arthur pita

Arthur Pita is an award winning choreographer/director. He is portuguese and was born in South Africa. He studied at the Johannesburg Art, Ballet, Drama and Music school. He came to London in 1991 where he trained further at London Contemporary Dance School, gaining a masters degree.

He worked as a freelance professional dancer, then joined Mathew Bourne’s New Adventures performing in ensemble and lead roles internationally. In 2003 Arthur pursued his career as a choreographer.

Arthur has choreographed for prominent ballet companies and ballet stars across the globe. These include THE METAMORPHOSIS starring Edward Watson (South Bank Award for dance, National Dance Award for best modern choreography and Olivier nomination) for The Linbury Theatre Royal Opera House and The Joyce Theatre New York, SALOME, BJORK BALLET (Unbound Festival, Sadlers Wells SFB season) for San Francisco Ballet, CASSE NOISETTE (party scene) for Paris Opera Ballet, THE WIND for the Royal Ballet, A DREAM WITHIN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Olivier nomination) for Ballet Black, FACADA a duet for Russian ballet stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev Sergerstrom Centre for the Arts California, Stanislavsky Theatre Moscow, London Coliseum and City Centre New York, RUN MARY RUN for Natalia Osipova and Sergei Polunin, Sadlers Wells and international tour, THE MOTHER for Natalia Osipova at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Gorky Arts Theatre Moscow and Sochi Philharmonic, VOLVER VOLVER a solo for Ed Watson for Men In Motion at London Coliseum and La Versiliana Festival Tuscany, LA BALA a solo for Thiago Soares performed at Theatre Municipal of Rio de Janeiro Brazil, JIGGLING FROM THE ZILLS for Irek Mukhamedov for Men in Motion, London Coliseum, THE BALLAD OF MACK AND GINNY for Edward Watson and Wendy Whelan as part of Other Stories The Linbury Theatre Royal Opera, Fall for Dance City Center New York, CRISTAUX for Ballet Black, THE TENANT starring James Whiteside and Cassie Trenary at The Joyce Theatre NYC, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, CRISTAUX A, B AND IN C for Edward Watson, Maria Kowroski, Sarah Lamb and Robbie Fairchild for the Ballet Festival curated by Kevin O’Hare at The Joyce Theatre NYC, AGNES DEI a dance film for the Royal Ballet starring Leo Dixon. Coming up, GOOD VIBRATIONS for Huston Ballet.

For his own company Ballo Arthur Pita, BOOMSHE SHEBOOM, BUGGER, A FAIRY TALE and CAMP at The Place Theatre. GOD’S GARDEN a co-commission from DanceEast and ROH2 at Jerwood Dance House DanceEast and Linbury Theatre Royal Opera House and UK tour, THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL Jerwood Dance House DanceEast, UK tour, Sadlers Wells, Taiwan/China tour, THE WORLD’S GREATEST SHOW at Greenwich Dance, Jerwood Dance House and Royal Opera House, STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER (5 National Dance Awards nominations), The Place and UK tour and TEN SORRY TALES for DanceEast and Sadlers Wells.

Other commissions include, SNOW WHITE IN BLACK (National Dance Award Modern Repetoire)for Phoenix Dance Company performed at Sadler’s Wells, AND THEN GONE for Bare Bones performed at the Linbury ROH , THE STEPFATHER for CandoCo Dance Company, MISCHIEF (TMA Award Achievement in Dance) a collaboration with Theatre Rites commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and Dance Touring Partnership, The New Victory Theatre Broadway, DANCING IN THE DARK for Images of Dance, ROMEU E JULIETA for Dancando com a Diferenca (Madeira), UTOPIA a site specific commission for the International Dance Festival Birmingham, THE ART OF THE IKETTES for Intoto Dance, GOD’S for London Contemporary Dance School Graduation, MOJO for Theatre Rites/Barbican, Salzburg Festival, New Victory Theatre Broadway A SHIELA DANCE for Sally Rousse, Minneapolis, DEATH DEFYING DANCES for Body Traffic, Broad Theatre LA, The Joyce Theatre NYC, ALICE IN CALIFORNILAND for Axis Dance Company, Oakland California, SUMMER WINTER AND THE RITE OF SPRING for Balet Moskva, Meyerhold Center Moscow.

As a collaborator Arthur has choreographed for MAPPA MUNDI, WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN, DETROIT, OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD for the Royal National Theatre, CALEDONIAN ROAD, BECKY SHAW, MACHINAL and THE TREATMENT for the Almeida Theatre, LA BOHEME and SHOW BOAT for Raymond Gubbay at the Royal Albert Hall, IDOMENEO with Placido Domingo for Los Angeles Opera, FRANKENSTEIN for Derby Playhouse, LA FORZA DEL DESTINO for the Lithuanian State Opera , Israeli Opera Tel Aviv, THE GAMBLER for Opera Zuid , CARMEN for The Royal Opera House, Den Norske Opera, also filmed in 3D, LA DONNA DEL LARGO and THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY for The Royal Opera House, WEST SIDE STORY for Municipal Festival of Larnaca in Cyprus, STREET SCENE (Evening Standard Award Best Musical) for The Opera Group and Young Vic, Theatre du Chatelet Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, THE WINTER’S TALE for Royal Shakespeare Company(Stratford, London and New York), LA CENERENTOLA for Garsington Opera, ORFEO ED EURIDICE for Minnesota Opera and THE GLASS MENAGERIE for the Young Vic, THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER for ENO, The Metropolitan Opera NY, THE BODYGUARD The Musical for the Adelphi Theatre West End, LES LIAISON DANGEREUSES, ELEGY, ST JOAN for Donmar Warehouse. Film, TV, commercial and pop video work include the finale number for SUNSHINE ON LEITH directed by Dexter Fletcher, Alex Garland’s EX MACHINA, CHARLIE’S ANGELS directed by Elizabeth Banks, VICTORIA BEER commercial starring Isaac and Esteban Hernandez, IN YOUR HANDS pop video for Charlie Winston, JUPITER ASCENDING directed by Lana and Lilly Wachoski, BLUE MURDER pop video for The Feeling, THE PURSUIT OF LOVE directed by Emily Mortimer for BBC/Amazon, TOM JONES for ITV and PERSUASION to be released on Netflix.

Filmed productions include, THE METAMORPHOSIS, RUN MARY RUN, THE MOTHER, THE FORCE OF NATURE, NATALIA OSIPOVA for Sky Arts and THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL for Sadlers Wells Digital Stage.

Recently, Arthur participated as a judge for BBC Young Dancer 2022.