Bruce, Christopher (1945- )

English choreographer and dancer. He was artistic director of the Rambert Dance Company 1994-2002. His work integrates modern and classical idioms and often chooses political or socially conscious themes, as in Ghost Dances (1981), which treats the theme of political oppression.

Other works include Cruel Garden (1977), Sergeant Early's Dream (1984), The Dream is Over (1987) - a tribute to John Lennon, Swansong (1987), Rooster (1991), Moonshine (1993), Quicksilver (1996) - a tribute to Marie Rambert, and Four Scenes (1998), created for the opening of the new Sadler's Wells theatre in October 1998. As a dancer, Bruce took key roles in Glen Tetley's Pierrot lunaire (1967), the recreation of Nijinsky's L'Après-midi d'un faune (late 1960s), his own Cruel Garden (1977), and Foukine's Petrushka (1988).

Bruce trained at the Ballet Rambert School and joined the company in 1963. He emerged as one of its leading dancers and choreographers after the 1966 transformation under the direction of Norman Morrice, being nurtured from the first by Marie Rambert. Between 1975 and 1987 he was associate director and then associate choreographer with Ballet Rambert.