Sharon Eyal wins Olivier

Sharon Eyal won the 2026 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production for *Into the Hairy*, a 45-minute work presented in London by Sadler’s Wells. (officiallondontheatre.com) The award was announced on April 12 at the Olivier Awards ceremony at Royal Albert Hall, the 50th anniversary edition of prizes honoring London theater, opera and dance. Nick Mohammed hosted the event. (officiallondontheatre.com; apnews.com) *Into the Hairy* was created by Eyal with longtime collaborator Gai Behar for S-E-D Dance Company, with an original score by the Welsh electronic musician and producer Koreless. Sadler’s Wells billed the London run as a work for eight dancers. (sadlerswells.com; sharoneyaldance.com) The win placed a contemporary dance piece inside a ceremony otherwise dominated by musicals and plays. Official London Theatre said *Paddington The Musical* led the night with seven awards, while dance had a smaller dedicated field. (officiallondontheatre.com; londontheatre.co.uk) That matters in London because Sadler’s Wells has become a regular bridge between dance and the wider theater awards circuit. The venue presented *Into the Hairy* in November 2025 as part of a season that continued Eyal’s long relationship with the house. (sadlerswells.com) Eyal is an Israeli choreographer whose recent work has moved across ballet, contemporary dance and fashion-adjacent performance. Sadler’s Wells lists earlier London presentations including *SAABA*, *OCD Love*, *Love Chapter 2* and *R.O.S.E.* (sadlerswells.com) Reviews of the London staging described a tightly controlled, highly stylized piece rather than a narrative dance drama. Critics at *Seeing Dance* and *The Reviews Hub* both emphasized its uncanny group movement and stark visual world. (seeingdance.com; thereviewshub.com) The Olivier result also extended a strong awards season for work made for London stages but not confined to traditional West End categories. In the winners list, dance, opera and family work shared the same platform as commercial musicals and major plays. (officiallondontheatre.com; apnews.com) For Eyal, the Olivier puts one of her most austere recent pieces into the British mainstream. For the Oliviers, it leaves a record that one of the night’s winners came from a dance work built on eight bodies, electronic sound and almost no words at all. (officiallondontheatre.com; sadlerswells.com)