“Our aim throughout was to create a fertile ground for artistic research and for creative study”

Did you know that Ashford is about to become one of the centres of British dance theatre? Well, technically, the process began in 2012 when the Jasmin Vardimon Company (@jasminvardimoncompany) moved to the Stour Centre.

A pioneering force with a reputation for creating challenging, exciting and visually stunning dance productions, the company has been both critically acclaimed and widely respected internationally since its creation in 1998.
The company moved into its new home in Javelin Way just a few months ago and this will become a world-class cultural centre dedicated to creative research and future productions, educational residencies and multi-disciplinary artistic study. To put it in short terms, it’s going to do a lot of good sh*t in both the dance world and local communities. So, how on Earth did it end up here?

“The nature of Jasmin’s work is such that we need large spaces,” says executive director Ian Ross. “Before, we were split between London and the south coast - our offices were in Brighton and we were rehearsing in London.”
So when Kent County Council and Ashford Borough Council stepped forward with the Stour Centre, it was the perfect next step, with the high-speed connections into London.
“It was a perfect moment,” says Ian. “It was one of those serendipitous things where they were wanting to think about their creative culture and future, and we were looking for a space.”

The company’s ethos of nurturing talent through their training programmes, offering apprenticeships, internships and educational support, meant that Ashford was a great place to find new talent.
“I’m always interested in nurturing artists and encouraging their development,” says Jasmin. “Obviously you can do it in London, but there is so much in London, so it was much more interesting to come to a place that had that hunger and need of development.

“Our aim throughout was to create a fertile ground for artistic research and for creative study. And to have a space that we don’t just create but where there is a cross-pollination with collaborating with different artists, developing young students, all bringing their own knowledge, their own experience, and it’s about that kind of dialogue.”
One of the success stories of the JV2 programme is Kent-born Donny Ferris, who graduated through the courses to become a company dancer. With 120 graduates since its inception (87% of whom now work in the industry), the company has also attracted international dancers - like Aoi and Esteban, who we interviewed in ‘cene #22 - that have stayed in Kent and are setting up their own creative projects here. The new centre will comprise three large creative spaces, including one with its own tiered theatre seating, plus office and breakout space and a communal cafe.

“Our idea of the building is really to have that kind of a space at home for us to develop our own work but also to share our knowledge and experience with others,” says Jasmin.

“But it’s not just trained dancers, we also commissioned 14 young choreographers, and we work with universities and have a lighting designer who is about to graduate and come in to work with us, and a costume designer from London University of Arts who is working with us.
“The idea is to support this young generation - to give them the opportunity because that gap from being a student to being professional is an extremely hard gap to bridge and a lot of people drop after they finish their university training because it’s so hard.”
The building will also act as a location for the community to come and share in the work that Jasmin’s team are producing.
“What this facility gives us is the opportunity to be more outward-facing,” says Ian. “So the cafe that you’ve just walked through will be open all the time so people can come in and be a part of it. You can start to create that rich mix of people.”
The facilities are already being hired by the Royal Opera House in November as training for a production of Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner.
“When we’re not creating something in the space, we’re going to offer it to the industry to come and use it,” says Jasmin. “It’s an incredible facility. You have all the facilities in terms of video projection and streaming and lights and sound and a fully-sprung floor.”
Ian adds: “It makes a change for people coming to Ashford instead of going to London.”
Having toured the UK with Alice in VR Wonderland during the pandemic, the Jasmin Vardimon Company returns to the boards with its new production of ALiCE this autumn.
Described as a “bold reimagining” of Lewis Carrol’s groundbreaking 1865 novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the show will follow in the footsteps of previous production Pinocchio, which for the past six years has played to packed houses across the world.

“I’m interested in a point of view or to show a point of view that is different,” says Jasmin. “This one is very much about going through a period of adolescence.
“But also, on the other side, what happened in the reverse in menopause because I feel, for me, the Red Queen is a menopausal woman. And these are two transitions that a lot of the time are taboos and not spoken about as much.
“I feel the need for these to be acknowledged and more openly spoken about. But it’s more about having young girls understand that they have the power to change - they have the power, like any young person has the power, like Alice, who realised that the queen is just made of card. There are rules, but you can question them. And it’s questioning the rules, questioning what is right and wrong, and having the power to make change.”
Kicking off at this year’s bOing! Festival at the Gulbenkian in Canterbury, the show will tour the UK and culminate at the legendary Sadler’s Wells at the end of October.