1994 – Richard Alston Dance Company opened

Choreographer Richard Alston, one of the first cohort of students of London Contemporary Dance School, had been director of Ballet Rambert from 1986 to 1992. In 1994 he opened his own company, Richard Alston Dance Company, after successfully producing his own choreographic work for London Contemporary Dance Theatre at the 1994 Aldeburgh Festival. Alston’s choreography and his company are identified by an intense musicality and confidence, Alston stating: ‘I want the thing you see to be what uplifts you.’ With the establishment of his company, Alston also became artistic director of The Place. The company closed in 2020, just days before the Coronavirus pandemic put Britain into lockdown.