Nigel Hinds, the chief at a Euston dance theatre tells Richard Hodkinson why the institution’s services are unique

EIGHTEEN months into his job at The Place Theatre, executive director Nigel Hinds is having a hard time explaining why he is not the most important man in the world of British contemporary dance.
“Mine isn’t the biggest dance job in the country,” he says. “The Place operates in these distinct areas; the dance school, theatre and dance company. Each of these sections has a director and between the four of us we run the establishment.”
Nonetheless he has to concede: “If it were just one person running these different departments then, yes, that would undoubtedly be the biggest job in contemporary dance.”
The Place is one of the key institutions in the European arts scene, but also has one of the lowest public profiles of all the nation’s big-hitting cultural establishments.
Of immense importance to the dance community, the public is less aware of its activities than they might be, a problem Nigel Hinds and his fellow directors are keen to address.
Sited in view of Euston Station in elegant Duke’s Road, the extensive complex of rehearsal studios, theatre, café and offices fill what used to be the headquarters of the Middlesex Artists’ Rifles.
The present theatre, which seats 300 and offers near-perfect site-lines, used to be the regimental drill hall. The former officers’ mess is now one of the eight studios and a café has replaced the firing range.
The Place’s summer of dance classes and activities for dancers of all ages and abilities has been part of its programme to build a new audience for dance. Mr Hinds can reflect on how, from modest origins, the company has burgeoned into a unique organisation.
“The name of the theatre here is the Robin Howard Theatre,” he says. “He was a well-off entrepreneur – a restaurateur, I think – who saw a performance by the Martha Graham company in America. This fired his enthusiasm and, as we didn’t have anything quite like that at the time in the UK, he paid for British students to travel to the US to train with Martha. Eventually he persuaded Robert Cohan from her group to come over here and help establish a contemporary dance culture.”
The original school was established in Berners Place in 1967, moving to the present site in 1969, and provided training for students who would eventually form the London Contemporary Dance Theatre.
Work with schools followed as did regular open classes for dancers not yet ready to take part in full-time professional training.
Eventually, The Place’s current policy of providing dance for all emerged. But recent years have arguably been the most exciting in the organisation’s history. Mr Hinds explains: “By the late 1990s it was clear that The Place needed to invest in itself more. The building was becoming pretty decrepit and, after local authority grants for students dried up, the intake was coming from an increasingly narrow pool – those with wealthier parents.
“To counter-balance these factors, £7 million of Lottery funding was spent in extending and refurbishing the building and the school got together with Rada to form a higher education body making it much easier for students to get government funding.
“The organisation now has much greater confidence now that we are no longer living hand-to-mouth.”
In addition to presenting a full programme of international dance, The Place’s resident professional group, the Richard Alston Dance Company is in increasing demand abroad.
Mr Hinds said: “We run 14 different classes on Saturdays for ages five to 18 and run two youth dance groups.
“Our access classes are open to absolutely anyone.”
Mr Hinds is particularly proud of a project this year that uses dance as a tool to aid schools teach the physics curriculum, a programme that was developed with Islington’s Winton School, King’s Cross.
Plans devised by Mr Hinds and his fellow directors Richard Alston, Veronica Lewis and John Ashford, include further expansion of studio space which already amounts to 1,300 square metres.
As Mr Hinds explains: “Contemporary dance will never be as exciting as it could be unless we open our doors to people from every walk of life while continuing to develop those most talented dancers and choreographers.
“Auditions for the school have taught us that students from the UK don’t have the same level of technical skills than those from other EU countries, so we’ve started regional courses to improve this. We run the country’s only major award for choreography, the £25,000 Place Prize.
“These are all important initiatives and no other dance organisation in the world offers our range and quality of services – nowhere can match our diversity of activities and audience.
“But we have to continue to develop the next generation of audiences as well as dancers or we’re wasting our time.”

• The Place, 17 Duke’s Road, WC1. For details of events including dance classes and workshops. Call 020 7388 8430 or visit www.theplace.org.uk