Candoco Dance Company is a contemporary physically integrated dance company, founded in 1991 by Celeste Dandeker and Adam Benjamin. The company is based at Aspire National training centre in Stanmore, North London.
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History
Dandeker, who had previously trained with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, suffered a fall whilst dancing on stage. The resulting spinal injury prevented her from dancing until choreographer Darshan Singh Buller persuaded her to dance again, albeit from her wheelchair, for the subsequently award-winning dance film The Fall.
Dandeker met Benjamin in 1990, they began teaching an integrated class from which grew the origins of Candoco Dance Company, which, since its inception in 1991, has, subsequently won many awards.
Repertoire
Benjamin choreographed much of the early companies work, leaving the company in 1998, and Dandeker went on to commission work by many established choreographers including Rafeal Bonachela, Fin Walker, Siobhan Davies, Javier De Frutos, Stephen Petronio and Nigel Charnock amongst many others. In 2007 Dandeker retired and Stine Nilsen and Pedro Machado have been appointed as her successors.
2012 Paralympic Games and related performances
In 2008 Candoco took part in the Handover Ceremonies at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, representing Britain. It was the first time disabled artists were present in both events in the history of the games. The company performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.