About | Andrea Walker

Biography

Andrea is the founder and Artistic Director of 201 Dance Company, and Director and Choreographer of 201's award winning SKIN (★★★★ "Packs an emotional punch" - The Times) and SMOTHER (★★★★ "Walker has considerable gifts as a storyteller and dance-maker" - The Guardian). His unique style is defined by explosive power, and takes inspiration from street dance, contemporary styles, dance theatre and the magic of cinema.

Based in Brighton, Andrea began dancing aged 14 in Rome, Italy, and continued to study and explore dance at The Metropolitan Arts Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and at The Broadway Dance Center in New York, where he graduated with a Certificate of Excellence and won the Outstanding Student Award in June 2014. He also has a BA in Film and Television Production from the University of Westminster.

Andrea choreographed and danced Ebony Bones’ European tour, and in 2019 directed and choreographed HOME, a world-premiere for the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago (★★★★ "Hauntingly effective" - Chicago Sun-Times). Most recently he directed and choreographed 201 Dance Company's "SAD BOOK", a moving exploration of grief adapted from Michael Rosen's award-winning book. The show premiered at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe ("Top Stage Pick"/"Top Dance Pick" - The Guardian/The Scotsman) and will be touring the UK in Spring 2025.

Queerness and openly queer work is very important to Andrea: He regularly works closely with Brighton Pride and their headline acts, including Kylie Minogue and Girls Aloud in 2024. Other credits include work with Coldplay, Aggro Santos, Lounge, Xbox, T-Mobile, Martini and D&G.

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201 DANCE COMPANY

DIRECTOR, CHOREOGRAPHER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

201 Dance Company is a diverse-led company founded in 2014 by Director, Choreographer and Artistic Director Andrea Walker. 201 strives to create daring, cinematic dance theatre that challenges social prejudices and engages audiences in topical social issues.

The company's productions of SMOTHER and SKIN have toured to dozens of UK theatres and internationally, reaching 14,000+ people. The Guardian has called Walker an artist with “considerable gifts as a storyteller and dance-maker”, while the Huffington Post has described 201's work as “one of the year’s finest treats”. In 2019, Walker and 201’s team reached 20,000 audiences at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, headlining Joffrey Ballet’s ‘Across the Pond’ season with HOME, exploring queer immigrant identity. HOME received nightly standing ovations (★★★★ “Hauntingly Effective” - Chicago Sun Times). 201 Dance Company's latest production - SAD BOOK - is an adaptation of Michael Rosen's award-winning book and will be touring the UK in Spring 2025 ("Top Stage Pick"/"Top Dance Pick" - The Guardian/The Scotsman).

Learn more about 201 Dance Company

Visit 201 Website

Andrea Walker and 201 Dance Company are Associate Artists at The Old Market Theatre and Brighton Marina Studios.

Press

"Top Stage Pick" - The Guardian on "Sad Book"

"Top Dance Pick" - The Scotsman on "Sad Book"

"Stand-Out Dance of the Summer" - The Guardian on "SKIN"

★★★★★ "Immensely moving and disarmingly tender" - Ed Fringe Review on "Sad Book"

★★★★★ "A quite extraordinary experience where dance, animation and music take you on a journey of emotion" - The Edinburgh Reporter on "Sad Book"

★★★★ "Packs and emotional punch" - The Times on "SKIN"

★★★★★ "SUPERB CHOREOGRAPHY. Electric, emotional and empowering, not to mention visually spectacular" - The 730 Review on “SKIN”

★★★★★ "201 have created a masterpiece of human sensitivity" - The 730 Review on “SKIN”

★★★★ "Walker has considerable gifts as a storyteller and dance-maker" - The Guardian

★★★★ "A talent to watch" - The Evening Standard

★★★★ "Walker seeds expressive meaning into a movement vocabulary where we expect the head, not the heart, to go spinning" - The Herald

★★★★ "This is the new generation of street dance" - The Times

★★★★ "CAPTIVATING and frankly ingenious" - Scotsgay on "SMOTHER"

★★★★★ "UNPARALLELED BEAUTY... A striking dystopian fairytale reminiscent of Jamie Brittain's Skins" - EdFest Magazine on "SMOTHER"

★★★★ "A showcase for rising talents... Hauntingly effective" - Chicago Sun Times on Joffrey Ballet’s “HOME”

★★★★ "HOME is a story ballet for our xenophobic times, an uncomfortable and moving work" - Chicago Stage Standard on Joffrey Ballet’s “HOME”

★★★★ "HOME is unabashedly political... Walker finds all the words he needs to persuade in mere — and magnificent — movement" - Stage and Cinema on Joffrey Ballet’s “HOME”

★★★★ "In what can only be described as a brave work of art, Walker mixes raging intensity and a clear passion for "Dreamers" and their cause with a complex and unnerving take on what "acceptance" really means" - Chicago on Stage on Joffrey Ballet’s “HOME”

View Andrea's Work

Andrea Walker’s unique inspiration from cinema, dance-theatre and contemporary movement has seen him choreograph all over the world. His credits include international brands, artists, and renown companies. Check out below a list of some of the clients he’s worked with.

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