Photograph by Suzanne Gielgud
Piers Gielgud
Great Nephew of John, Grandson of Val, Second Cousin to Maina, Brother to Kate
Piers Gielgud was born in London in 1962 and was educated at Christ’s Hospital from 1974 – 1981. He initially trained as an actor at Bretton Hall College, before training as a dancer at the Ballet Rambert School, where he was also a prolific choreographer. On graduation he joined London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) under Peter Schaufuss and in 1987 he joined the Lindsay Kemp Company as a principal dancer. He enjoyed a wide and varied freelance career dancing in all areas of the industry, for choreographers as diverse as Lea Anderson and Karole Armitage, and for film directors, including Derek Jarman, Jon Amiel, Marcus Adams and James Ivory. An extensive tour of Europe and the United States as a dancer/choreographer with the techno band Meatbeat Manifesto inspired him to form his own small ballet company Re.Animator in 1992, which toured and performed a unique and diverse series of his highly theatrical full length works, every year from 1992 until 2000. The company’s farewell performance was a memorial tribute to his great-uncle Sir John Gielgud, at the Wimbledon Theatre.
Piers in 1991
Piers taught A-level Dance and Drama at Christ’s Hospital, and BTEC Dance at Southwark College. He successfully devised and ran Employment Service training programmes for professional dancers from 1992 – 2002 through his charity The Gielgud Foundation. For ten years The Foundation effectively underpinned independent dance in the UK by finding work in the profession for literally thousands of unemployed dancers and it’s faculty boasted some of the most distinguished dance teachers in the UK. The Foundation also provided training, guidance and support for numerous independent companies, including Michael Clark and Company, The Mark Baldwin Dance Company and Ricochet Dance Company. Piers also curated the annual Play at Home season at the Wimbledon Studio Theatre, where new choreographers were able to showcase their work. Piers wound up the Foundation in 2002, to concentrate on his career as a choreographer.
An early Re-Animator performance
Piers is standing
In 2003 Piers choreographed Alexander - an epic biopic of Alexander the Great - for multi Oscar winning director Oliver Stone. His subsequent choreographic film credits include the Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated feature film Being Julia, Pratibha Parmar’s Nina Heavenly Delights, Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust and David MacKenzie’s Hallam Foe. He choreographs for the music industry and credits include Pet Shop Boys, George Michael and Lily Allen. In the commercial sector credits include BMW (Series One campaign) and the Remy Martin USA campaign. Fashion credits include Stella McCartney/Adidas and Jones Bootmaker. He is currently developing a new ballet of Derek Jarman’s iconic film Blue.
Photograph by Jerry Lebens
Piers remains a director of the leading UK theatrical agency for dancers, Re|animator Management, which he founded in 1997 with his wife, the film director Suzanne Gielgud. Piers and Suzanne live in West Sussex with their two daughters, Violet Rose Elizabeth and Scarlett Joan Margot.
