Robin Jared Stanley Howard

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(17 May 1924 – 12 June 1989) was a British philanthropist, dance patron and founder of

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 ...

who promoted modern dance in England.

Biography

Early life

Born 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Howard was the grandson of Prime Minister

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

and the eldest child of Sir Arthur Howard and Lady Lorna Howard. On both sides of the family there was a strong tradition of public service, and an early involvement with the arts from his mother. He studied at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a lieutenant in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

(1942–45), until he sustained injuries in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

that resulted in the loss of both his legs.Robin Howard: Obituary. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. 14 June 1989. In 1945 he resumed his education at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, and passed the bar examination to become a lawyer, but he never practiced; instead he entered the hotel and restaurant business. In 1956 he formed the Hungarian Department of the United Nations Association in England to assist refugees, and he served as its director of international service (1956–63).

Dance career

Howard became a full-time patron of modern dance in 1963, beginning with his sponsorship of performances by the

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

Dance Company, a troupe that he first encountered in 1954. He persuaded Graham to return to Britain to appear at the 1963

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

and in a London engagement. Following the company's successful tour, he established Graham-inspired classes, and by 1967 he had founded the London Contemporary Dance Group (afterward renamed the

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 ...

) and the Contemporary Dance Trust, of which he was director general (1966–88) and life president (1988–89). In 1969 Howard based the Trust in a London complex of buildings known as

, which has served as a centre for British contemporary dance ever since.

Business ventures

Howard was successful in several business ventures, particularly with his purchase (against all advice) and transformation of the

Gore Hotel Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitoul ...

, where he was able to put to good use his enthusiasm for wine. However, he sold many of his most cherished possessions to support contemporary dance in Britain and persuaded many others to make generous donations too. Howard was also a noted collector of contemporary art, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a passionate supporter of artists shown at Gallery One in London and became a major patron of both

Francis Newton Souza Francis Newton Souza (12 April 1924 – 28 March 2002) was an Indian-American British Asian artist. He was a founding member of the Progressive Artists' Group of Bombay. Souza's style exhibited both decadence and primitivism. Early life and ...

and John Christoforou during this period. Like in other aspects of his life, Howard appreciated the vibrancy and power involved in their art - a contrast with some of the cooler, more cerebral movements then in vogue. In the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

Howard was made a

in recognition of his services to dance, and in 1989 he was elected President of the

International Dance Council The International Dance Council (CID, standing for French: ''Conseil International de la Danse'') is the umbrella organization for all forms of dance in the world. It is a non-profit international non-governmental organization founded in 1973 " ...

of the

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

. In 2001, the theatre at The Place was renamed the

Robin Howard Dance Theatre Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

in his honour.

Influence

Howard is now recognised as one of the founders of

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 ...

in Britain. To quote journalist

Clement Crisp Clement Andrew Crisp OBE (21 September 1926 – 1 March 2022) was a British dance critic. He served as dance critic for the ''Financial Times'' from 1956 to 2020. Life and career Crisp was born in Romford, Essex, in 1926, although for many years ...

in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'':

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Robin People educated at Eton College Contemporary dance in the United Kingdom Contemporary dance in London Scots Guards officers British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English amputees 1924 births 1989 deaths