Alumni david bintley and kate flatt receive knighthood and obe

Alumni David Bintley and Kate Flatt receive Knighthood and OBE

We are proud to announce David Bintley and Kate Flatt have both received recognition for their commitments to dance in Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year’s Honours List.

David Bintley CBE

David Bintley received a Knighthood from The Queen for services to dance.

David was a student at The Royal Ballet School and later graduated into Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet). He was Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet (1995 –2019) and from 2010 took on the additional role of Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Japan.

His works range from one-act pieces such as Flowers of the Forest (1985), Tombeaux (1993), ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (1988), varied jazz-based pieces including The Shakespeare Suite and The Orpheus Suite and E=MC². (2009). His full-evening works include Hobson’s Choice (1989), Edward II (1995), Cyrano (2007), Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. He was appointed a CBE in 2001. He is also known for his spectacular production of Aladdin, and the British premiere (2014) of The Prince of the Pagodas, both created for the National Ballet of Japan, and The Tempest (2016).

Alumni david bintley and kate flatt receive knighthood and obe

David Bintley in rehearsals with 1st Year Upper School students

Kate Flatt OBE

Kate Flatt received an OBE from The Queen for her services to Choreography.

Kate was a student at The Royal Ballet School and went on to work as a choreographer, movement director, mentor and teacher. Her work includes Three Sisters, Dream Play, Albert Speer, Ends of the Earth (The National Theatre); Dr Faustus, Skellig, T’is Pity She’s a Whore (Young Vic); Roots (Donmar); Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables (West End), Hamlet (Old Vic), Kreutzer Sonata (The Gate).

Dance theatre includes Undivided Loves (Phoenix Dance Theatre), The Dancing Room (BBC2), Soul Play, Ballroom of Joys and Sorrows, Oss and the Ox, Step Ladder and a Goat, The Weathermen. Opera includes Turandot, Aida, William Tell (Royal Opera House); Gloriana, Peter Grimes (Opera North); The Carmelites, Verdi’s Requiem (English National Opera). Kate is also a Churchill and Rayne Foundation Fellow.

Alumni david bintley and kate flatt receive knighthood and obe

Kate Flatt at the Ursula Moreton Emerging Choreographer dress rehearsal with 2nd Year Upper School student