London Contemporary Dance Theatre

London Contemporary Dance Theatre
Name	London Contemporary Dance Theatre
Founded	1967
Dissolved	1994
Founder	Robin Howard
Headquarters	London
Associated school	London School of Contemporary Dance
Notable directors	Robert Cohan, Robin Howard

London Contemporary Dance Theatre London Contemporary Dance Theatre was a British contemporary dance company established in 1967 that became central to postwar British dance development, commissioning works that linked modern dance choreographic practice with theatrical presentation and international touring. The company operated alongside major institutions such as the Royal Ballet, the Sadler's Wells Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre, and the Arts Council of Great Britain, influencing choreographers, performers, and educators across Europe, North America, and Asia. Its activities intersected with venues, festivals, critics, and broadcasters including Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre, Edinburgh Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, The Times (London), and BBC Television.

History

Founded through patronage from Robin Howard and institutional support from bodies like the Arts Council of Great Britain and performance spaces such as Sadler's Wells Theatre, the company emerged in the cultural milieu shaped by figures like Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, Merce Cunningham, José Limón, and Katherine Dunham. Early seasons featured premieres alongside programming by the Royal Ballet School, the London Festival of Contemporary Dance, and touring circuits that connected to the Edinburgh International Festival, Paris Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, and American presenters such as New York City Center. Through the 1970s and 1980s the company negotiated funding models with the Greater London Council and national arts funders while engaging choreographers and guest artists from companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Rambert, London Festival Ballet, and international ensembles invited from Japan, Germany, France, and the United States.

Artistic Direction and Key Figures

Artistic leadership was strongly identified with Robert Cohan, whose career before founding the company included work with the Martha Graham Dance Company, tours with José Limón Company, and collaborations with educators at the Juilliard School and the University of California, Irvine. Other significant figures associated with the company include Robin Howard as patron and administrator, colleagues and choreographers such as Siobhan Davies, Christopher Bruce, Mats Ek, Merce Cunningham-affiliated artists, Lucinda Childs, and collaborators from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre. Dancers and contributors who worked with the ensemble overlapped with notable performers and makers from Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo legacies, postmodern communities centered on Judson Dance Theater, and contemporary practitioners linked to institutions like Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Repertoire and Notable Works

The repertory blended narrative and abstract works commissioned from choreographers including Robert Cohan, Siobhan Davies, Christopher Bruce, and guest creators such as Mats Ek and Merce Cunningham associates. Signature pieces entered programmes alongside reinterpretations of modern repertory by artists connected to Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, and 20th-century innovators represented at festivals like Jacob's Pillow and renovators exhibited at the Venice Biennale. Works performed on tours and at seasons in venues like Sadler's Wells, the Barbican Centre, and the Royal Festival Hall were reviewed in outlets including The Guardian, The Observer, Financial Times, and The Sunday Times (UK). The company also staged collaborative productions that included designers and composers from circles encompassing the Royal College of Art, Royal Academy of Music, Benjamin Britten-linked ensembles, and contemporary composers presented at the Aldeburgh Festival.

Touring, Collaborations and Influence

Extensive touring connected the company to presenters and festivals such as Edinburgh International Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Joyce Theater, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra Garnier, and cultural exchanges involving national companies like the Paris Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, and touring initiatives backed by the British Council. Collaborative projects involved choreographers, composers, set designers, and directors from institutions like the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre, English National Opera, and film and television producers at the BBC. The ensemble’s touring and pedagogic residencies influenced practitioners in regions including Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan, contributing to cross-pollination with companies such as Batsheva Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the contemporary scenes in Berlin and Amsterdam.

Training, Education and the London School of Contemporary Dance

The London School of Contemporary Dance, founded in association with the company and supported by Robin Howard, functioned as a training ground linking conservatoire-style pedagogy and contemporary choreographic research, with curricular and visiting tutors drawn from Royal Ballet School, Juilliard School, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and international practitioners from the Martha Graham Dance Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The school contributed to vocational pathways into the professional field alongside institutions such as Rambert School, Central School of Ballet, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and university dance departments at University of Surrey and University of Kent. Alumni dispersed into companies and institutions including Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, and academic posts at conservatoires and festivals like Dance Umbrella.

Legacy and Dissolution

Facing changes in funding, leadership transitions, and shifting cultural policy during the early 1990s, the company wound down operations and formally dissolved in 1994, a process linked in discourse to broader debates involving the Arts Council of Great Britain, the Greater London Council, and contemporary cultural funding models. Its legacy persists through archival holdings in institutional repositories connected to the Victoria and Albert Museum, documentary collections referenced by British Film Institute, curricula at the London Contemporary Dance School successor programs, and the ongoing careers of alumni who joined companies, institutions, and festivals such as Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells, Edinburgh Festival, Jacob's Pillow, and international choreographic networks. The company’s repertory, pedagogic methods, and touring history continue to be cited in scholarship at universities including University of Surrey, King's College London, University of London, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and in retrospectives mounted by venues such as Sadler's Wells Theatre and the Barbican Centre.

Category:Contemporary dance companies