Pineapple Dance Studios

Pineapple Dance Studios
Formation	1979
Type	Dance Centre
Purpose/focus	Educational
Headquarters	7 Langley Street Covent Garden London WC2H 9JA United Kingdom
Location	Covent Garden, London
Director	Debbie Moore
Website	http://www.pineapple.uk.com/

Pineapple Dance Studios is a dance studio complex based in the Covent Garden area of central London, England. It was founded by the English model and businesswoman Debbie Moore in 1979. The studio is used for castings and rehearsals by dance companies, record labels, television networks, film studios,^[1] West End shows, cruise lines, talent^[2] and model agencies. According to BBC London, it is "one of the world's premier dance studios".^[3] Ballet.co.uk called it a "mecca for dancers".^[4]

The studios are primarily a venue for dance training.^{[citation needed]} Pineapple Dance Studios has an associated clothing brand. Pineapple Dance Studios are commonly referred to simply as Pineapple.^{[citation needed]}

History

Origins

Pineapple Dance Studios was founded by the English model and businesswoman Debbie Moore. Having retired from modelling, a sudden weight gain led Moore to be diagnosed with an underactive thyroid.^{[citation needed]} After her first marriage ended, she gained three stone and started dancing to stay in shape.^[5] The Covent Garden dance studios she was attending closed in 1979 and she bought a former pineapple warehouse on Langley Street,^{[citation needed]} in Covent Garden, where she set up Pineapple Dance Studios.^[5]

Clothing brand

Having been regularly employed by the clothing and textiles company Courtaulds, Moore was also experienced in clothing design and manufacture. ^{[citation needed]} During the early 1980s, she began developing her own line of dance-wear,the clothing company was called Gamba Timestep and based in in Michagan Avenue Salford ^{[citation needed]} most notably using Lycra, which at that time was not a widely used fabric. She sold her designs through a shop at the dance studios and this ultimately lead to the formation of the Pineapple clothing brand.^{[citation needed]} The Pineapple brand now retails dance-inspired clothing through 12 sites in the UK and in 2000, Moore secured a deal with the Debenhams chain of department stores, who now retail Pineapple branded products worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

Louie Spence and Debbie Moore launched the Pineapple Eye-wear range of glasses on 4 August 2010 at Pineapple Dance Studios.^[6]

Documentary

A docusoap following Pineapple Studios and its employees such as Louie Spence and Andrew Stone were first shown on 14 February 2010 on Sky1. With narration by ex-BBC newsreader Michael Buerk, it was a documentary that included impromptu dancing and the promotional tag-line: "Pineapple Dance Studios: Where careers are made, dreams are broken, bitching is an Olympic sport and everyone is fabulous!".^{[citation needed]}

Although the documentary series will not be returning, production company Pulse Films are currently shooting a follow up series which follows a broader spectrum of people as they attempt to break into the world of show-business. The second series was recorded under the title Louie Spence's Showbusiness and aired in early 2011 on Sky One, with repeats on PickTV in early 2012.

References

External links

• Pineapple Dance Studios
• Pineapple Performing Arts School
• Pineapple Dance Studios - Documentary Characters and Photos

Coordinates: 51°30′48″N 0°07′31″W / 51.5133°N 0.1254°W / 51.5133; -0.1254