Royston Maldoom to host dance artist training

5th March 2024

March heralds the next element of our community dance artist development programme as we warmly welcome back to Belfast internationally renowned choreographer, Royston Maldoom.

Royston has choreographed work for the Dance Theater of Harlem in New York, The Scottish Ballet, Irish Ballet, the National Ballet and Ballet San Marcos in Peru as well as numerous other dance ensembles in Great Britain and abroad.

In the mid 1980’s he spent three years as Dance-Artist-in-Residence for Fife/Scotland organising numerous workshops, summer schools and dance festivals, founded community dance groups for teenager and adults and developing his philosophy of Community Dance.

Listen to more on Royston’s approach here:

Since then Royston has directed dance projects in Lithuania during the independence movement in 1991, in Croatia and Bosnia during the Balkan War, in South Africa during Mandela’s election, and a myriad of other projects in Zimbabwe, Georgia and Oregon/USA, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Moscow, New Zealand, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands and Peru.

These international engagements led Royston to Ethiopia in 1996 where, together with his colleague and very own our Artistic Director Mags Byrne, he organized a dance project with 100 street kids. Following the success of this project, they established the Adugna Dance Company, giving young people the opportunity to be educated in dance, choreography, and teaching. On graduation the students were given accreditation by the University of Middlesex, London and have gone on to work in the internationally as well as in Ethiopia as choreographers, dancers and teachers.  Learn more here:

Over Thursday 28th & Friday 29th March, Royston will share his philosophy and vast experience as an initiator and leader of numerous dance projects over the past 40 years. He will delve into his very particular and strong held view on dance in community contexts as demonstrated in the award-winning film Rhythm is it!.

We are delighted that Royston – now resident in Berlin – continues to support DU Dance as artistic consultant.

Thank you to The MAC, Belfast for once again hosting the training.