Douglas Thorpe trained at London Contemporary Dance School and danced with Phoenix Dance Company for over 20 years.

He has since made work for ACE Dance & Music, Staatstheater Tanz Braunschweig, and the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Douglas has also returned to Phoenix Dance Theatre as a choreographer, making Tender Crazy Love for the Particle Velocity programme and Beast for the Ignite Programme. He has collaborated and performed with choreographers including Arthur Pita, Javier De Frutos and Henri Oguike, and in 2015 he was commissioned to create a work for VERVE titled Dramatis Personae, since reworked for Möbius Dance.

The founder of Leeds-based company Mad Dogs Dance Theatre, Douglas is known for explosive, powerful and highly physical work. He has been tipped to be one of the most important new voices in UK dance, combining intense and visceral movement with text, music and film. His pieces are known for shocking and provoking audiences, and often explore themes relevant to contemporary society.