DanceEast in Ipswich Waterfront is celebrating 40 years in business

Having allowed tens of thousands of people to place their dreams centre stage, a dance organisation in Ipswich is celebrating a major milestone this year.

Founded in 1983, DanceEast, now based at the corner of Foundry Lane and St Peter’s Wharf on the waterfront, started life as an outreach programme, spreading the art form for expression, wellbeing and education to those who may otherwise be left out.

Founder Dr Scilla Dyke and her team – back when the firm was known as Suffolk Dance – would go into schools across the county introduce the art form to young children.

Now in its 40th year, it is a very different organisation, but its ethos of making dance available for all still sits at its heart.

DanceEast offers a space for anyone in the East of England, with activities on offer ranging from dance classes in various types and genres, dance sessions for people with disabilities and even facilities for innovative visual artists.

Lucy Bayliss, DanceEast’s head of creative programmes, who has been with the organisation for 17 years, said it was vital it continued to move forward and evolve.

She said: “Forty years is a long time for any company and we’ve had to continue innovating and adapting.

“It’s important to keep things going and operating within different sectors, and have a huge network and range of partners, which now includes schools, authorities, venues and theatre companies.

“In any given season we could have as many as eight theatre companies using our services, and we still perform outreach in more than 50 schools.”

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, DanceEast started its ‘Move Be Moved 40’ campaign, which heard testimonies from those who use its services.

It also increased slots available on its bursary scheme, opening up dance classes to 19 more young people during the Spring and Summer terms, thanks to funding from Suffolk Community Foundation’s RJB Grantmaking Fund and Suffolk Community Foundation’s Maurken Fund.

DanceEast moved into its now-iconic home in Jerwood DanceHouse on Ipswich Waterfront in 2009.

At its disposal are a 200-seat theatre, large dance studios, a therapy and treatment room and digital suites.

A 360-degree green screen room – known as its ‘digital playground’ – is a recent addition.

Among DaceEast’s flagship programmes is its Centre for Advanced Training (CAT), with funding from the Department of Education, which helps kickstart careers in the dance industry for teenagers.

It trains youngsters aged 10 to 18, before they move onto professional courses.

Tom Bowes, the manager of the CAT scheme, said it was a key part of his job to nurture potential.

He said it was deeply rewarding to look back at the 15 years of world-class dance training and support that the CAT programme has provided to young dancers from across the East of England.

He estimated that over 400 people discovered the joy of dance through the scheme.

Among the CAT’s alumni are Meghan Stevens and Jack William Parry.

Meghan, who is from Cambridgeshire, joined in 2012, before moving to Northern School of Contemporary Dance – eventually working with many iconic names in the dance industry, including Russell Maliphant, Tom Dale Company, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and BalletBoyz.

Jack attended the CAT between 2012 and 2015, while a student at Suffolk One.

He went on to train at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, before a successful career on the screen and stage, including performing in the world tour of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, and an appearance in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.

He recently joined the Prologue Company of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, a West End Theatre in Westminster.

Speaking of his experiences, Jack said ‘resilience, professionalism, courage, versatility’ were what was taught to him at DanceEast, and advised other young dancers to be ‘brave, bold and beautiful’ when pursuing their own dreams.

Lucy said funding for the CAT helps talented people who may come from less privileged backgrounds get their foot in the door.

This was echoed by Niamh Keady, who secured a place at the CAT due to a bursary. She said without it, she wouldn’t be in professional training today.

She added: “CAT opened up so many doors for me, from learning dance techniques, choreographing, how to take care of my body and myself as well as invaluable opportunities to perform.

“The teachers and support staff are brilliant, the advice and support they've given me over my four years there I remember well now. CAT helped me grow as a person as well as a dancer.”

Lucy said the main focus of our anniversary is reinforcing the belief that big, ambitious ideas belong in all places.

“Some people may come to us as youngsters with little to no experience, and we help open up a whole range of career opportunities,” she said.

“There’s also the other side to what we do – outreach – that anyone can dance. It doesn’t have to be about talent. You can just have a boogie, or enjoy the exercise, or just watch a show. It’s a common misconception that you have to be good at an art form to enjoy it.”

DanceEast has also pushed for working closer with technology in recent years.

Using its digital suites, artists have created work for virtual reality, online audiences and theatre performances.

For example, Lucy said, artists Morgs and Jess integrated digital tech into a rendition of the Scottish ballet Coppellia.

This saw onstage filming and projections run simultaneously with the live performance, featuring recorded footage in the background and projections of dancers.

With a musician for a father and a ballet teacher for a mother, Lucy said a career in the arts was almost inevitable.

“I love the job,” Lucy said. “On a very basic level, dance brings people joy, whether its rolling around on the floor with their toddler, or feeling better about living with Parkinson’s Disease (another service DanceEast offers) by being able to coordinate their mobility through dance.

“I get to enjoy that in a way.”