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Celebrating 35 years – An exciting visit

20th September 2023

We’re slightly later than usual this week with our blog celebrating our 35th birthday, because we wanted to wait until we could tell you more about an important visit and meeting that we hosted yesterday.

We were delighted to welcome Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England and Peter Knott, Area Director for the Midlands, to our creative space in Leamington Town Hall and then to our office and studio in Spencer Yard later in the day. As an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation, it was great to have the opportunity to tell Darren and Peter more about our work and to show them around the spaces where we make our touring productions, teach, train, mentor and inspire.

Darren and Peter were able to see our space in action as we welcomed 31 young dancers from across the country on a professional training course led by our Rehearsal Director, Junior Cunningham and dancers, Alex De La Bastide, Joel Pradas Reguill and Llewelyn Brown.

The day was also an opportunity for some of our local Councillors, Matt Western MP and a group of the executive team from Warwick District Council, to meet with Darren and Peter to talk about the plans for the local area, and to show them the latest Creative Quarter developments in Spencer Yard, with a tour of the refurbished spaces of our new neighbours Cogent and SAE.

We can never really say this enough: a huge thank you to Arts Council England for our funding as a National Portfolio Organisation, without which we simply could not make our work and run our inspirational teaching and training activities. Thanks too to Warwick District Council for their support as one of the district’s four Creative Partners.

Thanks to Darren and Peter for taking the time to visit us, and to everyone else who joined us for what was a brilliant day celebrating creativity, culture, the arts, and the future of the local community. #LetsCreate