Arthur Pita is Portuguese, was born in South Africa and studied dance in Johannesburg. He came to London in 1991 where he trained at London Contemporary Dance School, gaining a masters degree.
His choreographic work includes works for: Johannesburg Dance Umbrella; Resolution! and Spring Loaded at The Place; Mappa Mundi for the Royal National Theatre; Caledonian Road for the Almeida Theatre; La Boheme and Show Boat both directed by Francesca Zambello at the Royal Albert Hall; Idomeneo with Placido Domingo for Los Angeles Opera; Frankenstein for Derby Playhouse; La Forza del Destino for the Lithuanian State Opera, Israeli Opera Tel Aviv; The Gambler for Opera Zuid; Carmen for The Royal Opera House, Den Norske Opera; West Side Story for Municipal Festival of Larnaca/Cyprus; Street Scene (Evening Standard Award Best Musical) for The Opera Group, Young Vic; The Winter’s Tale for Royal Shakespeare Company; La Cenerentola for Garsington Opera; and a music video, In Your Hands for Charlie Winston.
Commissions include: Snow White in Black (National Dance Award Modern Repertoire) for Phoenix Dance Company performed at Sadler’s Wells and UK tour; And Then Gone for Bare Bones performed at the Linbury ROH and international tour; The Stepfather for CandoCo Dance Company, Queen Elizabeth Hall and international tour; Mischief (TMA Award Achievement in Dance), a collaboration with Theatre Rites commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and Dance Touring Partnership and UK tour; and Dancing in the Dark for Images of Dance, Peacock Theatre and UK tour.
Arthur was an Associate Artist at The Place. It was there he launched Open Heart Productions with the double bill BoomShe SheBoom and BUGGER, a fairy tale. He also premiered his first full length work Camp, which then later ran for three weeks at The Place followed by a UK tour.
Future work include a revival if Mischief for an Autumn UK tour and a revival of Carmen at Royal Opera House, and a new commission to premiere in October – Romeo and Juliet for Dancando com a Differenca, Madeira.
