London Contemporary Dance School
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The London Contemporary Dance School is a school in the United Kingdom for the teaching of contemporary dance.
Based at The Place near Euston, London, the school was founded by Robin Howard in the 1966[1] in order to train new dancers for his company, the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. The first year's intake included Richard Alston, Ian Spink and Siobhan Davies who went on to perform with the main company before founding their own. Students of the London Contemporary Dance School have gone on to accept contracts from a variety of prestigious dance companies including Adventure in Motion Picture, Random Dance Company, DV8, CandoCo, Diversions dance and the Rambert Dance Company at the Sadler's Wells.
The school awarded its first degree in dance in 1982. Its BA (Hons) in Contemporary dance is validated by the University of Kent. Distinguished alumni include Christopher Bannerman, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Kim Brandstrup, Jonzi D, Gurmit Hukam, Paul Liburd, Etta Murfitt, Robert North, Henri Oguike, Sally Potter, Kenneth Tharp, Christopher Tudor, Anthony van Laast and Sheron Wray. The School is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organization devoted to promoting excellence in, not only contemporary dance, but in ballet, acting, circus arts and academia.
The School teachs a variety of contemporary dance (or Modern dance as it's known in the United States) techniques including release-based, Limón, Humphrey and Contact Improvisation, priding themselves on their lengthy history in Graham technique and their current excellence in Cunningham technique. The school also encourages pilates, body conditioning, a variety of free electives in Choreology, Anatomy and Scenography, and (as of 2005) is now only full-time dance school in Europe to teach Kathak or Bharatanatyam for professional dancers. The course also includes an intensive course in Ballet studies and extra tuition in coaching or for Pointe is available on request.
The Place also offers courses in contemporary dance in London for adults and children. It located close to London's Theatreland and to the University of London's main campus, with such schools as London Studio Centre, RADA and UCL nearby.
[edit] References
- ^ (1999) The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
