| Collecting Strand | National Resource Centre for Dance |
| Level | Collection |
| Ref No | ET |
| Title | Educational Dance-Drama Theatre Archive |
| Date | 1954-1988 |
| Extent | 91 files of papers, 13 vinyl records, 23 photographs, 42 designs (artwork), 3 posters (catalogued material)
4 boxes (uncatalogued material) |
| Name of Creator | Educational Dance-Drama Theatre; 1954-1980; touring arts company |
| Description | The Educational Dance-Drama Theatre (EDDT) was a touring 'theatre-in-education' company that specialised in movement-based work. The company was formed by Gerard Bagley, in conjunction with other former students from the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester, and ran from 1954 to 1980, with its last tour taking place in 1979.
The archive contains artwork, audio materials, photographs, posters and papers in connection with the company. The artwork consists of 42 hand-painted set and costume designs from a number of EDDT works. The audio section is made up of 13 vinyl records of educational 'listen and move' activities produced through the Art of Movement Studio as Laban study aids. There are 23 photographs of scenes from EDDT performances and 3 publicity posters advertising the work of the company. The papers collection consists of 15 boxes of documents that include: the Memorandum and Articles of Association of EDDT Ltd and minutes of meetings; correspondence between the Arts Council and EDDT; correspondence between EDDT and other individuals/organisations with regard to potential closure of the company; information on repertoire and touring schedules; choreographic notes; and financial records and accounts.
There are an additional 4 boxes of documents still to be catalogued. If you require further information about this archive, please email archives@surrey.ac.uk. |
| Arrangement | Material arranged at time of cataloguing according to the format-based classification scheme which was then in use by the National Resource Centre for Dance. |
| Administrative History | The Educational Dance-Drama Theatre (EDDT) was a touring ‘theatre-in-education' company that specialised in movement-based work. The company was formed by Gerard Bagley, in conjunction with other former students from the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester , and dated from 1954-1979. Although the company was officially known as the Educational Dance-Drama Theatre, it wentthrough a number of different guises. It was originally called Modern Dance Productions and later changed to British Dance-Drama Theatre and then simply Dance-Drama Theatre.
The artistic director of the company was Gerard Bagley who initially had a career in teaching science. He was interested in movement, however, and went on to study at the Art of Movement Studio with Rudolf Laban. The assistant artistic director of the company is Tonya Bagley, a Dutch dancer and choreographer who also trained under Laban. In 1954, the Bagleys set up the company as a general dance-theatre group. From an early stage they began touring schools and colleges and were so well-received that they began to direct the company specifically towards the education sector. Although the company were originally located in Manchester , in 1962 they moved to a permanent London base. Aimed at primary and secondary school children, the work employed dance, drama and mime to provide an entertaining and educational theatre experience for children. As the core of the company, the Bagleys worked with a range of directors, writers, designers, composers, choreographers and dancers. In conjunction with the company's touring schedules, the Movement Teaching Unit was set up to provide movement sessions and follow-up work for the schools involved.
For many years the company was subsidised by the Arts Council of Great Britian. In 1978, however, the company received serious criticism from a newly formed Dance-in-Education sub-committee of the Arts Council who warned of a potential withdrawal of funding. Although EDDT set up a massive campaign to prevent this happening, receiving considerable support from a questionnaire survey directed at schools and educational authorities with which the company had been involved, the loss of funding took place and the company formally closed in 1980. The closure of the company was also due to internal personnel problems that had seriously affected the final tour in 1979. |
| Accruals | No further accruals expected. |
| Custodial History | The archive was deposited by Gerard Bagley. |