Koon began studying ballet at the age of 2, at the Alison Livesey School of Dance and Drama in Whitefield, Greater Manchester. At the age of 9, he auditioned for the Royal Ballet School Junior Associate programme, he was successful and consequently attended weekly classes in Leeds. He also trained at Centre Pointe Dance Studios in Manchester, before taking a full-time place at the English National Ballet School.
Koon made his professional stage debut at the age of 12, playing the title role of Billy Elliot in the West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical. He auditioned for the role at the Zion Centre, Manchester in February 2005. He made his first appearance in the role on 1 March 2006, and his final performance on 2 December 2006. He was the first boy from a Chinese background to play the role of Billy.[1][2]
Following auditions in 2009, in 2010 Koon participated in the inaugural series of Got to Dance, a televised dance competition broadcast on Sky One. In articles about the show, he is quoted as saying that if he won the competition, he would use the prize money to continue his dance training at a professional performing arts school.[3] He successfully competed in the second semi-final, ultimately finishing joint 3rd in the grand final on 14 February 2010.
Koon performed as a First Soloist with Northern Ballet for 8 years, dancing many lead roles to critical acclaim.[4] In 2022 Koon performed his piece 'Existential', written and directed himself, at The Lowry Theatre as part of their Shoots Scratch Night Programme 2022.[5]
Awards and titlesedit
Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition – Winner, 2008
Janet Cram Awards – Outstanding Dance Award, 2008
Janet Cram Awards – Boys Cup, 2008
English Dance Championships – Winner, 2009
Marjorie Davies Tap Awards – Senior Class Prize, 2009
International Ballet Championship – Winner, 2009
Young Ballet Dancer of the Year – Winner, 2009
Young British Tap Dancer of the Year – Runner-up, 2009
^"Horizons New Year 2022 - Shoots Scratch Night at the Lowry".
March 20, 2024
matthew, koon, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, available, ass. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Matthew Koon is a British actor and dancer Matthew KoonMatthew KoonBornUKCareer editKoon began studying ballet at the age of 2 at the Alison Livesey School of Dance and Drama in Whitefield Greater Manchester At the age of 9 he auditioned for the Royal Ballet School Junior Associate programme he was successful and consequently attended weekly classes in Leeds He also trained at Centre Pointe Dance Studios in Manchester before taking a full time place at the English National Ballet School Koon made his professional stage debut at the age of 12 playing the title role of Billy Elliot in the West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical He auditioned for the role at the Zion Centre Manchester in February 2005 He made his first appearance in the role on 1 March 2006 and his final performance on 2 December 2006 He was the first boy from a Chinese background to play the role of Billy 1 2 Following auditions in 2009 in 2010 Koon participated in the inaugural series of Got to Dance a televised dance competition broadcast on Sky One In articles about the show he is quoted as saying that if he won the competition he would use the prize money to continue his dance training at a professional performing arts school 3 He successfully competed in the second semi final ultimately finishing joint 3rd in the grand final on 14 February 2010 In 2010 Koon won the national final of Dance Master UK a stage dance competition for boys promoted by the International Dance Teachers Association Having qualified for the competition in a regional heat Koon competed against other regional finalists at the Opera House Theatre in the Winter Gardens Blackpool Koon was then offered a place at the English National Ballet School where he studied for 3 years and graduated in 2013 as one of the top in his class gaining a contract at Northern Ballet Koon performed as a First Soloist with Northern Ballet for 8 years dancing many lead roles to critical acclaim 4 In 2022 Koon performed his piece Existential written and directed himself at The Lowry Theatre as part of their Shoots Scratch Night Programme 2022 5 Awards and titles editFonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition Winner 2008 Janet Cram Awards Outstanding Dance Award 2008 Janet Cram Awards Boys Cup 2008 English Dance Championships Winner 2009 Marjorie Davies Tap Awards Senior Class Prize 2009 International Ballet Championship Winner 2009 Young Ballet Dancer of the Year Winner 2009 Young British Tap Dancer of the Year Runner up 2009 Dance Master UK Winner 2010References edit Born to Boogie with Billy Archived 8 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine accessed 22 July 2006 Billy Elliot the Musical Press Information Archived 25 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine from M R accessed 22 July 2006 http www istd org news 2010 February2010 matthewkoon html permanent dead link https www culturewhisper com r dance northern 20ballet 20dangerous 20liaisons 20review 16388 Horizons New Year 2022 Shoots Scratch Night at the Lowry Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Matthew Koon amp oldid 1112456089, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
