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Kenneth Tharp

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Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE (born 11 February 1960), is a British dance artist, who was chief executive of The Place (2007–16) and director of the Africa Centre, London (2018–20).

Biography

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Born in 1960 at Croydon, Surrey, to English mother Pamela Tharp and Nigerian father Gabriel Oluwole Esuruoso (1934–2013),[1] his father, who had been a journalist for the Daily Times in Nigeria, came to Britain supported by a government scholarship in the late 1950s to study veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow.[2] The first African to take a Doctorate in Immunology at the University of Birmingham,[3] in 1964 Dr Esuruoso returned to Nigeria with his wife, Victoria Wuraola Emmanuel, and their three children, becoming a Government veterinary officer, before being appointed as a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and Dean of Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Ibadan.[2]

Tharp attended The Perse School, Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, and trained at London Contemporary Dance School receiving a BA Hons (1st class) in Contemporary Dance in 1987. His 25-year performing career included working with London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1981–94) and Arc Dance Company (1994–2005).[4] He has worked as a choreographer, teacher and director and as Lead Artist & Artistic Advisor for the Royal Ballet School’s Dance Partnership & Access Programme and Assistant to the Head of Contemporary Dance at Millennium Dance 2000. With composer Simon Redfern[5] he co-founded ArtyfartyArts, a multi-disciplinary arts group, and has served on the board of Trustees of the Royal Opera House.[6]

In 2005 Tharp undertook a NESTA-funded Fellowship on the Clore Leadership Programme.[7]

Chief Executive of The Place from September 2007 to November 2016,[8][9][10] in May 2018 Tharp was appointed director of the Africa Centre, London.[11][12][13]

CBE insignia

Awards and recognition

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Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003, Tharp was promoted Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours,[14] both "for services to dance".[15]

Tharp was named one of London's 1000 Most Influential People by the Evening Standard in 2015.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ "Tharp, Kenneth Olumuyiwa". Who's Who and Who was who. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Gabriel Oluwole Esuruoso". The University of Glasgow Story. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. ^ www.birmingham.ac.uk
  4. ^ www.dancearc.co.uk
  5. ^ www.bbc.co.uk
  6. ^ www.roh.org.uk
  7. ^ Fellows Profile Clore Leadership Programme
  8. ^ "Tharp appointed chief exec of The Place", The Stage, 12 June 2007.
  9. ^ "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE to stand down as Chief Executive of The Place". www.theplace.org.uk. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  10. ^ Georgia Snow, "Kenneth Tharp steps down from the Place after nine years", The Stage, 8 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE Appointed As Our New Director", Africa Centre.
  12. ^ Giverny Masso, "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp named director of the Africa Centre in London", The Stage, 10 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Kenneth Tharp Announced As New Director Of The Africa Centre", The Voice, 10 May 2018.
  14. ^ "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B10.
  15. ^ "Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday honours list 2017", One Dance UK, 16 June 2017.
  16. ^ "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2015 - Dance", Evening Standard, 16 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Kenneth Tharp Chief Executive of The Place announced as one of London's 1000 Most Influential People", The Place, 17 September 2015.
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