The Hot 100 2019: Theatre & Dance
Scottish Ballet, Hannah Lavery and Groupwork are among our favourite cultural contributors this year
It's safe to say that 2019 has been a mammoth year for creativity and innovation in Scotland. From award-winning albums to groundbreaking theatrical works, we cover it all in our annual countdown of the figures who we feel have made the greatest impact on arts and culture in the country throughout the year. But The List's Hot 100 has a twist this time: we've got a Top 19 for 2019, but beyond that we're celebrating everyone equally because as we head towards 2020 and reflect back on the past decade, we feel that the Scottish cultural landscape is as healthy, bold and exciting as it's ever been.
Eve Mutso
The former Scottish Ballet principal continues to carve out an impressive career. 111, her powerful duet with Joel Brown, wowed audiences at this year's Fringe while Eve Mutso reprised her stunning role as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire back in her native Estonia. (KA)
Kally Lloyd-Jones
Turning her very personal take on grief into something universal, Kally Lloyd-Jones' The Chosen was a hit with audiences and critics alike. The choreographer has also recently taken up the reins at St Andrews' Byre Theatre, as joint director. (KA)
Scottish Ballet
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, Scottish Ballet is having a triumphant year. Following an exciting Digital Season in May with five-star reviews for its adaptation of The Crucible, the company will close 2019 with a brand new Christmas ballet, The Snow Queen. (KA)
Ashley Jack
The hip hop choreographer's youth groups have long produced stellar dance talent, but this year Ashley Jack excelled herself by providing the 'Sugar Army' for Oona Doherty's show, Hard to Be Soft: A Belfast Prayer at the Edinburgh International Festival. (KA)
Stellar Quines
This loud-and-proud feminist theatre company took a powerful step towards redressing the gender imbalance in the creative design industry with their M*****classes series, and inspired young people to forge their own path in This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing. (DC)
Meghan Tyler
As an actor in Pride And Prejudice (*Sort of), irrepressible Glasgow-based Irish theatre minx Meghan Tyler has continued to wow sold-out audiences on tour, while Crocodile Fever proved comedy is most effective when providing short sharp shocks at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. (LI)
Zinnie Harris
Zinnie Harris has long played a leading role in the Edinburgh theatre scene, yet this year she reached new heights with a profoundly angry and daring reimagining of John Webster's The Duchess [of Malfi], cementing her position as one of Scotland's most necessary playwrights. (AB)
Hannah Lavery
Hannah Lavery is a young writer whose poetry in The Drift (created with National Theatre of Scotland as part of Black History Month) tackles her complex relationship with Scotland, her father and sense of identity. Her words aim to unknot the history of self and place. (LI)
Gary McNair
As his collaboration with Kieran Hurley, Square Go, returned for another year of Fringe success, Gary McNair's adaptation of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist drew plaudits for its contemporary take on a classic comedy. And his Champipunship event hit six years of competitive wordplay humour. (GKV)
Jo Clifford
Ten years after its debut, Jo Clifford's The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven returned to The Tron and marked its journey around the world from protested play to open-hearted celebration of faith and human rights. (GKV)
Leyla Josephine
Glasgow-based Leyla Josephine has continued her rise, with critically acclaimed show Daddy Drag which interrogated masculinity and the roles of unconventional fathers in raising kids. Her no-holds barred language and tenderness mesh as easily as a pint of Tennent's, a fish supper and cursing at the telly. (LI)
Harry Josephine Giles
Co-founder of the Anatomy cabaret scratch night, a vital component of Scotland's live art scene, Harry Josephine Giles is a spoken-word artist who, through Drone, combined politics, poetry and performance to explore the connections between identity, military technology and capitalist oppression. (GKV)
Groupwork
Critically acclaimed during the Edinburgh Fringe, Groupwork's The Afflicted was created by directors Vicki Manderson and Finn den Hertog, who fused choreography, video and text to startling effect. Their forward-thinking approach is a great example of theatre which skilfully crosses disciplines and genres. (LI)