Kenneth Tharp

Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE (born 1960) is a British dance artist and former Chief Executive of The Place. He is currently director of the Africa Centre, London.

Biography

Tharp was born in Croydon, south London, to Pamela Tharp and Professor Gabriel O. Esuruoso. His mother is English and his father is Nigerian.[1] He attended The Perse School, Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, and trained at London Contemporary Dance School receiving a BA Hons (1st class) in Contemporary Dance in 1987. His 25-year performing career included working with London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1981–94) and Arc Dance Company (1994–2005). He has worked extensively as a choreographer, teacher and director and as Lead Artist & Artistic Advisor for The Royal Ballet School’s Dance Partnership & Access Programme and Assistant to the Head of Contemporary Dance at Millennium Dance 2000. With composer Simon Redfern he co-founded Artyfartyarts, a multi-disciplinary arts group, and he is on the Board of Trustees at the Royal Opera House.

In 2005 Tharp undertook a NESTA-funded Fellowship on the Clore Leadership Programme.[2]

He was Chief Executive of The Place from September 2007 to November 2016.[3][4][5]

In May 2018 he was appointed director of the Africa Centre, London.[6][7][8]

Awards and recognition

Tharp was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours,[9] both for services to dance.[10]

In 2015 he was named one of London's 1000 most influential people by the Evening Standard.[11][12]

References
  1. "Tharp, Kenneth Olumuyiwa". Who's Who and Who was who. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  2. Fellows Profile Clore Leadership Programme
  3. "Tharp appointed chief exec of The Place", The Stage, 12 June 2007.
  4. "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE to stand down as Chief Executive of The Place". www.theplace.org.uk. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  5. Georgia Snow, "Kenneth Tharp steps down from the Place after nine years", The Stage, 8 September 2016.
  6. "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE Appointed As Our New Director", Africa Centre.
  7. Giverny Masso, "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp named director of the Africa Centre in London", The Stage, 10 May 2018.
  8. "Kenneth Tharp Announced As New Director Of The Africa Centre", The Voice, 10 May 2018.
  9. "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B10.
  10. "Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday honours list 2017", One Dance UK, 16 June 2017.
  11. "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2015 - Dance", Evening Standard, 16 September 2017.
  12. "Kenneth Tharp Chief Executive of The Place announced as one of London's 1000 Most Influential People", The Place, 17 September 2015.
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