Dance in Aberdeen
Aberdeen has seen dance move centre stage over the past six months. It has seen Scottish Ballet perform at the Royal Gala reopening of His Majesty’s Theatre, after having undergone major construction and upgrading, and the appointments of renowned choreographer and director Ian Spink as Artistic Director of Citymoves, and dance development officer Laura Buchanan and Traditional dance artist Pat Ballantyne.
After 18 months of major construction and upgrading, His Majesty’s Theatre re-opened on 8 September 2005 with a Royal Gala attended by the theatre’s patron, HRH the Earl of Wessex. Outside, the far end of the Grade A-listed granite building boasts an airy glass and granite extension with an expansive box-office counter. The décor in the venue's auditorium has also undergone a major restoration, with the balconies and balusters in lustrous creamy-white and the carvings and frieze picked out in detailed gold.
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This was also a welcome back to Scottish Ballet, a company who itself has undergone major renovation in the past 18 months. Fresh from a triumphant performance at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, the dancers performed two of the three Balanchine works that earned the company a Herald Angel. |
Scottish Ballet’s repertoire also featured a trio of short pieces by artistic director Ashley Page: the Pump Room, Walking in the Heat and 32 Cryptograms.
Renowned choreographer and director Ian Spink has joined the team at Aberdeen's citymoves dance space as artistic director.
Ian heads up the team at citymoves, which comprises:
- two part-time dance development officers,
- a youth development dance officer - funded by the Big Lottery
- a team of around 10 dance tutors who lead both studio-based classes and outreach work and
- a general manager and administrator.
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Originally from Melbourne, Ian trained at the Australian Ballet School and danced and choreographed with the Australian Ballet, Australian Dance Theatre and the Dance Company of New South Wales before moving to London in 1977. |
There he performed with Richard Alston and dancers prior to starting his own group in 1978.
In 1982, he co-founded Second Stride with Siobhan Davies in London and later became sole artistic director until 1996. Second Stride also provided dance and movement elements for various opera productions with Scottish Opera, English National Opera, Opera North and Welsh National Opera.
Since 1996, Ian has continued his freelance work in Wales, London and Holland, including choreography for Rambert Dance Company and directing with the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.
citymoves' aim is to provide opportunities for all sorts of people to engage with dance, as participants, performers and audiences. Ian is keen to raise the profile and awareness of this work.
Ian is keen to help make the performing arts - especially dance - more available and accessible to people. He aims to to do this by supporting a range of new, quality performances and productions made available to people through ticket offers and programming - for example, encouraging events such as the recent Royal Ballet performance that was screened in the Duthie Park, live from the Royal Opera House.
Another of Ian’s priorities will also be to build on citymoves' current professional development programme for dancers, choreographers and dance tutors. During his time with Second Stride, Ian gained experience developing and facilitating high level multi-disciplinary workshops where selected professionals from different areas of music, theatre, visual arts and performance could work together and create 'theatre experiments'. These three to four-week workshops called 'Fast + Dirty' not only provided a safe place in which to generate ideas, but a platform where these ideas could be presented to an outside audience for feedback.
Joining Ian Spink at citymoves is Laura Buchanan as Dance Development Officer on a part-time basis, job sharing with Jillian Thomson.
Laura trained with Karen Berry in Aberdeen before accepting a place at Stella Mann College of Dance in London in 1996 where she gained a Diploma in Dance Teaching and Performance and went on to dance professionally in a number of countries before settling back in Aberdeen in 2002.
Laura has worked freelance for citymoves since 2002, until starting her current post of Dance Development Officer.
 
The areas which Laura will have particularly responsibility for developing are: Special Needs, Elevate Youth Dance Company, Great North Partnership and Older People. Laura is combining this with teaching freelance for Karen Berry and running her own school which she founded in 2004.
citymoves dancespace
citymoves is supported by the Scottish Arts Council to promote professional dance practice as part of a network of dance agencies in Scotland. Through a programme of choreographer retreats, residencies, professional development and artist / company support, it encourages the development of new choreography and artistic exploration.
The citymoves studio houses a varied programme of community dance classes, workshops and performance groups. It also serves to raise the profile of dance and provide an information point. The agency promotes a range of dance activities for people of all ages and abilities, both in its city centre studio at the corner of Belmont Street and Schoolhill, and in communities across Aberdeen.
citymoves works in partnership with other agencies in the city to maximise opportunities for dance development in all areas.
The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust (STDT) has established a two-year Dance Artist-in-Residence post in partnership with Aberdeen City Council and with support from the Scottish Arts Council.
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During the year Pat Ballantyne, Traditional Dance Artist, will be active throughout the Aberdeen City area liaising with local dance, music and arts groups, setting up a programme of profile-raising events. |
Working with local agencies to develop and sustain traditional dance for all, and establishing a programme of education and community activities, with the view to form a committed group to continue the work at the end of the project.
Pat, originally from Thurso and Stornoway, started dancing at the age of two. She is an associate member of the British Association of Teachers of Dance and has been teaching Step, Highland Dancing and Ceilidh dancing for years in the Aberdeen area. She has also performed and tought in Europe, most recently in Romania.
Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust
Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust is a national organisation which exists to research, conserve, foster and promote all of Scotland’s dance traditions.
Did you know?
That there are 24 Dance Artist and Dance Development officers spread throughout the local authorities in Scotland. In brief, their role is to provide dance opportunities for all within their local authority and the educational system.
They also develop a calendar of events and promote a wide range of dance. If you would like to find out about dance events and opportunites in your area, contact your local Dance Artist or Development Officer. Details can be found on the Scottish Arts Council Dance Contact list. |
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