Photographer Rory Macleod
Charlotte Edmonds is a choreographer and filmmaker whose work fuses classical technique with a cinematic, emotionally driven approach to contemporary dance and film. She trained at The Royal Ballet School and Rambert School, and holds a Master’s in Choreography from Central School of Ballet.
Breaking ground early in her career, Charlotte became The Royal Ballet’s Inaugural Young Choreographer. Since then, her work has been characterised by a commitment to exploring complex social and emotional perspectives across stage and screen. She has created classical and contemporary works internationally for leading institutions including The Royal Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Dutch National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Opera Holland Park, Norwegian National Ballet Ung, Studio Wayne McGregor and Yorke Dance Project, alongside extensive work with major training institutions such as The Place, Rambert Dance Company, Dance Arts Faculty, Rambert School, The Royal Ballet School, Dance East and Birmingham Hippodrome.
Alongside her stage practice, Charlotte works as a director and movement director across film, music, and broadcast, collaborating with artists such as Jehnny Beth, Gretel, Lola Young, and Duran Duran, and with platforms including BBC Arts and Nowness. Her interdisciplinary approach has also led to collaborations with cultural institutions such as Sotheby’s, Gazelli Art House, and Soho House, as well as global brands including Nike x Spotify, Dove, The Beaumont, Budweiser, Burberry, and Belstaff.
Charlotte is a Clore Fellow (2019), part of a distinguished leadership development programme for an exceptional cohort of cultural sector leaders.
What exactly drives someone to walk this difficult path of becoming an artist?
Charlotte is unforgettable. In a crowd, she doesn't seek the spotlight; in social settings she's warm and easy in conversation, but always carries a touch of mystery. That's probably because behind her elegant face is a penetrating gaze, and behind her composure, her mind is running at high speed. Her curiosity and creativity give her both practicality and a broad vision.
Charlotte studied ballet from a young age, and about ten years ago, right after graduating from dance school, she was invited to join the Royal Opera House as a resident choreographer for three years. With this solid artistic foundation, Charlotte went on to develop a wide range of independent choreographic work and cross-disciplinary collaborations — beyond live performance, also short films, music videos, interviews, teaching, and brand collaborations. In short, the invitations never stop coming.
Her next work is highly conceptual, centred on Britain's 1990s "ladette" culture and the freedom and constraints of female identity in today's chaotic generation. I've seen footage of her dancing/choreographing — technically demanding, unpredictable, raw and wild, charged with sexual tension. I could feel that her style is the best language for exploring this concept. What she envisions can expand humanity's understanding of the world — and this understanding isn't built through words or logic, but through the creation of space and the reach of the body, generating a shared perception born from the resonance between people.
Perhaps artists — especially leaders among them — never really had a choice. We're like people who've been chosen, who see a unique vision of the world's unrealised beauty — fragile and precious, yet possessed of an irresistible force, compelling us to forsake the easy path and pursue the hard one with burning devotion. Charlotte is one such chosen artist-leader.
— Joyce Lee, Theatre Director 
Case237, a film by Isher Sahota. Photography by George Hargreaves
