Richard Alston- Strider

Alston joined the LCDS in 1967, describing The Place at the time as “very erratically organised which allowed for a lot of freedom” and that there was a “great interest in alternative work back then”

Due to this freedom Alston was one of the early students who were encouraged to create and experiment with his own style of choreography

He eventually moved on from LCDT as he:

• Was not particularly interested in the Graham techniques Despite

• Wanted to take risks in his work (Which did not dit with LCDT’s aim to appeal to wider audiences)

• There was too many ideas and students at The Place for it to function simple as a training centre for LCDT

In 1972 he took three other dancers from The Place who he found interesting and who weren’t going to join the company and formed Strider

Strider was the first independent company to deal with modern/post-modern dance

To summarise the work of strider:

• Alston’s approach was much more formal than the dramatic Graham-based style of LCDT

• Was influences by a combination of Cunningham technique, ballet and T’ai Chi

• Taking dance to unusual venues

• Not all of the work was created by Alston- other company members contributed works

• Some of the work was closer to performance art than dance

• The company became interested in the work of Mary Fullerton and spent time learning about release and contact improvisation

• Work that concentrated on basic principles of dance

• Some works were improvised during the performance and some were site-specific

• Strider only survived for 3 years but it was a formative influence in establishing an independent Modern Dance sector in Britain and contributing to the New Dance Movement