| The Place | |
|---|---|
| Camden,London | |
_Rifle_Volunteers%2527_drill_hall_(former)%2c_Duke%2527s_Road%2c_Holborn_2014-10-30_(15531820368).jpg) The Place | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Drill Hall |
| Location | |
  The Place Location within London | |
| Coordinates | 51°31′38″N0°7′43″W / 51.52722°N 0.12861°W /51.52722; -0.12861 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1888–1889 |
| Built for | War Office |
| Architect | Robert Edis |
| In use | 1889 – present |
The Place is adance andperformance centre in Duke's Road nearEuston in theLondon Borough of Camden. It is the home ofLondon Contemporary Dance School and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, and formerly theRichard Alston Dance Company.
The building was designed byRobert William Edis as the headquarters of the20th Middlesex (Artists') Volunteer Rifle Corps and built by Charles Kynoch and Company of Clapham between 1888 and 1889.[1] It was officially opened by thePrince of Wales.[1] The 20th Middlesex (Artists') Volunteer Rifle Corps became the28th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Artists' Rifles) in 1908.[2] The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to theWestern Front.[3] When the London Regiment was broken up and the battalions reallocated to other units in August 1937, the hall became the home of theArtists Rifles, The Rifle Brigade.[4] The unit was disbanded in 1945, after theSecond World War, but reformed again in the Rifle Brigade in January 1947 but transferred to theArmy Air Corps in July 1947 as the21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists Rifles).[5] The drill hall fell vacant when the 21st Special Air Service Regiment moved out to theDuke of York's Headquarters in the late 1960s.[6]
The drill hall, which had been colloquially known as "The Artists Place", became simply "The Place" when the Contemporary Ballet Trust took over the premises in 1969.[7] In 1976, the Contemporary Ballet Trust, under the leadership ofRobin Howard, acquired the freehold of the premises as well as a site in Flaxman Terrace so facilitating an extension studio block to be built.[7]
In 1971,The Royal Shakespeare Company leased the building to provide them with a venue for new writing, experimental work and "small-scale examination of…classical work". The director wasBuzz Goodbody.[8][9]
Later in the 1970s, the Contemporary Ballet Trust established theLondon Contemporary Dance School and theLondon Contemporary Dance Theatre, both of which were formed at The Place; in 1994, the latter body was succeeded by theRichard Alston Dance Company which remained in residence at The Place until 2020.[10] Then in 1999, a major redevelopment programme, principally funded by theNational Lottery, allowed the refurbishment of the original drill hall and the replacement of the studio block with six new state-of-the-art dance studios designed by architectsAllies and Morrison.[11] Two further dance studios, the Weston Studio and the Monument Studio, were added in 2008.[12]
From 2004 to 2013,Bloomberg sponsoredThe Place Prize, a large contemporary choreography competition.[13] In September 2007,Kenneth Tharp OBE took up the new position of Chief Executive of The Place.[14] Tharp stepped down in November 2016 and was replaced, as interim chief executive, by Steven Browning. In summer 2017, Clare Connor was permanently appointed to the post.[15][16]
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