RAMBERT DANCE COMPANY - Media Bulletin: December 2005
Rambert is Britain’s flagship modern dance company. Founded in 1926 it transformed into a modern dance company in 1966. Under its Artistic Director Mark Baldwin, Rambert Dance Company tours throughout the United Kingdom and internationally with a wide spectrum of large-scale repertoire, including both new commissions and works from the Company’s heritage. Rambert Dance Company performs to over 50,000 people each year and reaches over 6,000 individuals through its extensive education programme.
BULLETIN HIGHLIGHTS
- £500,000 awarded from The Foyle Foundation for Rambert’s capital campaign
- Aletta Collins commissioned to create new work for Sadler’s Wells, May 2006
- Rambert celebrates 80 Years of Innovation in 2006
- Rambert is awarded the inaugural Jane Attenborough Dance in Education Fellowship (JADE)
- Mark Baldwin commissioned to choreograph The Wedding for the Royal New Zealand Ballet
DEVELOPMENT
Capital Campaign receives £500,000 from The Foyle Foundation
Rambert Dance Company is delighted to announce that The Foyle Foundation has awarded the Company £500,000 towards the capital costs of its new purpose-built headquarters on the South Bank of London.
The Foyle Foundation was founded in 2000 and distributes grants to arts, learning and health charities. The Foundation has awarded a maximum grant of £500,000 to Rambert in recognition of the importance of this project to the development of the company and its work.
Rambert’s new centre, designed by award-winning architects, Allies & Morrison, is to be built on a prime site on the South Bank in London, provided by Coin Street Community Builders. It will house state of the art studio facilities, community and education spaces, administration and technical support systems, physiotherapy and gymnasium facilities and a public archive and resource centre.
The total project budget is estimated at £16.5m. The generous gift of the land and development grants from the Arts Council England, London Development Agency and now The Foyle Foundation grant, means that Rambert already has £7.5m, leaving £9m to raise.
REPERTOIRE AND TOURING NEWS
Aletta Collins Commissioned to Create New Work
Rambert Dance Company is pleased to announce that Aletta Collins, director and choreographer, has been commissioned to create a new work for the Company, to première at Sadler’s Wells on Tuesday 23 May 2006.
Aletta recently choreographed the site-specific work Kool Down at Somerset House in July 2005. She has also worked as Associate Director on His Dark Materials at the National Theatre and is currently directing Phillip Pullman’s Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp at the Bristol Old Vic. Other projects include the West End hit musicals Jesus Christ Superstar at the Lyceum Theatre, and the National Theatre production Honk!, winner of a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.
2006 – Celebrating 80 Years of Innovation
Rambert Dance Company celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2006 and with it, a long standing reputation for creative adventure and artistic excellence. From modest beginnings under the visionary leadership of Marie Rambert, the Company has developed and survived as Britain’s oldest dance company, and today, is proud to be the flagship for modern dance in the UK, touring to over 50,000 people each year.
Under the Artistic Direction of Mark Baldwin, Rambert is enjoying a creative renaissance and a return to those artistic values inherent to Rambert’s long-standing success – a commitment to new choreographers, a rich and entertaining mixed repertoire, an active dedication to live music, a drive for ambitious collaborations, and of course, a loyalty to the highest standards of performance. So despite being 80 years old, Rambert continues to be at the forefront of modern dance – still innovating, still touring the UK and still entertaining audiences.
The timing of Rambert’s 80th anniversary coincides with the launch of the Company’s exciting fundraising campaign for a new purpose-built headquarters on London’s South Bank. As Mark Baldwin has said, “This is perhaps the most exciting moment in the Company’s modern history, a realisation of a dream first dreamt by Marie Rambert, when she founded the Company. This will be a laboratory to experiment in, the means to reach into the community we serve, and at last a real purpose built home for the Company.”
Spring 2006
Rambert Dance Company recently announced plans for its spring 2006 season, which begins with the return of the Rambert Workshop Season on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 January 2006 at The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre. As the first performance of Rambert’s 80th Anniversary Year, this event offers an appropriate reminder of the Company’s long-standing commitment to new choreographers and its great creative legacy.
The dancers selected to take part in this year’s Workshop Season are Ana Luján Sánchez, Cameron McMillan, Patricia Okenwa, Mikaela Polley, Melanie Teall and Alexander Whitley. Following last year’s successful partnership with the Royal Academy of Music, dancer Cameron McMillan will be working in collaboration with composer Elspeth Brooke from the Academy to create an original music score alongside the choreography.
Rambert’s national tour opens on Tuesday 7 February at His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen and tours to Newcastle, Snape, Truro, Mold and Brighton, with a visit to Sadler’s Wells, London between 23 and 27 May 2006.
Some of the artistic highlights of the spring season include the Rambert première of Merce Cunningham’s Pond Way and the new commission from Aletta Collins. Completing the repertoire is Mark Baldwin’s award-winning Constant Speed, A Steel Garden by Christopher Bruce, Swamp by Michael Clark, Momenta by Mikaela Polley, Divine Influence by Martin Joyce, Judgment of Paris by Antony Tudor and Songs of a Wayfarer by Kim Brandstrup.
See below for full tour listings.
EDUCATION
Jane Attenborough Dance in Education Fellowship (JADE)
Rambert Dance Company is delighted to announce that the Paul Hamlyn Foundation has awarded the Company with the inaugural Jane Attenborough Dance in Education (JADE) Fellowship. The £50,000 award will enable Rambert to provide dancer Simon Cooper with intensive support to help him make the transition from Company dancer into education and community work.
Within the structure of Rambert's award-winning education programme and working closely with the artistic team, director of Rambert Education Kate Scanlan, will oversee the two-year scheme. Designed to benefit all involved, the JADE Fellowship will: enable Simon to learn new skills so as to pursue work as a dance artist in education; develop the ways in which the Company uses its team of animateurs to engage participants in the Company's work; and give those participating in the Company's education projects the opportunity to work with a Company dancer.
The JADE Fellowship is awarded in recognition of Jane Attenborough, whose distinctive contribution to dance and the arts as a whole ended tragically in the Tsunami of 2004. Jane Attenborough was Arts Manager of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Established in 1987, the Foundation supports arts and education initiatives in the UK which address inequality of access and opportunity, particularly amongst young people.
Lambeth and Southwark Projects
Following the launch of the Company’s plans to relocate to the South Bank of London, Rambert Education has begun the first of its schools-based projects in the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.
In September 2005 the Paul Hamlyn Foundation awarded the Company £60,000 over three years to work in Lambeth secondary schools. The project, entitled Moved, will run between November 2005 and March 2008 and engage over 500 young people and up to 60 teachers throughout the project. Moved will deliver high quality dance education and an introduction to contemporary dance for both teachers and pupils involved.
Additionally, Lambeth Education, North Lambeth Education Action Zone and Lambeth Education Business Partnership have engaged Rambert to deliver a series of residencies in Lambeth Schools over the coming year. Transform is a new Lambeth project taking place in four primary schools: Loughborough, Elm Wood, St Johns Angell Town and Reay Primary. Teachers will follow a creative professional development programme alongside a dance project with the children. Transform is designed to develop best practice in schools.
A small project ran throughout December in Kingsdale School, supported by SMART and Excellence in Cities, Southwark Council. There are plans to expand this project to a further 18 schools in spring 2006.
Spring Season Evening Class Programme
Following a well-subscribed programme of evening classes during the autumn, the spring line- up offers a comprehensive range of dance classes for adults and young people across London.
New to the spring term is the inclusion of Company repertory to the adult Level 4 Advanced Contemporary Dance Class; and two evening classes catering for young people. Young Movers (10-13 years) runs every Wednesday between 9 January and 3 April 2006; and Generation 2 (14-17 years) runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays, between 7 February and 1 April 2006.
Adult evening classes recommence from the week beginning Monday 9 January, and run from 6.30-8pm, Monday to Wednesday. Class titles listed below. For more information or to book contact Rambert Education on 020 8630 0615.
Rambert Adult Evening Class Timetable, spring 2006
Monday Level 1 Absolute Beginners Contemporary Dance
Level 3 Intermediate Contemporary Dance
Tuesday Level 2 Beginners Contemporary Dance
Level 3 Intermediate Ballet
Wednesday Level 2 Beginners Contemporary Dance
Level 4 Advanced Contemporary Dance and Repertory
RAMBERT STAFF
Rambert is delighted to welcome dancer Antonette Dayrit, who joins the Company in spring 2006 under the Apprentice Dancers’ Scheme. Born in London, Antonette trained at the Royal Ballet School, White Lodge and Central School of Ballet. She has danced with the Ballet Central 2005 Tour and The Curve Foundation Dance Company.
Rambert Dance Company is pleased to announce that Stephanie Irwin has been appointed as the Company’s new Marketing Manager, and started her role on 12 December 2005. Stephanie joins Rambert from her previous position as Marketing Officer at the Imperial War Museum, and has also worked at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, English Heritage and the New Victoria Theatre in Woking.
Laura Harvey, who has previously been working as Rambert’s Education Administrator, has been promoted to the position of Lambeth and Southwark Project Manager. This new role has been created to cater for the greatly increased volume of projects taking place in the Lambeth and Southwark region, as part of the Company’s future relocation there. Laura will take up this role in the New Year.
OTHER NEWS
Mark Baldwin Creates Major New Work for the Royal New Zealand Ballet
During January and February 2006, Artistic Director Mark Baldwin returns to New Zealand, where he was raised and educated, to choreograph the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s major commission of 2006 – The Wedding written by the author of Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera. The Wedding receives its world première at The Edge in Auckland on 1 March 2006, and then tours New Zealand until 8 April.
Baldwin’s global status as a choreographer was recently affirmed through the creation of Constant Speed for Rambert Dance Company. Commissioned by the Institute of Physics, the work was highly acclaimed and has delighted audiences around the country as part of Rambert’s touring repertoire. In October 2005, Baldwin was awarded the TMA Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance for the creation of Constant Speed and the high calibre of his artistic directorship of Rambert Dance Company.
For more information on The Wedding or the Royal New Zealand Ballet, visit
http://www.nzballet.org.nz
SPRING 2006 TOURING SCHEDULE
Tues 7 – Thurs 9 February
His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen
Performances at 7.30pm
Sign Language Interpreted performance on Thurs 9 February
Box Office: 01224 337 642 or online
www.hmtaberdeen.com
Swamp, A Steel Garden, Constant Speed
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Tues 14 – Sat 18 February
Theatre Royal, Newcastle
Performances at 7.30pm; Matinee on Thurs 16 February at 2pm
Box Office: 0870 905 5060 or online
www.theatroyal.co.uk
A Steel Garden, Judgment of Paris, Divine Influence, Constant Speed
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Fri 24 & Sat 25 February
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Performances at 7.30pm
Box Office: 01728 687110
Songs of a Wayfarer, Momenta, Divine Influence, Constant Speed
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Wed 1 & Thurs 2 March
Hall for Cornwall, Truro
Performances at 8pm; Matinee on Thurs 2 March at 2.30pm
Box Office: 01872 262466
A Steel Garden, Judgment of Paris, Divine Influence, Constant Speed
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Tues 14 – Fri 17 March
Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold
Performances at 7.30pm
Box Office: 0845 330 3565
Judgment of Paris, Momenta, A Steel Garden, Constant Speed
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Wed 22 – Sat 25 March
Theatre Royal, Brighton
Performances at 7.45pm; Matinee on Thurs 23 March at 2pm
Sign Language Interpreted Performance on Thurs 23 March at 7.45pm
Box Office: 08700 606 650 or online
www.theambassadors.com
Judgment of Paris, Divine Influence, Pond Way (RAMBERT PREMIERE), Constant Speed
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Tues 23 – Sat 27 May
Sadler’s Wells, London
Performances at 7.30pm; Family matinee on Sat 27 May at 2.30pm
Box Office: 0870 737 7737 or online
www.sadlerswells.com
Pond Way, Constant Speed and New Work by Aletta Collins
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