The University Board of ZHdK has confirmed Jason Beechey as Head of Dance, following the recommendation of the search committee of the Department of Performing Arts and Film. Beechey will be the designated Head of Dance as of 1 January 2024 and will take up his post fully as of 1 August 2024. He is a member of the interim management team of the Zurich Dance Academy (taZ), whose composition remains unchanged for the current academic year.
For 18 years, Jason Beechey has been the Rector of the Palucca University of Dance Dresden. Before that, he was the Pedagogical Director for the Choreographic Centre of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels in Belgium, where he also founded his own studio: “The Loft”. Before being made a soloist at the London City Ballet, he studied at the School of American Ballet, the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg and the National Ballet School of Canada. He has collaborated with the choreographers Wayne McGregor, Frédéric Flamand and William Forsythe. In his dance work, Beechey emphasises the individual and has pursued his vision by developing new training programmes, health teams and a global network of partner institutions.
Marijke Hoogenboom, Director of the Department of Performing Arts and Film, spoke as follows: “The training programmes at ZHdK already cover a wide spectrum of career opportunities in dance, despite professional dance studies in Switzerland still being relatively young. In contrast to just about every other area, dance training can be provided here across different fields and generations. Together with the Head of Programme in Contemporary Dance and the interim management of taZ, it was decided to promote these synergies further and to build up a forward-looking field of study in an integrative environment. We found Jason Beechey’s commitment to the professional field, to the university and to his international networks compelling. His experience, integrity and enthusiasm for the potential of dance in art and society will be a great asset to ZHdK. His commitment to transparency and participation is an ideal prerequisite for a value-oriented attitude that is already being lived out by the current management teams”.
“This is an inspiring opportunity to utilise a shared vision to create a new era for dance at ZHdK, in Zurich and Switzerland as a whole. In a spirit of collaboration and co-creation, I would like to create a new dynamic towards a healthy, inclusive dance study programme that ranges from classical ballet to contemporary dance, and from pedagogy to research. I am very much looking forward to the task of bringing ZHdK to the forefront of innovation and development in dance studies”, says Jason Beechey.