A Swedish choreographer and dancer of international acclaim, Pontus Lidberg is most recognized for his dance film “The Rain” (2007), for which he has received numerous awards around the world.
They include an “Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for Film” at the Dance Media Honors in Los Angeles, “Best Film” at the London International Dance Film Festival, “Best Dance Short” at the Tiburon International Film Festival, as well as a nomination for the prestigious “Rose D’Or” in Lucerne, Switzerland and the jury’s “Special Mention” at the Gothenburg International Film Festival.
Also a choreographer for stage, Mr. Lidberg was described in the Swedish press already in 2002 as “One of our great choreographic talents” and has since created over 30 works both in Sweden and on the international scene. In December 2010, NorrlandsOperan of Sweden, commissioned Pontus to create a new dance work for his own group Pontus Lidberg Dance with an original score for Symphony Orchestra by Swedish composer B Tommy Andersson. The work entitled “Warriors” featured an international cast of dancers from three continents. In October the same year, The Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process series commissioned and presented his second work for Morphoses called “Vespertine”. In the spring of 2010, he was Artist in residence at Joyce SoHo and the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York, working on his latest dance film “Labyrinth Within” featuring NYCB principal dancer Wendy Whelan and a score by composer David Lang. “Labyrinth Within” recently received the “Prix Métrange du Jury” at the Court-Métrange Film Festival in Rennes, France in October 2011 and the Jury Prize for Best Picture at the Lincoln Center Dance on Camera Festival in New York in January 2012.
He has created works for major international dance companies such as The Royal Danish Ballet, The Beijing Dance Theatre, The Vanemuise Ballet of Estonia, as well as for Pontus Lidberg Dance. In the spring of 2008, Mr. Lidberg was artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts outside San Francisco. In August the same year, he was invited to the Vail International Dance Festival by colleague Christopher Wheeldon to create a work for Morphoses. Other works include “Heart of Silk” and “Bamboo Rain” for the Vietnam National Ballet in Hanoi, “Light in a Night’s Coat” for the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo, as well as three works for 59° North: Soloists of the Royal Swedish Ballet. “His sensitive and precise style of movement has a highly developed musicality”, expressed in the full-length work “Duet for Dancer and Pianist”, in collaboration with concert pianist Magnus Svensson, a work he has performed extensively on tour in Sweden, France and Estonia.
In 2003, he was commissioned by Swedish National Television to create a short dance film. The result, “Mirror” was screened on television, as well as at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York, Dance Camera West in Los Angeles and other international dance film festivals, paving the way for further film making. He received the NOKIA Award for young talent in 2001, and the Stockholm Cultural Scholarship, also in 2001.
Pontus Lidberg was trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Stockholm, Sweden. Among other international dance companies, he has danced with The Royal Swedish Ballet, the Norwegian National Ballet, Le Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Gothenburg Ballet.