James has been recognised by Time Out magazine as one of the future faces of dance, called ‘a rising star’ by The Independent and described by Matthew Bourne as ‘one of the UK’s most promising choreographic talents’.

In 2012, he was the winner of the inaugural New Adventures Choreographer Award, selected by Matthew Bourne for his ‘refreshing desire to entertain’. The award culminated in a sold out performance at Sadler’s Wells, London, where his work was critically acclaimed as ‘outstanding’, ‘visually breath-taking’ and ‘spellbindingly beautiful’.

As a freelance choreographer James has been commissioned to create work for companies around the world including National Ballet of Chile, Oper Graz, Royal Ballet of Flanders and Scottish Ballet. He has also worked with across a range of genres and mediums with artists including Anne-Marie, Nadav Kander, Zena Holloway and Beatrice Gibson. He is associate choreographer to Arlene Phillips and in 2020 will be associate director to Nicholas Hytner on the new production of La Belle Sauvage.

As a dancer James perfomed in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake on two international tours including a four-week run at the New York City Centre, and also appeared in the 3D film version of the show. He has also performed internationally including tours with Marc Brew Company, Yorke Dance Project and also appeared in Joe Wright's 2012 film Anna Karenina staring Keira Knightley choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaou. 

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