Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” by the New York Times and as “fearless” by NPR, GRAMMY-nominated Anna Clyne has been commissioned and presented by the world’s most dynamic and revered arts institutions, including the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, MoMA, Philharmonie de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet, and the Sydney Opera House. Her music has opened events like the Edinburgh International Festival, The Last Night of the Proms, and the New York Philharmonic’s season. The World Economic Forum commissioned Clyne’s Restless Oceans, which premiered at the opening ceremony in Davos with an all-women orchestra led by Marin Alsop.  

Currently Composer in Association (2023–26) with the BBC Philharmonic, Clyne has previously been in residence with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. 

 She collaborates on creative projects across the music industry, including Between the Rooms, a film with choreographer Kim Brandstrup and LA Opera, and the Nico Project at the Manchester International Festival, a stage work about pop icon Nico’s life that featured Clyne’s reimagining of The Marble Index for orchestra and voices. Clyne has reimagined tracks from Thievery Corporation’s The Cosmic Game for the electronica duo with orchestra, and artists like Björk have programmed her music. Other notable musicians with whom she has recently collaborated include Jess Gillam, Jeremy Denk, Martin Fröst, Pekka Kuusisto, and Yo-Yo Ma.  

Composed in 2019, DANCE was a commission from the Israeli cellist Inbal Segev. Segev and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra premiered the work at the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz on August 3, 2019. The work was extremely well-received; as NPR Music noted, “British composer Anna Clyne has written perhaps her most ambitious and appealing work so far … Clyne’s orchestrations are keenly attentive to color and light, and she’s fearless in filling the concerto with melodies of undisguised beauty. Some are folkish, others are regal. All linger in the ear, begging to be heard again.” 

In her program notes on the work, Clyne says:   

DANCE is dedicated with much love to my father, Leslie Clyne. 

Dance, when you’re broken open.
 Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
 Dance in the middle of the fighting.
 Dance in your blood.
 Dance, when you’re perfectly free.

— Rumi

The work is in five movements according to the five lines of the poem.

I  when you’re broken open
II if you’ve torn the bandage off
III in the middle of the fighting
IV in your blood
V when you’re perfectly free