The Victoria and Albert Museum celebrated the opening of its Photography Centre with playful new performance Dancing Memories, created and performed by Sadler’s Wells’ National Youth Dance Company alumni and Company of Elders. Staged over three dates in October and three in January-February 2019, each 40-minute participatory performance will encourage movement participation from its audience, inspired by its surroundings.
The Photographs Collections at the V&A are among the Museum’s most internationally significant and popular, and the National Art Library houses many rare and important photobooks. There are approximately 500,000 objects in the collection, which will grow substantially with the transfer of the Royal Photographic Society collection from the Science Museum Group. The Royal Photographic Society transfer includes approximately 300,000 photographs, as well as a library of books and journals, and approximately 8,000 cameras and pieces of related photographic equipment, providing a spectacular enhancement to the existing V&A collection.
Founded in 2012, NYDC is England’s flagship youth dance company bringing together the brightest talent from across the country to work intensively with Sadler’s Wells’ renowned Associate Artists and visiting companies. NYDC artists appearing in Dancing Memories include Creative Support Artist Corinne Meredith, and alumni Áine Reynolds and Ruby Portus. Portus, one of Sadler’s Wells’ Young Associates, presents her work on the Sadler’s Wells stage as part of a mixed bill on 9 and 10 October.
In Dancing Memories, NYDC alumni perform alongside Sadler’s Wells’ dance company for over-60s, Company of Elders. Founded in 1989, the Company has performed internationally, working with choreographers including Shobana Jeyasingh and Dickson Mbi. It is Sadler’s Wells’ resident over-60s performance company, always demonstrating the power of lifelong creativity and proving it is never too late to start dancing.
Dancing Memories is part of the V&A Photography Spotlight.