There are plans in the pipeline to make London the capital of dance in the world, with the aim to rejuvenate the arts – specifically dance – in east London. Plans to create a new dance hub in east London have been announced recently, and by 2021 the area will see 16 new dance studios, two production studios, a 600-seat dance theatre, a hip hop academy, a ballet school and a choreographic school, all within a few miles of Stratford.
The plans are the result of Sadler’s Wells, English National Ballet and Studio Wayne McGregor moving to the area, three major dance organisations that will all work with local dance agency East London Dance to achieve these aims. Multi-award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor has already moved east. Coincidentally, his career began running community dance groups in Redbridge in the 1990s, to return to the area is going full circle. For Studio Wayne McGregor, the plan is to offer free rehearsal space to 25 artists each year, and in return the artists will offer workshops or performances in the local community.
The plans to move will also go some way in integrating dance into other places in the community it will be inhabiting. The Olympic Park will see Sadler’s Wells add to its current Angel and Holborn theatres in the capital, in order to house dance performances that don’t currently have a home in London. As well as bringing in international artists, there will be a big focus on nurturing home-grown talent, with a new hip hop academy, an extension of the annual Breakin’ Convention festival, which will let hip hop artists study to conservatoire level, and then in a choreographic school.
English National Ballet is too travelling, setting up home in the new London City Island development, the opposite end of the city to its long-time home in South Kensington. By 2018 the building will be the new home of both the company and the English National Ballet School, providing more studios and a full-size production space – the first of its kind in the city – as well as a rehab centre for the dancers. The aim is for the public to see the creative process in open rehearsals, and to set up a big screen outside for performances within the community.