BalletBoyz

BalletBoyz is one of Britain’s most recognisable contemporary dance companies, founded by former Royal Ballet dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt after their crossover success on stage and screen. Since formally establishing the company in 2000, they have built an identity that rejects narrow ideas about who dance is for and what a modern ensemble can look like. BalletBoyz combines high-level physical training with a collaborative, audience-facing style that has helped bring contemporary dance to viewers who might never think of themselves as regular dance-goers. The company is as comfortable in theatres as it is on film, and that dual commitment to live performance and screen work remains central to its public character.

Artistically, BalletBoyz has developed a reputation for commissioning bold choreographic voices, presenting dancers as distinctive individuals, and framing repertory in ways that feel direct, witty and contemporary. Its productions often foreground the athleticism and vulnerability of male-identifying dancers without reducing the work to a single theme or aesthetic. Over the years the company has collaborated with choreographers, composers, designers and filmmakers across disciplines, resulting in a body of work that is unusually agile in format and tone. Awards across stage, television and film reflect that breadth, but the more important achievement is the company’s ability to keep evolving without losing its point of view.

BalletBoyz also matters culturally because it has helped shift public conversation around dance in the UK. Through outreach, education and a clear interest in widening participation, the company has opened up contemporary movement practice to communities often underserved by traditional training models. For Plie, BalletBoyz stands as a crucial London-based company whose influence extends far beyond its own repertory into the wider ecology of British dance-making.