Paul Lightfoot

Paul Lightfoot (born 1966 in Crowborough, East Sussex) is a British choreographer who trained at The Royal Ballet School and danced with Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). Together with his creative partner Sol León, he served as House Choreographer of NDT from 2002 to 2020, creating over fifty works for the company and transforming it into one of the world's leading contemporary dance institutions. The choreographic language he and León developed — simultaneously fluid and angular, tender and austere — is one of the most distinctive in contemporary ballet. Their works include Shutters Shut, Shoot the Moon, Stop-Motion, and Sad Case. They created So Are We for The Royal Ballet as a company premiere in 2026, marking the first time a British ballet company performed their work.