is examined internationally. He is a former Imperial Classical Ballet Vocational and Graded Examiner. He also filmed a TV series for RTÉ in Dublin, Pump Up My Dance (Mind the Gap Films), where he was the ballet master.
Andrew teaches for Studio Wayne McGregor, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and Rambert Dance Company. He is currently a freelance Ballet Tutor at Performers College, Essex.
