The Place

Dance has become the nation’s obsession – featuring on TV, in film, pop music, advertising, musical theatre and more. In all cases it is possible to feel The Place’s presence. The world of dance would not exist in the same way without The Place. Dancers and choreographers who began their careers at The Place include; Richard Alston, Matthew Bourne, Siobhan Davies, Hofesh Shechter, Mark Baldwin, Russell Maliphant and many others.

To mark its 40th birthday The Place is producing a week of celebratory events designed to showcase the extraordinary range of work that takes place under one roof.

 

Something Happening
Sat 15 May 12noon – 11pm
Sun 16 May 12noon – 7pm

The Place opened its doors while the 1960s were still swinging, as a venue for the creative and the curious to make new discoveries in dance and other art forms. There were many different types of performance: some were called shows, others concerts or recitals, many simply “happenings”.

Something Happening celebrates the spirit of artistic exploration that was at the heart of The Place when it was founded, and which remains at its heart today. It brings together the artists for whom The Place is a home – established and emerging choreographers and dancers, students, young people – to make things happen throughout the building. In the theatre, in studios and specially-configured spaces, in the windows and on the walls, in corridors and in cupboards, they’ll be opportunities to share in the vibrant, diverse, experimental and exciting dance that is created at The Place.

Among the things that will happen are:

• The Place’s artistic director, Richard Alston, recreating Something to do, the first piece he made at The Place in 1969
• A sampling of the best of the country’s new generation of choreographers, including Place Prize winner Adam Linder, Luca Silvestrini, Freddie Opoku Addaie, Marso Riviere, Jose Vidal and many more
• Pieces created for the students and young dancers of The Place by Maresa von Stockert, Bawren Tavaziva and Jasmin Vardimon, and specially recreated seminal works by Siobhan Davies and Jane Dudley
• A selection of the best of the 102 works seen in this year’s Resolution! festival of new dance, plus a new Aerowaves selection of emerging companies from across Europe
• Site specific creations for found spaces throughout the building by Dog Kennel Hill Project, h2dance and others
  

The weekend is divided into five sessions so you can book to see some specific performances, and simply happen upon others.

 

This is The Place
Thu 20, Fri 21, Sat 22 May 8pm

This Is The Place tells the story of The Place; a collection of memories, anecdotes, dancers and performances that have together shaped The Place, as well as the stories of many for whom The Place has played an important role in their life and work. This Is The Place is a meeting of diverse and acclaimed performers, coming together to celebrate the legacy and impact of 40 years’ work developing the careers of artists and shaping the future of dance.

This Is The Place is specially commissioned for The Place’s 40th birthday celebrations, and directed by internationally celebrated choreographer Aletta Collins. Preceding each performance, a work by h2dance plays interactive tribute to the previous incarnation of The Place’s building as a drill hall for the Artists Rifles regiment (whose members included such luminaries as Wilfred Owen and Noel Coward).

Tickets for This is The Place are £25 (concessions £20). Each show is followed by a champagne reception.

 

In conversation with Robert Cohan
Sat 22 May 2pm

The Place's founding artistic director talks with Richard Alston and Kenneth Tharp about his life in dance and his legacy at The Place.

Tickets for In conversation with Robert Cohan are free, but should be booked in advance.

 

For further information please contact either Ben Chamberlain or Kasey Glazebrook at The Corner Shop on 020 7494 3665 or email ben@thecornershoppr.com or

Notes to Editors
THE PLACE AT 40
15 -22 May 2010
The Place
17 Duke’s Road, London WC1H 9PY

Something Happening
Sat 15 May 12noon – 11pm (3 sessions)
Sun 16 May 12noon  - 7pm (2 sessions)
Single session price £10
Three session price £25
Five session price £40

This Is The Place
Thu 20, Fri 21, Sat 22 May 8pm
Price £25 (concs £20) including souvenir brochure and complimentary drink

In coversation with Robert Cohan
Sat 22 May 2pm
Tickets free, but should be booked in advance.

The Place’s 40th anniversary celebrations are generously supported by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture (Chairman: Haruhisa Handa).

From each ticket sold for This Is The Place, £5 will be reinvested in The Place’s Pioneering Fund. The Pioneering Fund provides The Place with financial resources to take risks and break new ground, ensuring that The Place continues to provide the best possible conditions for creativity, learning and innovation, and create a fertile environment where the newest and most exciting things in dance are most likely to happen.

For more details about the Pioneering Fund sustains creative excellence at The Place, see www.theplace.org.uk/development

THE PLACE
For forty years, The Place has explored what dance can do: championing innovative ideas, inspiring audiences and creating the best conditions for professional artists and dance enthusiasts to realise their artistic potential.

The Place’s central London building is home to London Contemporary Dance School, Richard Alston Dance Company and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, activities which The Place combines with pioneering learning, outreach, recreation and professional development projects.

The Place’s unique mix of high quality participation, education, creation and performance under one roof creates a fertile environment for learning, discovering, questioning and celebrating the art form of dance.

Its goals for the future build on the achievements of our history: to transform and enrich lives and to continue to create the future of dance.

Each year The Place…

• Produces and presents over 200 professional and student performances
• Has over 30,000 adults and young people attend dance classes
• Auditions of 1500 people for around 90 places at London Contemporary Dance School
• Gives workshops in nearly 200 schools, colleges, youth and community groups across the country
• Commissions and supports the developments of up to 40 new works by professional artists
  

The Place to be...

• The country’s top choreographers and dancers got their starts at The Place: former students include Richard Alston, Kim Brandstrup, Siobhan Davies, Lloyd Newson (DV8) and Robert North (former Director of Scottish Ballet), while others who also presented their early works at The Place include Matthew Bourne, Lea Anderson, Mark Baldwin (Rambert Dance Company) Shobana Jeyasingh and Russell Maliphant.
• The Place remains unrivalled as a place for uncovering new talents, and it’s where audiences first had the chance to new works by rising stars like Akram Khan, Jasmin Vardimon, Hofesh Shechter and Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle (Punchdrunk).
• Wayne McGregor, who was supported by The Place for many years at the start of his career, is now Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet and choreographed Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson et al in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
• Our alumnus and former LCDT member Anthony Van Laast is one of the world’s leading choreographers of musicals, and his credits include both the stage and film versions of Mamma Mia.
• Rafael Bonachela, winner of the inaugural Place Prize, has choreographed two Kylie Minogue’s world tours, and has also worked with Tina Turner and Primal Scream and recently created a winning dance for the hit BBC1 show So You Think You Can Dance
• Designers who have worked extensively at The Place include celebrated lighting designers Peter Mumford and Michael Hulls and three-time Oscar winning costume designer Sandy Powell who won the 2010 Oscar for Best Costume Design for The Young Victoria. A regular accompanist for young peoples’ classes at The Place is Mark Holub, leader of the Mercury-prize nominated band Led Bib.
• Contemporary dance is frequently used in TV ads, and dancers from The Place have featured in recent campaigns for Levi’s jeans, Visa, Clark’s shoes and Orange… 
• … and it’s hugely influenced the dance we see in pop music – and Kate Bush, Madonna and Cheryl Cole have all danced at The Place, and Place-trained dancers have appeared with Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, the Pet Shop Boys and many more.
• Actors who have attended dance classes at The Place include Saffron Burrows, Seeta Indrani (WPC Datta in The Bill), Shobna Gulati (Sunita in Coronation Street) and Helena Bonham Carter.
• Artist Tracey Emin turned down the offer of a place at London Contemporary Dance School as she worried that her tutors would make her stop smoking.