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4 page dance final 21/7/03 3:54 pm Page 1 Left: The Northern Ballet Theatre perform Romeo and Juliet Right: CandoCo contemporary dance company. Choreographer Jamie Watton Far right: DV8 Physical Theatre Companies and Theatre and with Ballet Rambert Featherstonehaughs specialise in Festivals and venues choreographers changing from a classical to a quirky gestural observations on contemporary style. Ballet Rambert human behaviour. The last decade Founded in 1978 by Val Bourne, The Royal Ballet is Britain’s continues as Rambert Dance has seen the emergence of many Dance Umbrella has grown to national ballet company, founded Company, Britain’s largest acclaimed choreographer-led become the largest contemporary in 1931. With a strong repertoire of contemporary ensemble with an companies, including those of dance festival in the world, classics and modern works, it also eclectic repertoire of works by both Charles Linehan, Henri Oguike, presenting the best of both UK and has the proud legacy of two of the UK and international Fin Walker and Jasmin Vardimon, overseas dance and attracting most important choreographers of choreographers. as well as Wayne McGregor’s highly visiting companies from around the twentieth century: Frederick successful Random Dance the globe. Based in London, the Ashton, whose works include La Though disbanded in 1990, Company, which has pioneered the festival has also shown Fille mal gardée, Symphonic London Contemporary Dance use of digital technology and performances in other towns and Variations and A Month in the Theatre helped to generate many computer software in promoted national tours by visiting Country, and Kenneth MacMillan, new companies and gave rise to choreography and performance. groups. The Resolution! festival at choreographer of Manon, Elite such important choreographers as London’s Place Theatre is a Syncopations and an ever-popular Richard Alston and Siobhan Several repertory-based companies with his reworkings of classical Jonzi D and Benji Reid have more platform for a wealth of aspiring Romeo and Juliet. Davies, whose companies now also continue to thrive, including ballets, and former Royal Ballet recently explored street dance and and emerging new choreographers, produce some of the finest work, Ricochet, Diversions (the national dancers Michael Nunn and William hip-hop in contemporary with visits from selected European Originally formed in 1946 as the by some of the finest dancers, in dance company of Wales) and Trevitt recently formed George performance. newcomers. Royal Ballet’s touring group, the the country. Like them, Rosemary Scottish Dance Theatre. Candoco is Piper Dances which showcases a Birmingham Royal Ballet, under Butcher also began a groundbreaking repertory popular and eclectic mix of Another thriving field is dance for NottDance (Nottingham) and New the directorship of David Bintley, choreographing in the 1970s, and company that commissions new modern ballet and contemporary screen and dance technology. The Moves (Glasgow) are two festivals has since 1997 been a fully continues to develop her own works from acclaimed dance. annual Dance for the Camera that programme stimulating independent company. English distinctive abstract style. choreographers for its integrated scheme has, since 1992, seasons of experimental dance National Ballet was founded in the group of disabled and able-bodied But these are not the only borders commissioned dance for television from both UK and visiting 1950s as London Festival Ballet, The 1980s saw an explosion of performers. being crossed. Alongside the and video, while since 2001 the companies. Dance also features in and currently tours a strong contemporary dance activity, with classical and contemporary scenes, Capture series has commissioned a many arts festivals across the programme of popular ballets and the growth of many independent For some time the borders between Britain has established traditions of variety of experimental screen- country and forms a vital part of accessible contemporary works. choreographer-led companies, ballet and contemporary dance South Asian dance and African based dance works encompassing the annual Edinburgh Newer ballet companies include accompanied by a proliferation of have become blurred and broken People’s dance. Drawing on these, film, digital video, and multimedia. International Festival, and there Northern Ballet Theatre, with a artistic styles and personal down. Many ballet-trained dancers several choreographers – notably The annual Dance Umbrella are several specialist dance centres distinctive reputation for approaches that continues to this have forged successful careers as Shobana Jeyasingh, Akram Khan festival also features a special that organise performances, classes producing theatrical story-ballets, day. Lloyd Newson’s DV8 Physical contemporary choreographers, and Peter Badejo – have developed Digital Dance showcase of and workshops, including The and Scottish Ballet, founded in the Theatre developed a high-risk notably Michael Clark, Matthew their own hybrid and highly interactive and installation-based Place (London), Laban (London), 1960s by Peter Darrell and now performance style, and fostered Hawkins, Jonathan Burrows and individual contemporary styles. work. The resulting collaborations Dance City (Newcastle), Dancebase directed by Ashley Page. such idiosyncratic dancemakers as Russell Maliphant. Contemporary Both Phoenix Dance Company and between choreographers, directors (Edinburgh), Thamesdown Dance Nigel Charnock and Wendy choreographer Matthew Bourne, Union Dance Company have long and digital artists have produced Studios (Swindon) and Yorkshire Contemporary dance took off in Houstoun. Lea Anderson’s with his companies Adventures in been inspired by the diverse idioms startling and award-winning pieces. Dance Centre (Leeds). the late 1960s, with the founding of companies the all-female Motion Pictures and later New of black dance, while London Contemporary Dance Cholmondeleys and the all-male Adventures, scored huge successes choreographers Robert Hylton, 4 page dance final 21/7/03 3:54 pm Page 3 !nspire Sylvie Guillem as Manon, Jonathan Cope as Des Grieux, Royal Ballet Support and Useful websites Arts Councils development www.artscouncil.org.uk [England] www.artscouncil-ni.org [Northern Ireland] Formerly divided into Regional www.sac.org.uk [Scotland] Arts Boards, Arts Council England www.ccc-acw.org.uk [Wales] Dance has recently been centralised into a Council for Dance Education and single body, with those of Scotland, Training in the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company Wales and Northern Ireland as www.cdet.org.uk UK in a piece called (h)Interland separate entities. More than 30 Dance UK dance companies and individual www.danceuk.org Education and training artists are funded, across a range of dance forms. Funding is offered Foundation for Community Dance www.communitydance.org.uk Britain is home to some of the both as year-round support and on world’s most renowned training a project-by-project basis. London Dance What is British dance? www.londondance.com institutions, including the Royal Perhaps its most outstanding Ballet School, English National Britain is renowned throughout the The Place feature is its sheer diversity. A Ballet School, London world for its community and www.theplace.org.uk mere thirty years ago there Contemporary Dance School, audience development TheatreDanceUK existed just a handful of Laban and the Northern School of programmes, through theatredance.britishcouncil.org companies, but now there are Contemporary Dance. Many of organisations such as the several hundred, encompassing Magazines/Reviews these schools also run Foundation for Community Dance. Critical Dance (www.criticaldance.com) the whole spectrum of sizes and undergraduate and postgraduate There are also several professional Dancing Times styles. Add to that the flourishing degree courses, alongside those support schemes in the UK, Dance Now worlds of dance in education and Dance Theatre Journal offered by academic institutions including Dance UK’s innovative Dance Europe in the community, in screen such as the University of Surrey, Healthier Dancer Programme, the dance, and cross-arts and Researched and written by Sanjoy Roy Roehampton, and Middlesex network of National Dance intercultural experimentation, Designed by Andy Clarke University. Agencies, Dancers’ Career and you begin to sense the Development, and artistic Picture credits breadth of British dance today. Paul De Backer Dance is part of the National development programmes such as Anthony Crickmay Vibrant and innovative, UK dance Curriculum, an optional subject in Choreodrome, Performing Arts Bill Cooper is a wide-ranging and varied mix secondary schools and a prescribed Lab and the Choreographers and Richard Farley that is uniquely British while truly Jika Jansch part of primary education. Many Composers Exchange. Kit Van-Laast international in outlook. dance companies offer education Chris Nash and community outreach Michael Rayner programmes, while the long- © Crown Copyright established Ludus Dance Company Published by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office July 2003 specialises in working with schools www.fco.gov.uk and youth groups. Details of other FCO Publications are available from Scottish Dance Theatre www.informationfrombritain.com Rambert Dance Company.