After two and a half years, The Place has finally emerged from its chrysalis, if not quite as a butterfly, then at the very least as a prettier creature than it was before. This is the second major transformation of our listed building near King's Cross, the first being in 1969 when Robin Howard re-launched the former headquarters of the Artists Rifles as a dance complex and, as Val Bourne said, the artists 'might well have rejoiced that dance performances and classes have ousted regimental drill and rifle practice, that art for once has replaced war'. (1)
Now, several decades later, The Place is another - and key element in the rapidly improving dance environment. At last, we have the facilities we need. Gone is the long trek from changing room to studio. No longer do dancers have to negotiate their way around an inconvenient supporting pillar in the middle of a rehearsal space. The queue for return tickets now forms in a welcoming open plan theatre foyer rather than snaking from a cramped box office onto a narrow rain-swept pavement.
Our vision in the 21st Century puts creativity and access at the heart of the organisation. In the new look building we think this ambition has been realised very successfully in architectural terms. Our architects Allies and Morrison have tuned into what The Place is about and expressed it in bricks, mortar and glass. It is beautiful - but it is still a hardwearing, quite plain and informal environment, where people can experience the physical joy of discovering how to make dance. Top of the list of architectural successes are six new dance studios, in which glass brick walls let in natural light, cleverly designed ceilings allow maximum height and beautiful beech floors have just the right degree of springiness. They provide an inspiring (and safe) setting for students and creators. Perched high inside the glass facade of the entrance in Flaxman Terrace, two landings form stretching areas' close to the studios, where dancers warm up, practice or sit and chat. These suspended platforms can be seen as you approach the building, exciting interest and signalling to the outside world that The Place is a hub of creative activity. An added bonus, round the corner in Duke's Road, is the redesigned roadway in front of our theatre, where Camden Council has created attractive urban street-scaping to make the building even more welcoming.
Making The Place better, inside and out, is part of the regeneration of the neighbourhood. The organisation is seen as a vital catalyst in the creation of a cultural quarter in this area of London, and our redevelopment has been supported by one of the biggest grants awarded from the King's Cross Partnership's single regeneration budget. Along with organisations such as the Shaw, Bloomsbury and Almeida theatres, the British Library and the London Canal Museum, we have formed a network of local businesses and cultural institutions who are working together to make the area even more of a destination for commerce and tourism, as well as a better place to live. Close to the centre of London, King's Cross will soon become an international as well as a national and local traffic nexus, as work begins on the international Channel Tunnel links at St Pancras. This is good news for us, since artists, participants and audiences travel not just across London, but from other parts of Britain and the rest of Europe to perform, train and watch dance at The Place.
Inside our building, as you peek into the studios through the glass panelled doors, or watch a performance in the 300 seat theatre, you might be forgiven for thinking that, bar the massively improved architecture, nothing much has changed. There is still the same extraordinary mix of activity under one (or rather several) roofs; a mix that can be found nowhere else. We continue to have a full-time training school, choreographers and touring companies resident in the building; classes and courses at different levels for all ages, as well as hiring studios to teachers of other dance forms. We have two youth dance companies, an extensive education programme, an information and advice service for dance artists, a library with thousands of videos of dance performances, a busy producing theatre and a lively cafe. And we have a very committed team of experts working here, all of them passionate about dance. So what is new?
A lot. Although the cocktail of Place activities may look familiar, more has changed than our physical environment and a few names. Yes, the Education and Community programmes are now known as Learning and Access, the theatre has been named in honour of our founder Robin Howard, and Dance Services is called Artist Development. But the changes to The Place are much more profound than putting up a few re-fonted signs. Whilst our old studios were being demolished and new ones emerged, we took stock of what we had been doing over the last 30 years. We talked about the way in which strands of activity were inter-related and investigated how our work could be more closely integrated to the benefit of artists, students and the public. We talked to artists and visitors to The Place. We commissioned an external perceptions analysis, which told us - sweet and sour - what some of the key opinion formers thought. We conducted customer surveys through questionnaires and focus groups. We brought together teams of staff from different departments to discuss and suggest changes in areas such as life-long learning and services to the public, and we were stimulated, provoked, challenged and infuriated by a team of specialist consultants. Some of this process was funded through the Arts Council's Stabilisation Programme. All of it relied on staff being open to new, often challenging ideas, as well as being willing to set aside quality time to think about the future needs of dance and our many customers'.
Jeanette Siddall was particularly helpful to the School and to our Artist Development programme through providing a report on Post Initial Vocational Training provision (what we called the PIVoT Project). Jeanette mapped dance opportunities in higher education. She audited courses at The Place and highlighted the distinctive learning environment, which the whole organisation provides for students at London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS). The report went on to examine changes that had taken place in the dance profession over the last decade, concluding that 'the successful dance artist will display an alert, enquiring, flexible approach to their work and will be a dance entrepreneur' (2). That struck a chord and we bore it in mind as we thought about ways we could make a difference to the future development of the dance profession, especially through initial vocational training, postgraduate opportunities, and the provision of 'stepping stones' for dancers at different stages in their careers.
As a result of that thinking, the courses in the School have diversified to include graduate apprenticeships with Richard Alston Dance Company and, from next year, with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company. Chosen by audition, these students will spend time taking class, rehearsing and touring with a professional dance company. Other postgraduates may choose to join our performance group EDge, which presents the work of different choreographers, much of it created specially for them. We have already reintroduced postgraduate choreographic programmes and from autumn 2002, we shall be offering Dance for the Screen as well as a new postgraduate course in Training and Education, which aims to meet the growing need for contemporary dance teachers who can deliver vocational training courses and train the dancers of tomorrow. And all our postgraduate students are brought together in a core course - the Research Lab - which stimulates practice-based research in dance and other areas of the performing arts.
Along with a wider choice of courses, students at LCDS now have access to funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) to cover most of their fees. This means that, irrespective of their background or personal circumstances, talented students can come and train at The Place.
In order to achieve this significant shift, Veronica Lewis, director of LCDS, has worked with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and Hefce to establish a new conservatoire for dance and drama training, created just a few months ago. All eligible EU students at the Conservatoire are funded at a similar level to those in equivalent institutions, such as designated music colleges. This includes students doing postgraduate courses as well as one-year certificates and three year honours degrees. RADA and LCDS, the first schools to be associated with the Conservatoire, will remain independent organisations but, through working together, have the opportunity to grow collaborations and cross-fertilise ideas.
There are many other changes, both in terms of what we do and how we do it. For instance, we wanted to be more integrated internally, developing shared ambitions for dance with staff working across the whole organisation, rather than concentrating exclusively on their own department. One example of this has been the collaboration between Emma Gladstone, associate producer for our theatre, and Chris Thomson, director of Learning and Access, on commissioning contemporary dance performances for young people, such as Random's digit01, with related education activities. We hope that this greater degree of integration will make it easier and more productive for anyone making contact with us, whether they have a one-off request for information or need long-term support as their dance career develops. The Place should be able to offer different levels of involvement according to need.
To that end, we are developing new ways of engaging with artists throughout their career. Research projects such as Choreodrome, remain on the menu, but new developments include making more information available on-line, as well as in person and through publications such as our monthly listings magazine Juice. In essence, we are trying to find ways of encouraging greater entrepreneurialism and self-esteem in the profession. What does this mean in practice? One example is the work of our Artist Development team, which has shifted in approach from being mainly responsive - at its most extreme, 'hand holding' - to trying to empower artists. We no longer manage our associate artists but instead give them a bursary (plus access to some studio time and other Place resources) so they can choose who manages them and how. Our four associate choreographers can get involved in different aspects of The Place. Hanna Gillgren has taught our early morning class for professional dancers, Jan de Schynkel teaches performance studies at LCDS, our associate filmmaker Rachel Davies has been commissioned to make short films with Jan and two other associates, Robert Hylton and Darren Johnston, whilst resident choreographers Luca Silvestrini and Bettina Strickler are going to be creating a contemporary dance production for children, to be performed in 2003 in the Robin Howard Dance Theatre. It is the creative artists who continue to make demands of this 30-year-old institution, challenge our preconceptions and pushing forward the boundaries of dance. They keep us on the edge of our toes.
Sue Hoyle, General Manager, The Place with Theresa Beattie, Director Artist Development and Veronica Lewis, Director LCDS. Contact +44 (0) 20 7387 0161.
Reference
1. Bourne,V., The Place, Launch, 2001
2. Siddall, J., Post Initial Vocational Training, 2000.