Above is a ten-minute video clip of a walk-through of the gym under construction during December, 2008. Visit Dogtown Dance Theatre for more updates!

Dogtown Dance Theatre and Ground Zero Dance Company
Partner on Renovation of Bainbridge Gymnasium in Historic Manchester

For the past ten years, a current of interest in the reincarnation of the 67-year old Bainbridge School Gymnasium as a lively center for community enrichment has been slowly and steadily emerging. Imagine a building long vacant, shuttered and derelict, gradually awakening, shedding the boards and cages from its windows, and opening its doors to children for dance classes, to seniors for workshops, to underserved youth for master classes and internships, and to the general public for dance, music, or theatrical performances that quicken the still air, brighten the eyes of visitors, and bring life and energy back to a once thriving block. What better catalyst for the ongoing revitalization of Old Manchester than a center focused on performing arts?

The Bainbridge Gymnasium project, spearheaded by Dogtown Dance Theatre, LLC with the support of Ground Zero Dance Company, will embody the highest and best use of this property in the context of the current and generally improving conditions within the Old Manchester community. Formerly a gymnasium with ancillary classrooms serving the adjacent Maury School building (now a senior housing complex), the proposed new use of the property remains faithful to the spirit of its original function. Just as sports and recreation once were the principal activity on this site, so dance, performance and community outreach will comprise the essential purpose of the renovated facility. Dogtown Dance Theatre-in partnership with the GZDC-will manage the space to accommodate classes, rehearsals and performances conducted by local and regional performing artists. From its current state of gradual decay, the property will blossom into a locus of community and cultural vibrancy, with a physical vigor not unlike that of its former heyday.

Through renovation of the Bainbridge Gymnasium, Dogtown Dance Theatre seeks to provide affordable office/studio space for smaller-scale organizations and individuals focused on but not limited to the performing arts, design, wellness, social change, and with a commitment to community outreach. In partnership with Ground Zero Dance Company, DDT will provide a venue for a range of performing arts, focused on but not limited to dance, in a flexible, mid-sized facility. The activities/programs taking place on the first, second, and third floors of the building will include:

1. Live performances and entertainment, private events, meetings, free public performances;
2. Office/meeting space for non-profit organizations, small businesses as described above, and community groups;
3. Instruction in performing and visual arts;
4. Health and wellness services, potentially to include physical therapy, dance therapy, massage, yoga, Pilates,and bodywork.

Art quickens us, its bright skein--too often submerged--runs red through lives too often colored grey, and it is our hope that those who visit and inhabit this space, whether as artists, students, or audience, will absorb and reflect this brightness, color and energy in ways we cannot even foretell to the benefit of us all.

Angelic volunteers Heather, Rachel and Jude work at an initial cleaning of the gym, Fall, 2005.

View from Bainbridge St.

The old boiler, which could house an entire family of very small people.
Second floor landing, on 15th Street end of building.

Window in third floor studio,
looking over 15th Street.

For more information on the Bainbridge Gymnasium Project,
contact Lea Marshall (leam@groundzerodance.org).

Click here to download a PDF of Dogtown Dance Theatre's current business plan.

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