TRINITY LABAN CONSERVATOIRE OF MUSIC & DANCE TRINITY LABAN CONSERVATOIRE OF MUSIC & DANCE CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TRAININ CENTRE FOR ADVANCED G IN DANCE CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING IN DANCE Magazine no 3 | Summer 2015 3 CelebratinG EXCELLENCE WHAT MAKES THE TRINITY LABAN DANCE CAT UNIQUE? CREATIVE MISSION DEVELOPING CHOREOGRAPHIC POTENTIAL Centre for Advanced Training in Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Faculty of Dance, Creekside, London SE8 3DZ THE BIGGER PICTURE 020 8305 9400 | [email protected] trinitylaban.ac.uk/cat CASE Circle of Excellence Bronze Winner 2014 ENGAGING WITH THE WIDER WORLD OF DANCE Supported by Printed by Newton Print, accredited to ISO:14001 (Environmental Management) using vegetable-based inks and low-chemistry plate technology. 1 CAT_mag_190x255_2015_covers.indd 1 24/06/2015 16:27 ADVERTISEMENT The world’s largest contemporary dance centre is an inspiring modern location for hire. Featuring a state-of-art 300 capacity theatre, large and versatile studios and a dramatic foyer. Available for all types of events: Conferences Performances Meetings Seminars Workshops Rehearsals Dinner receptions …and more Call us today on 020 8305 9452 or email [email protected] trinitylaban.ac.uk/hire 2 CAT_mag_190x255_2015.indd 2 24/06/2015 16:19 THE COOLEST PIECE OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE CAPITAL Evening Standard Trinity Laban is committed to equality of opportunity. Registered Charity 309998. Supported by Arts Council England with National Lottery funds. Photo: Tim Crocker TRINITYLABAN.AC.UK/CAT 3 CAT_mag_190x255_2015.indd 3 24/06/2015 16:19 WELCOME elcome to the 2015 issue of the Trinty Laban Centre best possible platform for our remarkable students to prepare for Advanced Training in Dance Magazine, which for their future careers. W shines a spotlight on the work we do in our Centre for Advanced Training in Dance (Dance CAT) and on the The location of the Dance CAT is significant: being within a many talented young people who are or have been involved conservatoire of music and dance enables the programme in the programme. to explore the rich links between the two art forms, while the curriculum is informed by the ground-breaking movement The Dance CAT is a distinctive strand within Trinity Laban’s theories of Rudolf Laban. Learning and Participation (Dance) programme. It is a vital part of our work as a Higher Education Institution to advance The Dance CAT based at Trinity Laban is one of the largest the dance art form and train professional artists to take their in the national scheme with around 120 students. We work place within the competitive dance sector. At Trinity Laban we hard through our outreach programmes and bursary schemes view dance education and training as a continuum and our to ensure that the Dance CAT is accessible to young people activities range from providing children with their first encounter from diverse backgrounds, creating a unique community of with dance to providing world class professional dance artist young dancers. training, and supporting choreographers and researchers to push boundaries and transform our understanding of the art The majority of Dance CAT graduates go on to train form. Through the support of the Department for Education professionally and work within dance. But even those who Music and Dance Scheme, our Dance CAT provides high don’t pursue a career in the performing arts are able to apply quality training in contemporary dance to young dancers with the skills and discipline they have acquired with us to their exceptional potential. As such it complements our work with chosen area of study or work. talented young musicians through Junior Trinity, also supported by the Scheme. We explore some of these features in the following pages. While it is impossible to do justice to the amazing work There are a number of key features that characterise the Trinity and people within the Trinity Laban Dance CAT within a Laban Dance CAT. We aim to balance the training required to single magazine, we hope you enjoy reading this issue and achieve the technical rigour needed to be an accomplished discovering more about the programme and the wonderful dancer with enabling students to develop their creativity and young people with whom we work. their own unique artistic voices. We ensure that all the students are able to work with professional dance artists and experience Professor Anthony Bowne their creative processes, to prepare them for the current dance Principal industry. All our work is underpinned by research into education Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and dance health to ensure that our programme provides the 4 CAT_mag_190x255_2015.indd 4 24/06/2015 16:19 Professional choreographers learn from our students as CONTENTS they learn from them 6 PERPETUAL MOTION 14 A brief history of the Trinity Laban Centre for Advanced Training in Dance IDENTITY Providing the time and space 12 HOME AND awaY to nurture Projects in London and Copenhagen creativity and build choreographic 14 THIS YEAR’s ARTISTS skills Bawren Tavaziva, Lee Smikle, Wayne McGregor|Random Dance, Renaud Wiser, Double Vision 22 THE SpaCE TO Create Reflections on Choreomission STUDT ENT PA HWAYS 26 AUDITION DIARY 22 One young person’s journey to the Trinity Laban Dance CAT 30 TELLING IT LIKE IT IS Current students talk about their experiences 32 OUT & ABOUT CAT students in the wider dance world 34A P ST STUDENTS, FUTURE SUCCESSES 34 Celebrating the achievements of our alumni Our impact grows as our MAKING IT WORK former students influence how dance develops 38 COMMUNITY, CHALLENGE AND COMMITMENT Recruiting and retaining talented young dancers 40 HealtH AND INJURY MANAGEMENT Enhancing student performance 42A T KE YOUR partnerS... Creating opportunities through collaboration 44 HAVE YOU MET VIC? Welcome to the ‘Vertically Integrated Conservatoire’ We can achieve so 46 OUTWARD BOUND much more by working The value of outreach 42 with others Editor Nuala McGreevy [email protected] Editoral Consultant Ian Bramley [email protected] Design Adam Hypki [email protected] Publisher Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Cover Photo James Keates Photography Rachel Cherry, Belinda Lawley, Benedict Johnson, James Keates, David Slate Print Newton Print www.newtonprint.co.uk TRINITYLABAN.AC.UK/CAT 5 CAT_mag_190x255_2015.indd 5 24/06/2015 16:19 P ERPETUAL MOTION Veronica Jobbins Head of Learning and Participation (Dance), Trinity Laban he development of the Centre for Advanced Training ‘help identify, and assist, children with in Dance (Dance CAT) at Trinity Laban Conservatoire exceptional potential, regardless of their personal T of Music and Dance has been a major enterprise, circumstances, to benefit from world-class providing an extraordinary opportunity to set up a new and specialist training as part of a broad and balanced innovative training programme for young people that aims to education, which will enable them, if they choose, have a significant impact on the professional dance sector. to proceed towards self-sustaining careers in music and dance’ Trinity Laban’s Dance CAT is part of a national scheme of Dance CATs, with centres based in Ipswich, Leeds, Swindon, This year the Dance CATs celebrated 10 years of the scheme Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and north London which is already making a significant impact on the dance delivering specialist strands in contemporary dance, sector. In the BBC Young Dancer 2015 – a new national ballet, South Asian dance, circus arts and urban dance dance award run by the BBC – Connor Scott, a student at to their regions. the Newcastle Dance CAT, became the first ever winner. Other Dance CAT alumni did well in the competition: In 2005, following a review of the Department for Education’s Kasichana Okene-Jameson (Trinity Laban) and Jodelle Douglas Music and Dance Scheme, Centres for Advanced Training in (Swindon) reached the semi-finals in contemporary and hip both Music and Dance were established to enable talented hop respectively, while Vidya Patel (Birmingham) and Jacob young people to have broader opportunities in terms of dance O’Connell (Swindon) competed in the grand final in South and music genres, to develop their skills without having to Asian and contemporary dance. attend a boarding school (such as the Royal Ballet School and Yehudi Menuhin School) and, crucially, to widen access to For Trinity Laban, the foundation of the Dance CAT gave us more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The new an amazing opportunity to develop our existing education scheme aimed to: and community programmes. Until then, we had focused on 6 CAT_mag_190x255_2015.indd 6 24/06/2015 16:20 A briEF HISTOry OF THE Trinity LABAN CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TraininG IN DANCE increasing access to dance for children and young people In response to our questions, the Trinity Laban dance science in our local boroughs through outreach projects and regular team undertook research which focused on identifying talent classes in the Laban Building. There was a clear gap in and talent development, physiological considerations (such provision for those young people with potential in dance to be as safe practice, growth spurt, nutrition, physical fitness supported to progress on to further and higher education and and physiological gender differences) and psychological training, and ultimately pursue a career in dance. considerations (such as adolescence and dance, motivation and learning environments, perfectionism and psychological RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT gender differences). We were also very influenced by a previous three-year At the outset, we decided to take a year to research and programme of dance for boys and young men, Pick up the find out more about how to train young dancers. We wanted Pace, which aimed to challenge stereotypes about boys to avoid replicating existing training models within full-time and dance, and resulted in Trinity Laban setting up a number vocational schools and instead develop an evidence-based of boys only dance classes and projects.