Pineapple Dance Studios' is a dance studio complex, performing arts school, and associated dancewear, clothing, and eyewear brand, based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England.

Origin

Pineapple Studios was founded by former model

Debbie Moore Debbie Moore OBE (born Dorothy Moore, 31 May 1946), is an English model and businesswoman who founded the Pineapple Dance Studios and its associated clothing brand. She was the first woman to float a company on the London Stock Exchange and i ...

, who had started dance lessons to alleviate weight gain caused by hypothyroidism. Following the closure of her local dance studio in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, she failed to find a suitable alternative, so decided to open her own studio in the area. Pineapple Dance Studios opened in 1979, based in a former pineapple warehouse from which the company gets its name. The site continues to house the dance studios, as well as being the headquarters of the Pineapple Performing Arts School and the studios' associated dancewear and clothing brand.

Pineapple Studios

Originally intended as a drop-in dance centre, Pineapple Studios is a complex of 12 dance studios that are used for various purposes. The studios host over 200 scheduled dance classes each week, open to studio members and the public, however the studios have become most notable for their extensive use by the entertainments industry as a venue for rehearsals, castings and recordings. Clients who use the studios include notable

dance companies This is a list of notable dance and ballet companies. Notes References See also * List of folk dance performance groups *List of ballet companies in the United States {{Dance Companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a leg ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

s, West End shows,

cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...

s, talent, and model agencies. It is also well known as a rehearsal studio used by celebrities, which have included

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

, and

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

. According to

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London News'' and weekly ''Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

, it is "one of the world's premier dance studios" and Ballet.co.uk called it a "mecca for dancers". Class Teachers are similarly renowned and include international choreographers such as Rose Alice Larkings. The location, in London's West End "Theatre Land" was a key factor of its success. In her book, ''When a Woman Means Business'', Debbie Moore wrote: "In my case, I knew Covent Garden was the right area". The studios were the setting for the 2010

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

docusoap

Pineapple Dance Studios Pineapple Dance Studios' is a dance studio complex, performing arts school, and associated dancewear, clothing, and eyewear brand, based in London, England. Origin Pineapple Studios was founded by former model Debbie Moore, who had started dan ...

Clothing brand

Having been regularly employed by the clothing and textiles company

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

, Debbie Moore was also experienced in clothing design and manufacture. During the early 1980s, she began developing her own line of dance-wear, including using

Lycra Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The g ...

, which at that time was not a widely used fabric. She sold her designs through a shop at the dance studios and this ultimately led to the formation of the Pineapple clothing brand.

Louie Spence Louie Spence (born 6 April 1969) is an English dancer, choreographer and television personality, best known for the TV show ''Pineapple Dance Studios''. He was a professional dancer in his youth, performing in West End musicals including ''Miss ...

and Debbie Moore launched the Pineapple Eye-wear range of glasses on 4 August 2010 at Pineapple Dance Studios.

Documentary

A docusoap following Pineapple Studios and its employees such as

and Andrew Stone were first shown on 14 February 2010 on

. With narration by ex-BBC newsreader

Michael Buerk Michael Duncan Buerk (born 18 February 1946) is a British journalist and newsreader. He presented BBC News from 1973 to 2002 and has been the host of BBC Radio 4's ''The Moral Maze'' since 1990. He was also the presenter of BBC One's docudrama ...

, 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!".

References

External links

Pineapple Dance StudiosPineapple Performing Arts SchoolPineapple Dance Studios – Documentary
{{authority control Dance schools in the United Kingdom Dance in London Dancewear companies