Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon launches his own company this year. Photograph: Linda Nylind.
Rumours have been flying around for weeks about Christopher Wheeldon's future, after he announced in November that he would be retiring as resident choreographer of New York City Ballet. This week he's finally gone public with his plans in the New York Times. There is going to be no defection back to The Royal Ballet (as Monica Mason would love) and he will not be expanding his already brilliant freelance career. Rather Wheeldon is daring to launch his own company.
Called Morphoses (after one of his own ballets) this will be making its informal debut in August at the Vail International Dance Festival in Colorado. And what makes this very good news for Britain is not only that the company will be travelling on to Sadler's Wells in September, but also that when it becomes full-time in 2008, Wheeldon will be using the Wells as one of his permanent rehearsal and performance bases, along with New York's City Center.
The line-up announced for the Vail debut is heady, with Wheeldon borrowing guest principals from both the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet. But it's Wheeldon's long term plans for Morphoses that are most exciting. Limiting himself to an ensemble of 20 dancers he wants to focus on creativity and experiment - bringing in a wide range of classical and contemporary choreographers to create the repertory and setting up collaborations with leading designers.
Given the problems that large ballet institutions have in creating new work (too much expense, too much risk) this could be the shot in the arm that the art form urgently needs. Even though Wheeldon still has to find the backers for his ambitions, his plan to base himself in two major dance cities allows him to spread his funding campaign and his audience unusually wide.
Of course, it's arguable that neither London nor New York needs another ballet company, and both The Royal and NYCB may already be looking nervously over their shoulders, wondering if Wheeldon will steal their dancers as well as their audiences. But in London, the Wells has long been running a busy schedule of ballet performances, complementary to that at Covent Garden. For the fans, the competition can only be a good thing. For 33-year-old Wheeldon, it's a terrific leap of faith. In Monday's Guardian he will explain why.
