Stirling Street Stories: Meet the Artist – Malcolm Sutherland

Malcolm Sutherland is a choreographer and dancer from Dunblane who has worked in theatres and dance projects all over the world.

The 33-year-old has spent several months of this year performing in Luxembourg and is due to return to Scotland in May. Malcolm first became interested in dance at the age of seven when he joined Stirling’s Monument Dance Centre.

He says: “I was only seven and I wanted to try everything. I remember we were watching ballet on the TV on Boxing Day and I decided I wanted to try it and so I joined Monument Dance for lessons. I started out with ballet and did that for at least a year before I moved onto jazz and tap too.”

Malcolm discovered a love and a talent for dance which led him to becoming involved with Scottish Ballet before moving to London to train at the Central School of Ballet when he was 16.

He says: “Once I began with Scottish Ballet it was a different level of training – it was hard and being a teenager, I lost a bit of passion when I was around 14 but I kept going and managed to get past that. I hoped that when I went to the School of Ballet in London, I would start to fully enjoy dance again and I did. I really enjoy the balance between something which is both physical and artistic being someone who was always focused on sports as well as being keen on music.”

After graduating from the three-year London course, Malcolm joined Ballet Basel in Switzerland as an apprentice before spending seven years with Germany’s Ballett Staatstheater Nurnberg where he performed works by world renowned choreographers.

He then began to pursue a career as a freelance choreographer and dancer developing his own works including the piece ‘Greed’ for the dance company of Theater St Gallen in Switzerland. Malcolm returned to Dunblane, where his family still lives, as a base a couple of years ago. He also completed an MA in Choreography with distinction after moving home to Scotland.

Malcolm is pleased to be involved in Street Stories where his installation, in the windows of the former Argos premises, features moving footage which capture a range of dance techniques. The Murray Place artwork uses Malcolm’s choreography to tell the story of Stirling’s long connection with the performing arts.

He says: “I thought Street Stories sounded a great initiative and a good way to use art to rejuvenate unused spaces. I liked the concept and am really happy to be involved. I’m still trying to establish myself fully now I’m back home in Stirling so it’s great to have this partnership and I’m looking forward to seeing how my dance sequences will be animated.”

More details about Malcolm and his career can be found here –   www.theworkroom.org.uk/members/malcolm-sutherland/

He is also on Instagram – www.instagram.com/malcolm.i.sutherland/ and Facebook – www.facebook.com/MIMSutherland