Kenneth Olumuyiwa TharpSend a message to

Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp

Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp

I originally wrote this in December 2023, just after John died, but I didn’t feel able to share it at the time. I’m glad to have had the chance to look at it with fresh eyes, before sharing here. I first met John at The Place, when I was a dancer with London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1982-1994), but later got to work alongside him when I took up the role of Chief Executive of The Place, in Sept 2007. In one of our early one-to-one conversations, John urged me never to forget that I was also an artist. It was a good reminder, as I made the sudden transition from 25 years spent on stage and in the studio as a dancer, choreographer and teacher, to being behind a desk. Perhaps he feared that in my efforts to prove myself as a fledgling CEO, I might lose touch with all that I had learnt as a dance artist. Whatever his precise motivations, it was both welcome and insightful advice; I hope that I was able to honour his sound suggestion and retain an element of creative play, along with a strong empathy for building the conditions that allow art and artists to thrive. Thankfully working in The Place, when I felt I was losing touch, in my lofty hermetically-sealed office, it was easy to take my shoes off and go back into the studio, even if only for a brief while, to watch a rehearsal or a studio sharing, before returning to my office. While others talked about the importance of work-life balance John was of the firm view that if, like him, you truly loved what you were doing, then there was no line to draw between what was work and what wasn’t. Many will remember John as a man of phenomenal energy and dedication. Always present. Always going that extra mile. Another thing I learnt about John was that just like the founder of The Place, the late and equally remarkable Robin Howard CBE, John had also been a Quaker. How apt that the Quaker Friends Meeting House was barely a few hundred yards away from The Place on Euston Road. John and Robin both had beards, both had a warmth of personality and at the same time had a quiet, softly spoken, not to be messed with intensity, and a contagious sense of purposefulness, that often manifested in a particularly erudite use of language that could galvanise energy around an idea or a direction of travel. John often spoke of our role and our responsibility at The Place, as being “of service to and through dance.” These words and this sentiment was something I associated strongly with Robin Howard. I still have my red student ‘Exercise Book’ from my first day at The Place, on 20th September 1978, as a first-year student at the London Contemporary Dance School (or to be more accurate, the London, School of Contemporary Dance, as it was then called), I remember sitting on the floor, near the entrance to what is now the theatre bar, as we sat on thefloor as Robin welcomed us. In my notebook, I had made some brief notes of Robin Howard’s welcoming address, in which he spoke of the importance of four key things: professionalism, quality, love and service. Some 30 years later, as Chief Executive of The Place, the notion of ‘service’, in relation to the arts, was not a word commonly used; to many that might seem to be a language and ethos from another era, yet John continued to make that notion his own and through this natural power of persuasion it continued to be our shared mantra, underpinning our daily work, with John urging us collectively “to always be led by the artists we choose to serve”. Like Robin, John had a truly pioneering spirit and strong sense of adventure. Being described as a ‘pioneer’ is a word often used, but I tend to think that only a rare few beings really earn that badge so unequivocally as John and Robin; they both were unafraid to challenge convention and forge new paths. Both men were inspirational and it was not hard to see why John was appointed to his role at The Place. Both have left an enormous and indelible legacy on dance. John’s immense sense of purpose and creativity was most easily evident in the seeming ease with which he created the ideas and a compelling identities for multiple theatre seasons or key strands of work: Resolution! Evolution, Choreodrome, Spring Loaded, The Place Prize, (sponsored by Bloomberg), Touch Wood were all recurring platforms or research laboratories that were conceived of and named by John. Choreodrome and Resolution! still exist. Resolution! was the perfect name for a season that began in January each year, just after that point in the year when people would traditionally make their New Year resolutions. For over thirty years it has existed as a platform and a springboard for artists at the start of their journey, to present their first works on a professional stage, and it was notable that over the years, many artists who went on to become some of the biggest names in dance, had their first outing as part of Resolution!. It was in that platform where John spotted the talents of a young Wayne McGregor, now Sir Wayne McGregor, and a young Russell Maliphant, now OBE, and I learnt from John, that for him it was rarely about looking for perfection, especially at that early stage of a choreographer’s journey, but rather about spotting someone with a unique spark, something that John was uniquely gifted at. When John was leaving The Place in 2009, after 23 years, (not out of choice, let it be said, but rather due to the enforced retirement age rule that he was a most unfortunate victim of, especially as the age discrimination laws changed not long after that decision had been made for him), he spoke about The Place Prize; true to form, John chose not to speak about the winners, and the glory of winning, but rather about the art of losing. He observed that many choreographers who had not won the prize, were in fact the ones who had gone on to greatest success. It was typical John. John always challenged us to think and do things differently, but most importantly he did it all, with love and with an unequivocally strong sense of service to dance and dance makers. Thank you John. The dance world was made all the richer by your unique talents and immense contributions. You are much loved and much missed. Kenneth. Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE Former dancer with London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1982-1994) Former Chief Executive of The Place (2007-2016) (The photo of John was taken outside The Place on 23 June 2009)

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