PRESS RELEASE

17 March 2014

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN MEETS COIN STREET’S ‘MERCURY MOVERS’

Members of the over-60s contemporary dance class – Mercury Movers – will meet Her Majesty The Queen on 21 March when, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, she officially opens the new home of Rambert, Britain’s national dance company. The Mercury Movers dance class is one of over 10 different classes for people of all ages, levels and abilities developed by social enterprise Coin Street Community Builders and Rambert to bring local people the opportunity to explore dance and get active.

The new building, 12 years in the planning, is on a site on Upper Ground, London SE1, in the heart of London’s South Bank, owned by social enterprise Coin Street Community Builders [CSCB]. CSCB has provided the site to Rambert in return for delivery of an extensive community dance programme in the local area [and a rent of one pair of ballet shoes a year].

As well as the Mercury Movers class for the over-60s, there are Little Movers classes [for 2-4 year olds] and classes for Mini Movers [5-7 years] together with a range of classes for older children, young people and adults at a variety of levels. Over the Easter holidays are two weeks of classes for children and young people.

All ages and abilities are welcomed into the new building to join in the classes but people living in the Coin Street area benefit from reduced rates. Since the dance engagement programme started at the end of last year, 325 individuals from the local area have participated in the dance programme and workshops and 6 local schools are benefitting from free workshops.

Iain Tuckett, Group Director of CSCB: “The unique partnership between Coin Street and Rambert has been in the making for over 12 years. Today the dancers have the facilities they deserve and our local community has the opportunity to engage with this supreme art form. I am delighted and honoured its importance is recognised with the official opening of the building by Her Majesty.”

ENDS

PRESS CONTACT: Natalie Ridgway or Kim Creus at Coin Street Community Builders

Tel: 020 7021 1680 or email: or

NOTES FOR EDITORS

COIN STREET COMMUNITY BUILDERS (CSCB) is a development trust and social enterprise which seeks to make the South Bank a better place in which to live, to do business, to study, and to visit. Since 1984 CSCB has transformed a largely derelict site into a thriving mixed-use neighbourhood. It has overseen the completion of the South Bank riverside walkway; the creation of Bernie Spain Gardens and Gabriel’s Wharf; the refurbishment of Oxo Tower Wharf; and the building of 220 homes for people in housing need. CSCB provides a diverse range of arts and events in Bargehouse and gallery@oxo. From the Coin Street neighbourhood centre on Stamford Street, the Coin Street family and children’s centre provides an integrated range of programmes - including an 84-place nursery. CSCB also programmes activities for young people, adults and older people and provides access to training and employment support.
The new headquarters for Rambert is part of a major mixed development on Coin Street’s Doon Street site. The development will also include a public swimming pool and indoor leisure centre, flats for sale, an educational/office building, and a new town square adjacent to Waterloo Bridge - a temporary bar and restaurant is planned for this area which is expected to open in the summer.
RAMBERT is Britain’s national contemporary dance company. Under the award-winning artistic direction of Mark Baldwin, the company creates bold, ambitious works and performs for audiences throughout the UK and beyond. It brings together the world’s most exciting choreographers, musicians, designers and others with a world-class ensemble of 22 dancers. Founded by Marie Rambert in 1926, Britain’s oldest dance company is firmly focussed on the new; retaining its founder’s pioneering commitment to new choreography and developing dancers as artists, and seeking new ways to engage people of all ages in watching, creating and performing dance.
Press contact: Cat McNaught, Press Manager at Rambert on 020 8630 0612 or
COIN STREET’S COMMUNITY DANCE PROGRAMME WITH RAMBERT
Coin Street Community Builders has provided Rambert with a unique opportunity to move their company headquarters to a new, purpose-built home at the heart of London’s South Bank. In return for an affordable community dance programme in the local area, and for the peppercorn rent of one pair of ballet shoes a year, a plot of land has been made available to Rambert by Coin Street. Rambert took up residency in its new home in December 2013. The state-of-the-art building includes dance studios, treatment and body conditioning rooms, workshops, offices and an archive. As a centre for choreography, it cements Rambert’s status as one of the world’s great dance companies.
The new building is also the base for Coin Street’s exciting community dance programme. Residents who live within the Coin Street neighbourhood area are offered reduced rates for classes, starting at £30 for children when booking a block of 12 classes. There will be various opportunities throughout the year for the community to take part in activities and talks with Rambert’s dancers, as well as to observe dance classes and rehearsals.