Kenneth Tharp

{{Short description|British dancer and choreographer (born 1960)}} {{Infobox person | name =  | honorific_suffix = CBE | image = | alt =  | caption = | birth_name = Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1960|2|11}} | birth_place = Croydon, Surrey, England | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | education = The Perse School

| alma_mater = Cambridge College of Arts and Technology<br/>London Contemporary Dance School | occupation = Dancer and choreographer | spouse = | children = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp''' CBE (born 11 February 1960), is a British dance artist, who was chief executive of The Place (2007–16) and director of the Africa Centre, London (2018–20).

==Biography== Born in 1960 at Croydon, Surrey, to English mother Pamela Tharp and Nigerian father Gabriel Oluwole Esuruoso (1934–2013),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U250346|title=Tharp, Kenneth Olumuyiwa|last=|first=|year=2017|website=Who's Who and Who was who|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|publication-place=Oxford|access-date=7 April 2017}}</ref> his father, who had been a journalist for the ''Daily Times'' in Nigeria, came to Britain supported by a government scholarship in the late 1950s to study veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow.<ref name="Glasgow">{{cite web |title=Gabriel Oluwole Esuruoso |url=https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH27748&type=P |website=The University of Glasgow Story |publisher=University of Glasgow |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref> The first African to take a Doctorate in Immunology at the University of Birmingham,<ref>[https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/immunology-immunotherapy/index.aspx www.birmingham.ac.uk]</ref> in 1964 Dr Esuruoso returned to Nigeria with his wife, Victoria Wuraola Emmanuel, and their three children, becoming a Government veterinary officer, before being appointed as a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and Dean of Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Ibadan.<ref name="Glasgow"/>

Tharp attended The Perse School, Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, and trained at London Contemporary Dance School, receiving a BA Hons (1st class) in Contemporary Dance in 1987. His 25-year performing career included working with London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1981–94) and Arc Dance Company (1994–2005).<ref>[https://www.dancearc.co.uk/ www.dancearc.co.uk]</ref> He has worked as a choreographer, teacher and director, and was lead artist and artistic advisor for the Royal Ballet School’s Dance Partnership & Access Programme and assistant to the Head of Contemporary Dance at Millennium Dance 2000. With composer Simon Redfern,<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-13647225 www.bbc.co.uk]</ref> Tharp co-founded ArtyfartyArts, a multi-disciplinary arts group, and has served on the board of Trustees of the Royal Opera House.<ref>[https://www.roh.org.uk/about/boards-and-committees www.roh.org.uk]</ref>

In 2005, Tharp undertook a NESTA-funded Fellowship on the Clore Leadership Programme.<ref>[http://www.cloreleadership.org/fellows_profile.php?name=kenneth_tharp Fellows Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725182606/http://www.cloreleadership.org/fellows_profile.php?name=kenneth_tharp |date=2011-07-25 }} Clore Leadership Programme</ref>

Having served as Chief Executive of The Place from September 2007 to November 2016,<ref>{{cite web|first=Alistair |last=Smith|url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/17159/tharp-appointed-chief-exec-of-the-place |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611220929/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/17159/tharp-appointed-chief-exec-of-the-place |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-06-11 |title=Tharp appointed chief exec of The Place|website=The Stage|date=12 June 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplace.org.uk/news/kenneth-olumuyiwa-tharp-obe-stand-down-chief-executive-place|title=Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE to stand down as Chief Executive of The Place|website=www.theplace.org.uk|language=en|date=8 September 2016|access-date=7 April 2017|archive-date=8 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408082505/http://www.theplace.org.uk/news/kenneth-olumuyiwa-tharp-obe-stand-down-chief-executive-place|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Georgia |last=Snow|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/kenneth-tharp-steps-down-from-the-place-after-nine-years/ |title=Kenneth Tharp steps down from the Place after nine years"|website=The Stage|date=8 September 2016}}</ref> in May 2018 Tharp was appointed director of the Africa Centre, London.<ref>[https://gallery.mailchimp.com/1c381d92d490be92912acd3ea/files/ff1be67d-c048-40a3-b97b-c9be88e6c6f7/Kenneth_appointment_announcement_AC_website.pdf "Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE Appointed As Our New Director"], Africa Centre.</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Giverny |last=Masso|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/kenneth-olumuyiwa-tharp-named-director-of-the-africa-centre-in-london |title=Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp named director of the Africa Centre in London|website=The Stage|date=10 May 2018}}</ref><ref>[http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/kenneth-tharp-announced-new-director-africa-centre "Kenneth Tharp Announced As New Director Of The Africa Centre"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706190816/http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/kenneth-tharp-announced-new-director-africa-centre |date=2018-07-06 }}, ''The Voice'', 10 May 2018.</ref> [[File:Medal, order (AM 2001.25.1086-3).jpg|thumb|right|100px| CBE insignia]] ==Awards and recognition== Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003, Tharp was promoted Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61962|supp=y|page=B10|date=17 June 2017}}</ref> both "for services to dance".<ref>[http://www.onedanceuk.org/majesty-queens-birthday-honours-list/ "Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday honours list 2017"], ''One Dance UK'', 16 June 2017.</ref>

Tharp was named one of London's 1000 Most Influential People by the ''Evening Standard'' in 2015.<ref>[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/the1000/the-progress-1000-londons-most-influential-people-2015-dance-a2943746.html "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2015 - Dance"], ''Evening Standard'', 16 September 2017.</ref><ref>[https://www.theplace.org.uk/news/kenneth-tharp-chief-executive-place-announced-one-londons-1000-most-influential-people "Kenneth Tharp Chief Executive of The Place announced as one of London's 1000 Most Influential People"]{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}, The Place, 17 September 2015.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==  * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jc9mlfKZMY "In Conversation - Kenneth Tharp and Robert Cohan"]. YouTube, 13 May 2013. * [https://www.perse.co.uk/old-perseans/distinguished-alumni/ www.perse.co.uk]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tharp, Kenneth}} Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:People from Croydon Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:People educated at The Perse School Category:Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Category:People associated with the University of Kent Category:English male dancers Category:British choreographers Category:Contemporary dance choreographers Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Academic staff of the University of Ibadan