London Contemporary Dance School (informally LCDS) is a
contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...
school located in London, England and a part of the
Conservatoire for Dance and Drama
The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama is a higher education institution in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2001 to bring together a number of schools providing higher-level vocational training in the performing arts. There are six member scho ...
. It was founded by
Robin Howard in 1966 to train new dancers for his company,
London Contemporary Dance Theatre The London Contemporary Dance Theatre (LCDT) was a contemporary dance company, based at The Place, founded by Robin Howard with Robert Cohan as its Artistic Director.
Founded in 1967, and strongly influenced by the ideas of American modern and pos ...
.
LCDS is based at
The Place The Place may refer to:
* The Place (London)
The Place is a dance and performance centre in Duke's Road near Euston in the London Borough of Camden. It is the home of London Contemporary Dance School and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, and former ...
in the
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions.
Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...
area of
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
, close to the
Senate House complex of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
,
RADA
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
and
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
.
History
London Contemporary Dance School and its partner company, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, were founded in 1966 under the governance of the Contemporary Dance Trust.
After receiving support from its founder, Robin Howard, the Contemporary Dance Trust moved to 17 Duke's Road in 1969, which it renamed
The Place The Place may refer to:
* The Place (London)
The Place is a dance and performance centre in Duke's Road near Euston in the London Borough of Camden. It is the home of London Contemporary Dance School and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, and former ...
.
[ In 1978, with assistance from the Arts Council and Linbury Trust, The Place underwent a major redevelopment, with new studios created for the School on Flaxman Terrace.][ In 1982, LCDS began offering a BA Honours degree in Contemporary Dance, validated by the ]University of Kent
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
. In 1994, London Contemporary Dance Theatre was closed and the Richard Alston Dance Company formed.[ In October 2001 a £7.5 million redevelopment of The Place, including the construction of six new dance studios, was completed.][ In the same year LCDS and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) formed the ]Conservatoire for Dance and Drama
The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama is a higher education institution in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2001 to bring together a number of schools providing higher-level vocational training in the performing arts. There are six member scho ...
. In 2008 a £1.1 million development at The Place added two new further studios.[
]
Teaching
LCDS teaches a variety of contemporary dance techniques including release-based, Limón, Humphrey and Contact Improvisation, priding themselves on their Graham technique
Graham technique is a modern dance movement style and pedagogy created by American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham (1894–1991). Graham technique has been called the "cornerstone" of American modern dance, and has been taught worldwi ...
and Cunningham
Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham.
Notable people sharing this surname
A–C
*Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player
*Abe Cunningham, American drummer
* Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...
technique. As part of its courses LCDS also offers pilates, body conditioning, free electives in Choreology, Anatomy and Scenography, and ballet studies.
LCDS provides both undergraduate and postgraduate (including EDge) vocational training as well as a research programme in contemporary dance. The School also offers courses in contemporary dance in London for adults and children, including Centre for Advanced Training, a programme allowing pre vocational training for young people in the South East.
Alumni
LCDS's first year's intake included Richard Alston, Ian Spink and Siobhan Davies
Dame Siobhan Davies DBE (born Susan Davies; 18 September 1950 in London), often known as Sue Davies, is an English dancer and choreographer. She was a dancer with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre during the 1970s, and became one of its lead ...
who went on to perform with the main company before founding their own. Other notable alumni of LCDS include: Richard Alston, Darshan Singh Bhuller Darshan Singh Bhuller (born 4 March 1961) is a British dancer, teacher, artistic director, filmmaker, and choreographer. Considered "one of the brightest stars of his generation" and a "darkly powerful performer," Bhuller danced for London Contempor ...
, Seeta Indrani
Seeta Indrani (born 20 April 1963) is an English dancer and actress.
Biography
Performance
After graduation as a dancer from the London Contemporary Dance School, Indrani took the role of Cassandra in the original 1981 West End theatre, West ...
, Sally Potter
Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing ''Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.
Early life
Potter was born an ...
, Liz Roche
Liz Roche (born 1974) is an Irish choreographer, working in contemporary dance. She is a member of Aosdána, an elite Irish association of artists.
Early life
Roche was born in Dublin in 1974, and grew up in Dundrum, Dublin.
Career
Roche studie ...
, Kenneth Tharp Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE (born 1960) is a British dance artist and former Chief Executive of The Place. He was director of the Africa Centre, London from 2018 to 2020.
Biography
Tharp was born in Croydon, south London, to English mother Pame ...
and Paul Liburd
Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...
. Students of the School have gone on to accept contracts from a variety of prestigious dance companies including Adventures in Motion Pictures
New Adventures is a British dance-theatre company. Founded by choreographer Matthew Bourne in 2001, the company developed from an earlier company Adventures in Motion Pictures, now dissolved.
History
Adventures in Motion Pictures (AMP) was est ...
, Random Dance Company, DV8
''DV8'' is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The series revolves around the lives of a group of Gen-Active people (Called DV8, or referred to as "The Deviants"), initially living in New York City under the supervision of Ivana Baiul, who se ...
, CandoCo
Candoco Dance Company is a contemporary physically integrated dance company, founded in 1991 by Celeste Dandeker and Adam Benjamin. The company is based at the Aspire National training centre in Stanmore, North London.
History
Candoco Dance Comp ...
, Diversions and the Rambert Dance Company
Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...
at the Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...
.
References
External links
Applying to London Contemporary
The Place website
The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama
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Educational institutions established in 1966
Performing arts education in London
Contemporary dance in London
Dance schools in the United Kingdom
1966 establishments in England