One of Europe’s most exciting, innovative dance spaces & home to London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS)
21/07/2026
Behind the scenes sneak peak of BA students getting ready for Colossus by Stephanie Lake Company ✨
After the iconic UK debut of Colossus at the Southbank Centre, our graduates are now gearing up for a week of performances at Galway International Arts Festival Galway International Arts Festival and we’re super excited!
📷 Jemima Yong
20/07/2026
We are delighted to share that Alan Bishop CBE, former Chair of The Place, has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to culture, public service and the creative industries.
Accepting the award, Alan reflected: “I have spent my entire working life in what is now called the creative industries, from the not-for-profit cultural world to the maximum-profit world of advertising and marketing, and what has connected them all has been creativity.”
As Chair of The Place from 2018, Alan championed artists and students, believing that creativity flourishes when people are given the confidence to take risks, ask questions and think ambitiously. It was especially meaningful to celebrate Alan at this year’s graduation ceremony, surrounded by the next generation of dance artists whose careers he has done so much to nurture.
Coming just weeks after receiving a CBE for services to Leadership in the Creative Industries, this honorary doctorate is a fitting recognition of a lifetime dedicated to culture, creativity and public service.
Congratulations, Alan, and thank you from all of us at The Place.
Today we celebrate the Class of 2026 as they graduate in a joint ceremony hosted by at Royal Festival Hall 🎓
This year’s graduating batch includes students on our world-leading BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance Performance, MA Dance: Performance, MA Screendance, and the very first cohort of our uniquely global MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism
We can’t wait to see where your creativity, curiosity and courage take you next.
Congratulations, Class of 2026. Wherever your journey leads, you’ll always be part of The Place. 💫
DIS(Information) by Benjamin Jonsson in collaboration with MA Dance: Performance Cohort 02
DIS(Information) by in collaboration with MA Dance: Performance Cohort 02
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Credits:
Director and Choreographer: Benjamin Jonsson
Production company: Ocurens
Executive Producer: Elisa Joanna Känd
Executive Producer: Emmanuelle Le Chat
Producer: Evgenia Avramidou
Supported by: The Place
Music: Mount XLR
Director of Photography: Ben Marshall .dop
Stills Photographer: Madison Blair .madisonblair
Editor: Georgie Daley
Grade: Sharon Chung at Wash London
BTS videographer: Kaasam Aziz
Stylist: Yeon You
Hair Stylist: Yui Ozaki
Make-up Artist: Sophie Gia
Set Designer: Ciaran Beale
Graphic Designer: Morgan Ruby
Choreographic Assistant: Matt Antonucci
Course Leader: Tom English .terrafirma
Unit Leader:
Tina Afiyan Breiova
Andrew Sanger .sang
Aishwarya Raut
MADP Graduate Assistant: Laure Dubanet
MADP Graduate Assistant: Quincey Kawahara
Dancers from London Contemporary Dance School’s MA Dance: Performance Cohort 02:
Jack Algar, Léna Anastasi, Ronan Cardoza, Cheng Cheng, Esther Cheong, Cynthia Cheung, Lu Deng, Lindsay Dreyer, Kalea Escobosa, Jamie Gibson, Chiara Martina Halter, Taylor Hughes, Ka Ki Christina Lai, Saya Liu, Yimeng Liu, Julia Lupascu, Nadia Malaya, Nicole Maltezaki, Eliott Meunier, Shane Murray, Weronika Orzelek, Em Pye, Catrin Thomas, Kadin Vanden Heuvel, Ying Yen, Yvonne Wang, Suki Won, Fenglin Yang, Clarice Yu, Jie Zhou
Cert HE students rehearsing their year end piece, choreographed by LCDS alumni
Missing Colossus rehearsal hours in our studios!
“Dance is an extraordinarily hard artform, you can never perfect it. You have to be comfortable with a nebulous place of discovery all the time. It’s always a journey, it still is a journey for me.” – Stephanie Lake’s advice to young dancers as they prepare to enter the industry