Choreographer Matthew Bourne has been given a knighthood in the Queen's New Years Honours.

Bourne, 55, was born in Hackney and went to William Fitt and Sir George Monoux School in Walthamstow.

Despite having never done a dance class, he ran and directed various amateur Dance Companies in his teenage years.

In 1982 he enrolled at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance (now Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) in Deptford, southeast London, where he was awarded a BA in Dance Theatre.

Bourne has worked as a professional choreographer and director since 1987, becoming artistic director of Adventures in Motion Picture in 1991 and New Adventures in 2002. He now lives in Islington, London and Brighton, East Sussex.

He is the only British director to have won the Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography for his work in contemporary dance and dance theatre.

Bourne has received multiple awards and award nominations, including the Laurence Olivier Award, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award, and he has also received several Honorary Doctorates of Arts from UK universities.