Studio Wayne McGregor, home of Wayne McGregor’s prestigious dance company, has pledged to give away 5,000 hours of rehearsal time for free at its new studios in east London, every year. This is in order to address the lack of affordable dance space in and around London. The new multimillion pound studio in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park opened on 31 March, opening its doors to artists at all stages of their career so they can use the company’s dance facilities.
The FreeSpace initiative expanded on previous plans to let artists use the studios for free, announced at the East London Dance Enterprise Ideas Summit in Stratford. The space has not only been created for Wayne McGregor’s dance company and administration staff, but also for the wider dance world in terms of appropriate and affordable space in London. The new facilities will therefore be a place people can come together, think, dance and collaborate.
In the context of the wider dance industry, this allocation of free space can only be a good thing. From young dancers to emerging artists and choreographers, the 5,000 hours of studio space per year will benefit a wide range of people. The idea behind the concept is to show that giving space to artists has real money value for artists and for Wayne McGregor’s dance company, to support artists at all stages of their careers so they can use money they raise from other places to be able to pay dancers.
It is hoped that FreeSpace will allow artists to experiment and provide risk-taking opportunities, so the organisation can support the making of new work, or simply the experimentation with new work with no demands on outcome. In return for each week of free studio space, the organisation is asking artists to contribute one day of engagement or learning and activity for communities to experience at no cost.