We’re open!

Friday began with the last minute push to get the centre ready for opening. A small number of local guests including the Mayor, local councillors and those involved with the design and build had been invited to what was essentially a soft launch – there is still some snagging to be resolved but we wanted to ‘get up and at ‘em’ on the basis that if you don’t draw a line somewhere, then the opening deadline just keeps shifting. It’s also true that until you use a building you don’t truly know what works and what doesn’t.

The launch was attended by around 100 people with speeches and a delightful small performance in the foyer by Shake – a local Street Dance group. In the Ocean Room we showed three more pieces: Shake again, the premiere of section of Gregory Maqoma’s Desert Crossings – a collaboration with State of Emergency – then a screening of Jane Mason and Becky Edmund’s film of reminiscences by local people about dancing at the Pavilion Theatre.

Pat Lewis’s poignant descriptions of Lindy Hopping with American airmen when she was eight and the realisation on camera that they never returned from the next day’s mission brought a tear to both her and our eyes. Dance memories living on in the body.

The next day we opened the doors for two days of free classes and three free performances – two inside in the Ocean Room and one out on the terraces, which we are realising is a mini South Bank. Architects have an expression, which is, I believe, ‘paths of desire’ about how people use a space in the way they want or need to – not how the designer plans. This is certainly true of Pavilion Dance. The path along the Lower Gardens leads straight to our front entrance and people will sit on the steps to watch dance on the West terrace not the South as we had thought previously. Dancers will also fling wide the doors of the Seafront Studio to enjoy the breeze (and then passers-by can look in on the class too) but might this be an H and S nightmare.

And so we are learning all the time: people sit on window sills, take buggies into the studios, don’t take their shoes off don’t read notices which actually, you know, is all fine! It’s a space for people to feel comfortable and at home in – not a museum. We were all on a sharp learning curve in terms of customer care: what was obvious to us – signage, etc. was not clear to others and so we learned the hard way.

All the staff and volunteers did a magnificent job. We ran classes in Waacking, Parkour, Beginners’ Ballroom, Reggaeton, Basic Ballet, Persian Dance, Appalachian Clog, Yoga and Krumping among others: most had between 15 and 25 people taking part. Nest week we launch a programme of 60 such classes.

We showed performances by local groups in Street, Tap Contemporary, African, Butoh, and another Showing of Desert Crossings (my six year old grand-daughter said she enjoyed the Butoh best as it was ‘scary’)

There were a few tears, we locked ourselves out of the keypad coded doors, we ate too many sandwiches, blew up hundreds of balloons, the downstairs loo flooded and an elderly visitor was nearly felled by a banner carried off by a strong gust of wind blowing in off the sea – well caught Jenny!. But more than two thousand people either came to a class, watched a show or just had a look around.

Monday morning was our annual appraisal with Arts Council. All I can say to them, the DCMS, and the Treasury is ‘If Pavilion Dance isn’t ‘Great Art for Everyone’ – then I don’t know what is!

And it’s also terrific value for money.

Today’s the day!

Well – we’re here – finally!
It’s not perfect – yet. Like any house-warming there are things that still need finishing, but we wanted to invite all our friends in as soon as possible to share our excitement. Things may not go totally to plan as we’re all still learning how the building works. But it’s beautiful – a wonderful space to make watch and take part in dance.
Big projects like this happen through collaboration, relationship building, mutual trust and many cups of tea.
So I would like to thank everyone who has played their part in Pavilion Dance. First – the wonderful Dance South West team, who have worked so hard and well and been right behind the project from the outset.
Our Board and especially our Chair, John Struthers, who has occasionally provided me with a shoulder to cry on and a clean white handkerchief.
Project Manager, Ian Kendall – who I gather is now being headhunted by the United Nations for his diplomatic skills.
Drews builders, Jed, Alex, ALS, Theatre by Design and everyone else involved in the design and build. A special mention for architect Andrew Lockwood and surveyor Paul Belfield for bringing the neglected building to life in such a graceful and authentic fashion.
I’d also like to thank the staff of BHLIve and especially of Pavilion Theatre- Christian Knighton, Bob Bentley and Dave Hume – and everyone else who has made this project work.
Next, I’d like to thank Councillor Bob Chapman for his vision, persistence and kindness and the Borough of Bournemouth for placing their trust in us. And finally I’d like to thank my family and friends for tolerating me over the past fractious weeks.
The experience of the last 18 months can probably be summed up in the words of the American dance critic, Edwin Denby.
‘There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.’
But why is dancing important?
I’ve worked in this field for 43 years and have not always felt the passion I did at first – I’m sure you’ll all recognise that feeling? The days when you feel disillusioned, cynical or even bored by something that once excited you so much and then, suddenly, you get a glimpse of something that rekindles the passion.
Last week I went out to see a summer holiday project we’d been running. 17 young people working hard each week and I watched the final sharing of the second week.
There was young girl – about 14 – who made and performed her own solo. And there was a moment in this dance which I can only describe as one of the purest joy – a moment when mind body and soul came together in perfect synergy.
And the important thing about that moment was that it she was able to communicate it to me – to transcend any barriers in a unique and common language.
I hope that at least some of what you see and experience at Pavilion Dance over the coming years provides those unforgettable moments.

Three days to go and open for business on Saturday 4 September!

It’s ‘all hands on deck’ today and everything around us is being dismantled and moved to the new dance centre and offices. But it’s also ‘business as usual’ as we prepare for our Annual Review Meeting with Arts Council next Monday, deal with invoices and payments and plan for the next season – Alvin Ailey II coming from New York in March and a French/ South Asian Festival to plan for in the Spring. It’s a beautiful sunny day here and there are still lots of visitors enjoying the beach and the sea. Let’s hope they enjoy the dance centre opening on Saturday too.
One of the most thrilling things for me is opening boxes of new flyers as they arrive from the printers: this time it’s the Up Close season and they look wonderful – really doing justice to this cutting-edge season of dance programmed by Eckhard Thiemann. Take a look at the DSW website for details of the programme with world premieres by Ben Wright and Jonah Bokaer and fascinating work from German artists Caroline Simon and SilkeZ collective. We also show Angela Praed’s production The Bed – an all-nighter where you can bring your sleeping bag and watch an all night duet, or doze and wonder if it was all a dream and whether you really are in the Ocean Room at Pavilion Dance, instead of being tucked up at home.
Eckhard’s programming for us has been extraordinary. He’s chosen to curate clusters of work that the audience can take in over a weekend so that the experience builds in layers, rather than a one-off experience. Some of the events we programme are free and this is a deliberate strategy that eases new audiences into their first experience of dance.My quote of the day:
‘Great outpourings of expressive feeling are not relevant to making art. Much more so is the simple and complex fact of how you group things together.’
Briony Fer in Eva Hesse: Studiowork.

7 days to go

If you’re wondering why there’s been no blog for a while it isn’t because of any major hitches. (As I write that I am crossing everything it’s physically possible to cross.) It’s just there’s been so much to do: press releases; signing off brochure copy; a meeting about the visit by a member of the Royal Family to Pavilion Dance, as well as writing the annual report for the accounts, preparing Board papers, getting the DanSCe Dialogues logo signed off – super design by the way, watch this space!
In the midst of this we’re packing up the office and taking some boxes across ready for the big move on Tuesday. It is like moving house but on a larger scale and tempers fraying somewhat. I’ve just met the Surveyor doing the rounds with his clip board checking off what still needs to be done. Not much really: it all looks – well – superb – no other word for it. I can’t wait to get in next week and play in the new dance house! It feels, looks and sounds good – solid, full of character, excellent acoustic in the Ocean Room, smooth gray vinyl floors, gleaming mirrors – and just as I’d imagined it to be, full of light. All that’s missing now is the movement, but next week we’ll have artists in and we’ll all be reminded that the purpose of this building is to encourage art, energy, friendship, collaboration, good health through the magic and mystery of dance.
A major project like this almost totally dependent on good human nature – the capacity to see beyond personal interests to the bigger picture and the greater good. Sorry to reach for clichés but it’s quite an emotional time for me, thinking back 43 years to when I first walked in the Stage Door at Pavilion Theatre to dance on tour with the Royal Ballet, staying in digs on the West Cliff, sewing ribbons on pointe shoes, eating walnut cake between shows at Fullers Cafe in Westover Road, to now – when I am proud to be able walk around a dance centre which I hope will outlive me and that has been created through the skills and efforts of the many who have put heart and soul into the project
So if I end this week’s blog with 7 days to go with a tear in my eye – then I hope you’ll forgive me.

14 days to go

Excellent day, with visit by Phil Gibby and Laura Dyer from Arts Council and discussion about Dance South West’s wider developmental role as well as the new space. Wonderful to have the support of the Borough’s Chief Executive in meeting them and championing the project. It’s the local authority support that has made all the difference to the development.
It was good for Phil and Laura to be able to meet all the staff from both Exeter and Bournemouth office over a sandwich lunch. We were tripping up on over 3,500 very small children and their parents in the foyer who’d come for two performances of the Gruffalo, but good to see the venue alive and full of chattering enthusiasts.
Meeting with architect, Andrew Lockwood, this afternoon and interesting discussion about the creative process and problem solving with architectural development, much like choreography in terms of being about spatial relationships, mathematics and problem solving and the bridging the gap between ambition and realisation. How much do we compromise, how far do we need to keep pushing the vision forward, and does being satisfied act as a barrier to the creative process?
Off to Exeter tonight for meetings tomorrow. Then back in Bournemouth Friday. We move into the new office next week so at the moment it’s like moving house – lots of packing cases everywhere and ‘where’s the kettle?’
Just realised that the countdown doesn’t work because there’s a Bank Holiday in between. Several of us will be working that day, I fear. A regular reader of this blog pointed out that no-one has any idea of who ‘I’ and ‘we’ are. That is – who is the author. But I’m not going to reveal my identity until 3 September – day zero.
PS Further stress beaters are a glass of milk in the small hours and emergency chocolate in the bag. Many more sleepless nights ahead I fear.

18 days to go

I had the good fortune this weekend to spend some time with friends and family and unplug my brain for a bit, so of course, I wound up thinking about work.
Spent today preparing for various forthcoming meetings, all essential to our future and each very different in their own way. Board meetings – essential to keep Board members informed of all developments, Annual Accounts coming up and also approval of new Diversity Policy – the result of provocative training we had for staff and Board earlier in the year. Remain accountable for everything we are doing is hard as things are moving so fast but absolutely essential. Meetings with funders about Dance South West’s future also looming – need to keep a cool head and think strategically.
Then there is the building – coming together beautifully spacious, light, uncluttered – unlike my head at the moment which is buzzing with a thousand things to do. Planning the launch events – how to walk the fine line between being welcoming and celebratory and not seeming to be too ostentatious in the age of austerity. As well as the artistic programme we’re also planning a simple exhibition about the students’ design of the reception desk – some beautiful early design images – and of the building before and after.
Hard to sleep at times – I had a dream that the Pavilion Dance centre became mysteriously entirely pine clad and studded with hand-made felt animals straight out of the IKEA catalogue. ‘But I thought that was what you wanted?’ said the Project Manager plaintively.
The Dance Experiment kicked off well today with 7 boys and 9 girls making dances, after looking at Antony Gormley’s art and Alan Bennett’s plays, ‘You mean we’re allowed to make up our own choreography?’ they asked, astounded. Well – yes. That’s the general idea: make art that challenges the status quo and current assumptions, moves people and makes them think differently about the world and their lives. The business we’re all in, really.
Nightly stress busters for me are lavender oil on the pillow and reading Diana Athill’s marvellous memoir, ‘Somewhere Towards the End.’ There will be an end I keep telling myself…

21 days to go

Today we launched the TRI mentoring scheme – funded by Arts Council England aimed at artists in the southwest. The project is managed by Lois Taylor, highly experienced former Director of Attik Dance. It has an impressive roster of mentors, who will work with those taking part in the scheme to identify a professional development programme that meets their needs, whether that’s studio time with a critical eye, business advice or simply a sounding board for the ‘where do I go next with my work’ process-led enquiry.
The scheme has been introduced after lengthy discussion with the Dance Partners – the 13 agencies in the south west that make up the Dance South West network. These agencies will offer support to artists taking part in the scheme, offering space for meetings, advice and regular contact as the programme unfolds.
We had an interesting discussion in the office about who we have in mind we launch such schemes: how broad is our definition of a southwest artist? I think that, given the range of work that people are currently producing, we should be open to a wide range of genres and practice – as long as applicants can meet the criteria.
As well as the Normandy project, Eckhard Thiemann, our Artistic Programme consultant has also brokered an impressive exchange project with Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, funded by the British Council, to enable exchange of emerging choreographers between England and the southwest and India. This project is still incubating but will take place February – March 2011 and is an example of how Pavilion Dance can act as a conduit for new activity in the region and beyond.
We are also delighted that NDN – the National Dance Network is holding its next meeting at Pavilion Dance in October. This is a wonderful boost to the southwest that our colleagues from dance centres and National Dance Agencies throughout the UK want to join us for our celebrations perhaps staying to see two of our opening season performances. Such peer endorsement means a great deal to a new venture such as this.
This Friday has a feeling of the calm before the storm – we know that very soon our current working life will be packed into boxes and transported across the theatre into the new dance centre with its smell of paint, plaster and new carpet. The Lower Gardens in Bournemouth are thronged with visitors (the population doubles in the summer). A wet day with a lowering sky and some families are wandering about looking for things to do. It will be great when we can offer a summer holiday programme in the dance centre with dance, music and family fun. As well as the buckets and spades, ice-creams, balloons and bandstands, of course…

22 days to go

Part of today was spent meeting with Dance Consortium about the Ailey II performance at Pavilion Theatre in March next year. It’s an exciting programme including the legendary Revelations. Ailey aficionados will know it while newcomers need to see it as it’ll be an indelible dance memory. Master classes, workshops and open rehearsals will be offered. I hope the company realises what a plus this is for a venue that’s taking a punt on contemporary dance large-scale for the first time for a while. We are hoping that it’ll draw in audiences from far and wide.
Next – signed off the print for our new programme of courses and classes, over sixty options throughout the week ranging from Krumping through Waacking to Afro-Cuban for Tots. We’re bringing significant employment for artists and teachers locally and further afield. Regional artists and companies are also benefitting from commissioning and performance opportunities. We’ve tried not to duplicate the offer already available in the conurbation, firstly in the interests of not literally or metaphorically speaking – treading on toes, but also in offering something different for refresh those who are already dancing as well as enticing newcomers.
Shannon is with us this week and next on work experience. She started off on the Stride project – a Youth Dance England initiative we hosted at Dartington this year aimed at developing young dance entrepreneurs. She’s been helping Programme Manager, Ian Abbott, set up the Pavilion Dance Young Dancers Performance Group – an open audition process for young people who will create and run their own company in whatever style of dance they choose.
I’ve also been working on the schedule for the DanSCe Dialogues EU Interreg programme which runs from September to April. The call for promoters and artists to take part in the scheme will go out early September.
We also have the auditors in this week, and one of the accountants told me the story of the Italian fishermen who, at the start of every fishing season, pour a liberal amount of good local wine down the throat of the first fish they take from the net and then throw it back into the sea, while watching and waiting for more fish to flood into the net.
While not taking this completely literally (although Pavilion Dance is on the coast) we are offering our first weekend of classes absolutely free to first-comers, as well as some free performances by local companies. So we hope that after that, dancers will be lining up on the seafront for the regular programme!

24 days to go

One of the most interesting things about developing this new space for dance is the partnerships we are forging with other arts and cultural and educational partners. For example, Arts University College at Bournemouth students are designing a wonderful new reception desk for the foyer, and a recent graduate is designing a logo which intermingles the visual identity of ODIA and ourselves, ODIA being a key partner in DanSCe Dialogues the Interreg funded programme which will be launched in September. The two other partners in this scheme are the Centres Choreographiques National in Caen and le Havre and the programme includes, training, residencies and professional meetings, all in the interests of exchange and cross-channel partnership.
We are developing a project with the Russell-Cotes Museum and the Gloucester-based integrated company, Velcro, and have already brokered a partnership with English Folk Dance and Song Society and So We Boys Dance – the all male regional dance group, resulting in a commission to be performed at the Royal Albert Hall and at our Gala on 7 November.
The centre itself now has its new front entrance added and the retractable seating went in yesterday: the normally good-humoured contactors were understandably irritable as we dodged in and out with our visitors. One of the most intriguing things about the design is how the architect, Andrew Lockwood, has managed to combine both the new and the old, preserving orginal features and plasterwork decoration as crisp and clean as cake-icing, that’s 80 years old, with new features such as the glass and steel lift and entrance. Somehow it all works wonderfully and I know that visitors – either artists or people coming to the classes – will enjoy feeling part of that history – not to mention the views over the Lower Gardens from the aptly-named Garden Studio and the sea air blowing into the Seafront Studio. The theatre is called the Ocean Room and it does feel suitably dark and subterranean, as if awaiting the perfomance mysteries to come.
Washing machine and other equipment for the wardrobe and kitchen.The office here is getting more cramped daily and will continue to be so until we move into the new offices in the dance centre around 26 August. We also have the auditors in today hoping for a spare desk. Strange to think that we will all be exploring and inhabiting all that new space in such a short time.
By the way – we have some clean white walls in the foyer, which would be great for exhibiting dance photos and art but we’ve run out of money: anyone out there want to help with a hanging system?

25 days to go

Monday morning and a full week ahead. Chief Executive of the Borough coming to see the space. Great that interest is being shown at that level but that has been so all through the scheme – everyone seems to feel sense of pride and ownership. Planning the launches this afternoon – final details that is – with new staff member, Louise, who has certainly been thrown in at the deep end. We have been fortunate in enlisting support through Creative and Cultural Skills from Future Jobs Fund, five posts in fact and what a shame this scheme will be cut next year. We’ve been able to give the opportunity to five young people to work variously as admin. or project assistant and in technical posts and it’s been wonderful to see them grow in confidence and skills through getting alongside this somewhat daunting project. They will certainly take what they’ve learned from us into the future .
Answered an interesting survey from a student last week – post-grad at Birkbeck – on what makes an effective cultural leader. Confidence, ability to make decisions, flexibility, appreciating the worth of people working at whatever level and a certain resilience on the basis that not everything goes well but that’s inevitable and there is always scope for ingenious recovery. I think that if it’s harder for women at the moment to become Cultural Leaders that’s in part because we’ve lost ground generally in our aspirations. Proof? The young FJF receptionist automatically assumed the Borough Chief Executive was a man. No – she’s a woman!
This week we are signing off our classes brochure, launching TRI – an ambitious new mentoring programme for artists meeting with Arts and Business, and with Dance Consortium about the Alvin Ailey promotion next March in the Main auditorium. A first for this venue and the area.