“I have a real interest in portraying the complexity of human nature through dance, while playing with the boundaries of the imagination. Every project has its own unique discoveries and opportunities for creativity.
Sophie Laplane | Pic: Andy Ross
Sophie is a Franco-British choreographer based in the UK. She trained at The Conservatoire National Supérieure de Paris and spent a year at Ballet de Lorraine before dancing with Scottish Ballet for thirteen years. After transitioning into choreography in 2017, she was appointed Choreographer in Residence by Christopher Hampson, director of Scottish Ballet. Sophie also choreographs internationally for renowned companies as a freelance choreographer, and has also worked on dance within different art forms, such as film and opera.
Sophie’s most recent works in 2022 include Oh! Les Mains, double prize-winner at the Concours de Jeunes Chorégraphes, Biarritz 2022, taking both the Prix des Professionnels and the Prix du Public. Her world première of Galantheae was created on and performed by Ballet West at the Salt Lake City Dance Festival and earlier that year she choreographed for director Netia Jones’ Les Noces de Figaro at the Opéra Garnier de Paris, to be reprised in November. Soon to be released is a short dance film, as part of the Jacob Jonas’ dance project.
Her creations for Scottish Ballet include Oxymore, at the Edinburgh Festival in 2013, Maze, later adapted for film, winning Best Screen Dance Short at the 2015 San Francisco Dance Film Festival and Sibilo, for Scottish Ballet’s 2016 Autumn Tour, also premiering in the U.S. in 2019 at the Ballet West Choreographic Festival in Salt Lake City and performed at the Joyce Theatre New York in 2020.
Dextera, a one act piece, was created as part of Scottish Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Spring Bill, alongside Sir Kenneth Macmillan’s Elite Syncopations. An extract from Dextera was selected for the 2021 British Ballet Charity Gala hosted by Darcy Bussell. As part of Scottish Ballet’s Digital Season 2019, Sophie created A Work in a Week: Idle Eyes which was live-streamed throughout the process. During the Covid lockdown, Sophie further developed her interest in digital dance through Indoors, a piece for 38 dancers in their own homes, nominated for the Critics Circle National Dance Awards, short film. Another venture into cinematography is Dive, a collaboration with co-creator James Bonas and film director Oscar Sansom, which premiered in April 2021, featured at the Biennale Di Venezia 2021 and winner Cinedans Festival 2022 .
Internationally, Sophie’s works include Click! for Ballet Black, a world premiere at The Barbican, London in 2019. She has collaborated on several projects with New York City Ballet's dancers at the New York Choreographic Institute: Vis-à-Visa 2018, 20/20 in Spring 2020 and Yoyo, a contribution to the Institute’s digital programme, 2021.
Sophie Laplane. Pic: Christina Riley
Works with young professionals include: Watusi for the National Youth Ballet UK at Sadler's Wells, London 2018; the following year Dialogue created as part of Scottish Ballet’s Youth Exchange programme and performed at the TorinoDanza Festival 2019; Surface Tension, a digital work created for the Scottish Ballet Youth exchange in collaboration with film director Beth Chalmers; most recently, Bagatelle for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, premiered in June 2021.
Sophie has a Masters Degree in Choreography from The Central School of Ballet, London and the French Diplôme d’État en Danse Classique.