Jeffery Taylor

Jeffery Taylor is the only ex-professional dancer writing on dance and the arts in the national press, and contributes to virtually every major title, including the London Evening Standard, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Mirror, the Daily Mail and OK! magazine. He is currently dance critic and arts feature writer for the Sunday Express.

After starting dancing at 11 years old in Manchester, Taylor trained at the Royal Ballet Senior School in London, graduating into the Covent Garden Opera Ballet and appearing briefly in the main company at the Royal Opera House. During a twenty year career in the theatre, he was a founder member of Western Theatre Ballet and worked in musicals (Hello, Dolly! and The Great Waltz etc.) in the West End, films (Song of Norway etc.) and television, (Sunday Night at the London Palladium etc.) as well as guesting with ballet companies all over Europe. He subsequently appeared as an actor in television and West End plays (with Albert Finney in Chez Nous and Jim Dale in The Card etc.).

Taylor left the theatre and following a number of years engaged in various endeavours until in 1986 he became the Mail on Sunday‘s first Ballet Critic, and later that paper’s first arts correspondent. He was jointly responsible for launching the Mail on Sunday‘s Review Section, which rapidly became one of the most influential and popular arts review sections in the national press. His first book, Irek Mukhamedov: The Authorised Biography, the life story of the Bolshoi and Royal Ballet star, was published in 1994 by Fourth Estate.

In January 2001, Taylor co-founded the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards, Britain’s only dance specific dance award ceremony.

He is married to Joanna Denise, teacher, choreographer and former dancer.

Tuesday 21 October 2008, 7.00pm Vibe Live
Who needs ballet when we’ve got street dance?