Published: 07 November 2024
On Wednesday 2 October, Staff and students at Urdang, part of the Department of Performing Arts at City St George’s, University of London, hosted Urdang at the Steps, an annual celebration of diversity, culture and the arts through talks, performances, special guests, music, dance and food, hosted at Senate House. Staff from St George’s School of Health and Medical Sciences attended this inspirational event.
Dismantling barriers
David Blake, Director of Urdang, shared the following at the event:
“Urdang began as a ballet school in Covent Garden, founded by Leonie Urdang, who moved to London after witnessing the atrocities of apartheid in South Africa. She established the school with goal of dismantling the barriers that created divisions in the dance world. Over the years the school evolved to include dance and musical theatre, a transition spearheaded by her daughter Solange.
In 2022, Urdang joined City, University of London integrating with City's music programme to form the Performing Arts Department within the School of Communication and Creativity led by Dean Anna Whitelock and Head of Performing Arts Rob Archibald. I joined as Director of Urdang after a successful international career that included over 17 years performing in the West End.
- David Blake, Director of Urdang -
“Students from around the world attend Urdang to train in Musical Theatre and Dance and take advantage of its central location and state-of-the art studios and facilities. Many alumni go on to take starring roles on stage and screen, including in West-End shows like Chicago, Hamilton and Les Misérables.
“Today, Urdang stands as a shining example of inclusion and diversity within the performing arts industry. Its commitment to excellence is evident in the impressive statistic that 97% of graduates secure agent representation. Alumni are cast in an impressive 32 out of the 35 West End productions, with many going on to win Olivier Awards, What's On Stage Awards and receive Grammy nominations”
Lynsey McDougall, Principal, Artistic Director & Senior Lecturer (Dance), spoke at the event, saying:
“Merging with City brought great benefits to Urdang and it is hugely exciting to see where the future will take us and our talented students at City St George’s.”
Powerful collaboration
Sandra Ashton, Education Project Manager, coordinated a visit from several staff from our Tooting campus, including Chantelle Simpson and Jacob Ashton, Co-Chairs of the Young Staff Network.
Speaking about the event, Sandra said:
“This was an inspirational experience for me.
To see the hard work, excellence and professionalism of our young students was impressive, and to hear the positive reflections of academic staff on the richness that being part of the City St George's blended family has brought to the academy and the students was very powerful.
- Sandra Ashton, Education Project Manager -
Chantelle Simpson added:
“It was an absolute pleasure to be invited to this Urdang event. Seeing the amazing talent that Urdang has to offer and all that they have overcome as a collective was truly inspiring! It was such a great way to connect with the young people and we hopefully look forward to finding ways for the CSGUL Young Staff Network to collaborate with them in the foreseeable future.”
Read more about Urdang here.