Pineapple Dance Studios is a dance studio complex, performing arts school, and associated dancewear, clothing, and eyewear brand, based in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England.
Origin
Pineapple Studios was founded by former model
Debbie Moore
Debbie Moore OBE (born Dorothy Moore, 31 May 1946) is an English retired model and businesswoman who founded the Pineapple Dance Studios and its associated clothing brand. She was the first woman to float a company on the London Stock Exchang ...
, who had started dance lessons to alleviate weight gain caused by hypothyroidism. Following the closure of her local dance studio in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, she failed to find a suitable alternative, so decided to open her own studio in the area. Pineapple Dance Studios opened in 1979, based in a former pineapple warehouse from which the company gets its name. The site continues to house the dance studios, as well as being the headquarters of the Pineapple Performing Arts School and the studios' associated dancewear and clothing brand.
Pineapple Studios
Originally intended as a drop-in dance centre, Pineapple Studios is a complex of 12 dance studios that are used for various purposes. The studios host over 200 scheduled dance classes each week, open to studio members and the public, however the studios have become most notable for their extensive use by the entertainments industry as a venue for rehearsals, castings and recordings. Clients who use the studios include notable
dance companies
This is a list of notable Dance troupe, dance and Ballet company, ballet companies.
Notes
References
See also
*List of folk dance performance groups
*List of ballet companies in the United States
*List of dancers
{{Dance
Dance compa ...
,
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
s,
television network
A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...
s,
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...
s,
West End shows,
cruise line
A cruise line is a company (law), company that operates cruise ships that operate on Cruising (maritime), ocean or River cruise, rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from Passenger ship, passenger lines whic ...
s,
talent, and
model agencies. It is also well known as a rehearsal studio used by celebrities, which have included
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
,
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
,
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...
, and
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
. According to
BBC London
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...
, it is "one of the world's premier dance studios" and Ballet.co.uk called it a "mecca for dancers". Class Teachers are similarly renowned and include international choreographers such as Rose Alice Larkings.
The location, in London's West End "Theatre Land" was a key factor of its success. In her book, ''When a Woman Means Business'', Debbie Moore wrote: "In my case, I knew Covent Garden was the right area".
The studios were the setting for the 2010
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
docusoap ''
Pineapple Dance Studios
Pineapple Dance Studios is a dance studio complex, performing arts school, and associated dancewear, clothing, and eyewear brand, based in London, England.
Origin
Pineapple Studios was founded by former model Debbie Moore, who had started dan ...
''.
Clothing brand
Having been regularly employed by the clothing and textiles company
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtauld ...
, Debbie Moore was also experienced in clothing design and manufacture. During the early 1980s, she began developing her own line of dance-wear, including using
Lycra
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity (physics), elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont.
Name
The name ''spandex'', which ...
, which at that time was not a widely used fabric. She sold her designs through a shop at the dance studios and this ultimately led to the formation of the Pineapple clothing brand.
Louie Spence
Louie Spence (born 6 April 1969) is an English dancing, dancer, choreographer and television presenter, best known for the TV show ''Pineapple Dance Studios (TV series), Pineapple Dance Studios''. He was a professional dancer in his youth, perfo ...
and Debbie Moore launched the Pineapple Eye-wear range of glasses on 4 August 2010 at Pineapple Dance Studios.
Documentary
A docusoap following Pineapple Studios and its employees such as
Louie Spence
Louie Spence (born 6 April 1969) is an English dancing, dancer, choreographer and television presenter, best known for the TV show ''Pineapple Dance Studios (TV series), Pineapple Dance Studios''. He was a professional dancer in his youth, perfo ...
and
Andrew Stone were first shown on 14 February 2010 on
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
. With narration by ex-BBC newsreader
Michael Buerk
Michael Duncan Buerk (; born 18 February 1946) is a British journalist and newsreader. He presented BBC News from 1973 to 2002 and has been the host of BBC Radio 4's '' Moral Maze'' since 1990. He was also the presenter of BBC One's docudrama ...
, it was a documentary that included impromptu dancing and the promotional tag-line: "Pineapple Dance Studios: Where careers are made, dreams are broken, bitching is an Olympic sport and everyone is fabulous!".
References
External links
Pineapple Dance StudiosPineapple Performing Arts SchoolPineapple Dance Studios – Documentary
{{authority control
Dance schools in the United Kingdom
Dance in London
Dancewear companies