Liam Scarlett

Born in Ipswich, he trained at the Linda Shipton School of Dancing and then The Royal Ballet School before graduating to The Royal Ballet in 2005.  He was promoted to First Artist in 2008, as a dancer his repertory included Alain (La Fille mal Gardée), Magdaveya (La Bayadère),, Neapolitan pas de deux (Swan Lake), Golden Hours (Elite Syncopations), Gloria (pas de quatre), Chroma, Dancing Master (Cinderella), Beggar Chief (Manon) among others and worked with choreographers such as Wheeldon, Bintley and McGregor.

In 2012 he retired from dancing and was appointed Artist in Residence with The Royal Ballet

Whilst with the Royal Ballet he created Few Things Are (2005), Vayamos al Diablo and Despite (2006), for ROH2's In Good Company and for The Royal Ballet's New Works in the Linbury he created Of Mozart (2008), and Consolations and Liebestraum (2009) both of which were nominated for a Critics Circle Dance Award for best new Classical Choreography.  He returned to the Royal Ballet School in 2009 to create Danse Bohemienne and Toccata for the graduate students again for The Royal Opera House.  In 2019 he created the Cunning Little Vixen for both Lower and Upper School students to be performed alongside the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House.

In 2009 he participated in the New York Choreographic Institutes Fall Program creating Gargoyles with members of New York City Ballet.  He has also participated in ROH2's Dancelines for three years led by Kim Brandstrup.  He was a member of the Jury for the 1st Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition in 2011.

His first commission for the main stage with The Royal Ballet, Asphodel Meadows (2010), was nominated for a South Bank Show Award, an Olivier Award, and won the Critics Circle Dance Award for best Classical Choreography.  He followed this with Sweet Violets (2012) a psychological dance drama based on the painter Walter Sickert and the notorious Jack the Ripper cases and went on to create his first full length work Hansel and Gretel (2013) in the Linbury Studio Theatre.  He worked closely with designer John Bausor who created a dark and unique twist to the old children’s tale.

He also was part of the creative team involved in The Royal Ballet and The National Gallery's Titian:Metamorphosis 2012, where he choreographed Diana and Actaeon (2012) working with Turner Prize Winner Chris Ofili.

In America he created and designed Viscera (2012) for Miami City Ballet, which entered The Royal Ballet repertoire later in 2012.  He also created and designed Euphotic (2013) for Miami City Ballet, his first scenic and costume design.

He created Gala works for The Royal ballet including Jubilee Pas de Deux (2012) for Her Majesty The Queen as part of the Extraordinary World Gala and a Grand Defile with members of The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet for the International Olympic Committee set to Beethoven.  He also created Summertime (2015) in the Life Reimagined Gala

In 2013 he created Serpent for BalletBoyz:TheTalent, his first commission for a contemporary company followed by Promenade Sentimentale (2013) to music by Debussy for K Ballet.

In 2013, Liam created The Firebird for the Norwegian National Ballet, followed closely by Vespertine, his second commission, to which he also designed the costumes.

Linking up with John Bausor again, in 2014 Liam created No Man’s Land for the English National Ballet, in memory of the centenary of the First World War receiving a nomination for this at the Critics Circle Dance Award 2015.

2014 brought a busy year of new commissions.  Linking up with John Bausor again, Liam created No Man’s Land for the English National Ballet, in memory of the centenary of the First World War receiving a nomination for this at the Critics Circle Dance Award 2015. Hummingbird - San Francisco Ballet.  Acheron - New York City Ballet.  With a Chance of Rain - American Ballet Theatre, and lastly Age of Anxiety for the Royal Ballet based on Leonard Bernstein's Symphony no. 2, inspired by W. H. Auden's epic poem.

In 2015, the Norwegian National Ballet commissioned him once again, this time for a three act Carmen with designs by John Bausor and music arranged by Martin Yates.  Followed closely by a new Co-Production of 'Midsummer Night's Dream' for the Royal New Zealand Ballet and Queensland Ballet to great critical acclaim.

2016 brought another new commission for the San Francisco Ballet with Fearful Symmetries, a new position of Artistic Associate with the Queensland Ballet and lastly Frankenstein, his first main stage full length for The Royal Ballet, co-produced with the San Francisco Ballet.

2018 was the year Liam created the closing ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in conjunction with Queensland Ballet, The Queen of Spades, his first full length work for the Royal Danish Ballet and lastly a new Swan Lake production for the Royal Ballet.  For this, Liam worked with his original main stage designer John Macfarlene and to critical acclaim.