My Visit to the Acosta Dance Centre

Jane Lambert

(c) 2023 Melissa Rayne Reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owner

 

During that glorious Indian summer at the beginning of September, I was in London.  I was there for many reasons.  A landmark birthday of someone very dear and close to me.  Open house Sunday at the Royal Opera House and Lincoln's Inn.  A reception at the House of Lords to launch Wales Innovation Week in London.   A webinar on digital enterprise at the Welsh Government's office in Victoia.  And the piȅce de résistance a visit to The Acosta Dance Centre in Woolwich.

As its name indicates, the Centre is a project of Carlos Acosta.   Its mission is "to become an international reference for dance, providing a nurturing space for dance-creative practitioners, industry professionals, and passionate dance enthusiasts."  It is situated a short distance from the Elizabeth Line in the former Royal Arsenal. 

As it is some distance from the West End, Woolwich may not be the most obvious choice for "an international reference for dance" but it is culturally and socially one of the most diverse neighbourhoods of London   It already has several theatres and it now hosts the Thamesmead Festival to which my good friend Melissa Rayne contributed The Tree of Life Emergence.

Melissa also teaches a regular Creative Dance and Improvisation class at the Centre. She gave me a tour of the premises and took the photographs.  I have seen a lot of dance studios over the years and most of them are run down.   The Acosta Centre is one of the most impressive I have ever seen,  Every studio had a well-sprung floor with barres and a pristine feel like a new car in a showroom, but even more impressive were the space and natural light.  

That is perhaps best illustrated by the following photo which I believe to have been the ground floor.

 

However, I think it would be impressive even at night because the light fittings are glorious,

Mel demonstrated her dramatic prowess below which prompted me to stand bras bas.  Unfortunately, I was wearing quite the wrong trousers 

There is a massive range of classes in all styles of dance.    Ballet with great teachers like Denzil Bailey, Diana Conti and Ludovic Ondiviela.  There is also ballroom, contemporary, Cuban, orishas, rumba - you name it.   There are several membership schemes and gift cards.  Fees vary with the teacher and dance style but ballet classes seem to start at around £10 per session.  That is not much more than I pay in the North of England and it is certainly not bad for London.

Although Carlos Acosta founded the Centre it is run by his compatriot Javier Torres. He was one of my favourite dancers at Northern Ballet.  I can't think of a better qualified person to undertake that role.