Kirstie Simson (UK) has been a continuous explosion in the
contemporary dance scene, bringing audiences into contact with the vitality of pure
creation in moment after moment of virtuoso improvisation. Called “a
force of nature” by the New York Times, she is an award-winning dancer and teacher who
has “immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of New Dance” according to
Time Out Magazine, London.
Simson’s eternal subject is freedom, as she dares to go beyond the boundaries of form and
structure to create movement out of the rhythm of life itself.
For the past thirty years Kirstie has collaborated with many dancers and musicians who
share a common interest in Improvisation, including Julyen Hamilton, Steve Paxton,
Nancy Stark Smith, Simone Forti, Andrew Harwood, Russell Malliphant, Le Quan Ninh.
She was awarded a London Time Out ‘Dance and Performance Award’ as “a unique
figure in the dance world” and Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times said of her
dancing “Kirstie Simson is justly celebrated in Britain for exquisite, sensuous dancing that
seems to come from some simple force of nature”.
She is renowned today as an excellent teacher and captivating performer who is a leading
light in the field of dance improvisation and she is currently involved in making a film
about Dance Improvisation with Scottish filmmaker Katrina McPherson.
In January 2008 Kirstie joined the faculty of the Dance Department at the University of
Illinois in Urbana Champaign
