My Gurus – Stephen Munn

Michael Clark (Choreographer)

Moving from the West Coast of Scotland to London in the early 1980s was the most exciting of times: I landed in Hammersmith working in and around the iconic Riverside Studios. This is where I first encountered the Michael Clark Company, and to be honest at first I never quite got it. But the sounds, imagery and movement have stayed with me throughout my career. Watching Michael, who is the same age as me and also from Scotland, turned any conception I had about dance on its head – the abstraction was liberating, visionary.

I later toured with the Michael Clark Company as their Technical Manager on the European Tour of the show O in 1994, and again Michael had a huge impact on me. There were amazing highs, but also some challenging times. I still follow all he does with excitement and always a bit of envy.