New dance programme for young people comes to The Marlowe Theatre
The Marlowe Theatre have announced that they’ll be home to Cygnet School, a dance training programme for young people who come from under-privilege backgrounds.
Working in collaboration with The Marlowe, the project will be based there for the next three years, starting in July 2021.
The new project has been set up by New Adventures and funded by The Dorfman Foundation, an art promoting charity.
New Adventures is a successful British dance company which was set up by English choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne.
It will allow 12 young dancers from all over the UK and between the ages of 12-24 to participate in monthly workshops at the Canterbury theatre.
‼️NEWS ALERT‼️
We are thrilled to announce our brand-new training programme, Cygnet School, principally funded by #TheDorfmanFoundation. The programme will be resident @marlowetheatre in Canterbury for the next 3 years.
Read more: https://t.co/cnjv9Sn8sL
(1/4)— New Adventures (@New_Adventures) May 6, 2021
The dozen dancers were selected through work they had already done with New Adventures in recent years.
The Marlowe Chief Executive, Deborah Shaw, told their website: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with New Adventures on this project and we are very much looking forward to welcoming the first Cygnet School cohort to our theatre in July.
“We are passionate about levelling up access to the performing arts and the impact of the pandemic over the last year has made this more important than ever.”
“Passionate about diversifying the industry”
Speaking to The Marlowe, Sir Matthew Bourne said: “This past year has highlighted an ever more urgent need to address the lack of accessible opportunities to enter the arts.
“New Adventures are passionate about diversifying the industry and celebrating talent from across a broad spectrum of backgrounds. The launch of Cygnet School is an important cornerstone in our commitment to increasing diverse representation within the arts.
“We are sincerely thankful to The Dorfman Foundation for their support and encouragement of this pioneering programme, and to The Marlowe for welcoming Cygnet School to their building.”