UpClose with Morphoses: Choreographer Bios

Christopher Wheeldon, the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, is one of today’s top ballet choreographers. He has created works for many of the world’s leading ballet companies, and his awards include the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, the London Critics’ Circle Award, the American Choreography Award, the Olivier Award, and the Dance Magazine Award.Wheeldon founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company in 2007 with the goal of introducing a new spirit of innovation to classical ballet. Morphoses is a Guest Resident Company at both at Sadler's Wells in London and New York City Center and has also performed at the Vail International Dance Festival.

Wheeldon was born in Yeovil, Somerset, England. In 1991 he joined The Royal Ballet, and also that year, he won the prestigious Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition. In 1993, Wheeldon was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet, where he was promoted to soloist in 1998. He retired from dancing in 2000 to concentrate on his choreographic work.   From 2001 to 2008, he was NYCB’s first Resident Choreographer.

Among Wheeldon’s notable works for NYCB are Polyphonia, Carnival of the Animals, After the Rain, An American in Paris, and The Nightingale and the Rose.  He choreographed Continuum for San Francisco Ballet, Tryst and DGV (Danse à Grande Vitesse) for The Royal Ballet, a full-length Swan Lake for Pennsylvania Ballet in 2004, and Misericors for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2007, and his works have entered the repertories of other major companies. For Morphoses' inaugural season, Wheeldon choreographed two new works: Fools' Paradise and Prokofiev Pas de Deux.  He also choreographed ballet sequences for the 2000 feature film Center Stage, collaborated with director Nicholas Hytner on the 2002 Broadway production Sweet Smell of Success, and created “Dance of the Hours” for The Metropolitan Opera’s production of La Gioconda.

Freelance choreographer Adam Hougland is known for his highly kinetic, physically daring, musically driven dances. Mr. Houghland grew up in Dallas, Texas and studied visual arts and acting from an early age. In 1999 he received his BFA in Dance from Juilliard. In 2000 he joined the Limón Dance Company as a dancer and choreographed Phantasy Quintet, which received the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography and a New York State Council for the Arts Commissioning Grant. In 2005 Adam was named Principle Choreographer for the Louisville Ballet. Mr. Houghland is the 2006 recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Choreography and is one of Pointe Magazine’s 10 VIPs of 2006.

Edwaard Liang was born in Taipei, Taiwan and raised in Marin County, California where he began his ballet training at the age of five at Marin Ballet. In 1989, Mr. Liang entered the School of American Ballet. He joined New York City Ballet in 1993, and that same year was a medal winner at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition and a recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award. He was promoted to Soloist in 1998. Mr. Liang danced with NYCB until 2001, when he joined the Broadway cast of performing a leading principle role. In 2002, Mr. Liang became a member of acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater 1, where he danced, choreographed and staged ballets. From Holland, Mr. Liang returned to New York City Ballet. Mr. Liang has also performed as a Guest Artist with companies including the Norwegian National Ballet and Complexions.