Bloomsbury to publish choreographer Wayne McGregor

Bloomsbury is to publish a work of non-fiction by choreographer and director Wayne McGregor.

Publishing director Alexis Kirschbaum pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights to Physical Thinking from Chris Wellbelove at Aitken Alexander Associates.

Kirschbaum said: "The interaction between our bodies and minds is one of the most important scientific trends of the last decades to capture the popular imagination. Physical Thinking will bring together McGregor's 30 years of practice and research into an elegant, groundbreaking volume that will show readers how movement is at the core of our sense of self and how we see the world.

"Wayne McGregor is a genius, who is as articulate about movement as John Berger was about seeing and John Cage was about sound. I think this book will influence the way we think about our bodies and will give readers new ways of enriching their lives."

The book will draw on McGregor’s decades as a choreographer—he is currently resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet, and artistic director of dance and creative hub Studio Wayne McGregor—and his work with neuroscientists, cognitive therapists, anthropologists and economists, to "offer a new paradigm for understanding physical movement".

McGregor said: "Throughout my career I have been finding ways to release the potential we all hold in our bodies. By unlocking our vast physical intelligence and mining its richness, we enhance the quality of all our experiences in life. I am an evangelist for encouraging a total human fluency through and with movement and delighted to be working with Alexis and Bloomsbury to distil all of our work and research into a book that I hope will prove a valuable resource for everybody in years to come."

Bloomsbury will publish Physical Thinking in spring 2022, as a lead title.