“Dance is on a roll”. So says Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, which will host the Eighth annual Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards on January 22, 2008. The awards, which once again feature the popular Working Title Billy Elliot Prize for boys aged between 11 and 16, celebrate the vigour and variety of Britain’s thriving dance culture. They are the only professional awards in the UK dedicated specifically to dance, and are presented by the dance section of the Critics’ Circle, which brings together more than 50 dance writers.

This year’s list of finalists showcases the incredible diversity of dance on offer in the UK, along with the art form’s increasing internationalism. Artists from Japan, India, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, the United States, Spain and France  are among those nominated for performance awards. And for the first time, the Dancing Times Award for Best Male Dancer is not dominated by classical dancers, with both the American tap virtuoso Savion Glover and the British modern dancer Jonathan Goddard on the list.

The Royal Ballet, based at the Royal Opera House, has eight nominations, including performance awards for Sarah Lamb, Zenaida Yanowsky, Ivan Putrov and Martin Harvey. In addition the company is nominated twice in the classical choreography category for Wayne McGregor’s Chroma and Christopher Wheeldon’s DGV, ballets that had their world premiere on the same day.

The American choreographer Mark Morris picks up two nominations, as does the Irish company Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, while the Bolshoi Ballet, a big winner last year, is nominated in five categories.

The Patron’s Award, to be presented by NDA’s illustrious patron Dame Beryl Grey, has been created to pay tribute to an individual or organisation which has made an outstanding contribution to dance in the past year. The winner of the 2007 Patron’s Award will be announced in early December.

The National Dance Awards were established by the Critics’ Circle in 2000 to highlight the astonishing range of dance on offer in the UK. As part of the awards’ unique partnership with Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House, the ceremony alternates between the two venues. Further information available at www.nationaldanceawards.com

The 2007 awards, with major sponsorship from Thomas Lynch, take place on Tuesday 22 January 2008 at 1pm, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.