Manchester is a thriving cultural hub with a worldwide reputation for arts, culture, music, sport and industry. The city has a rich cultural heritage and has been home to many pivotal figures in the arts and sciences. The University itself is an internationally recognised institution with a reputation for pioneering research and plays a vital role in the cultural life of the city.
History
Manchester grew out of a small Roman settlement, expanding rapidly during the Industrial Revolution to become the centre of the United Kingdom's textile manufacturing industry. The city was at the centre of free-trade policy reforms during the 19th Century and continued to flourish until the mid-20th Century, when it experienced a social and ecomonic decline. Its fortunes changed unexpectedly in 1996, when the Manchester bombing prompted massive regeneration and rebranding of the city, helping it to to become the modern post-industrial metropolis that it is today.
Manchester Town Hall
Rudolph Laban in Manchester
The list of major cultural figures linked to Manchester (including Friedrich Engels, Ernest Rutherford, Emily Pankhurst and Alan Turing to name but a few) includes movement theorist Rudolph Laban. He moved to Manchester with Lisa Ullmann in 1942 and made it his home for eleven years. During this period he worked in industry, and developed his collaborations with Frederick Lawrence, a management consultant concerned with work efficiency, and was employed as 'Advisor to Paton Lawrence and Co. 90 Deansgate, Manchester'. With Lawrence, he established the Management Training Institute and expanded his research on movement practices in manual labour to cover management as well.
This research led to the publication (co-written with Lawrence) of Laban Lawrence Industrial Rhythm/and Lilt in Labour (1942), and Effort (1947). Laban's dwellings in Manchester included 183-185 Oxford Road, and in 1948-9 he lectured to Manchester University students on his methods in industry, assisted by his apprentice Warren Lamb.
(See Valerie Preston-Dunlop, Rudolph Laban, An Extraordinary Life (London: Dance Books, 1998))
Manchester today
Manchester City Centre is surprisingly compact given its diversity and is easily navigable on foot. With many venues located on the University campus, including the Museum of Natural History, Whitworth Art Gallery and Contact Theatre, there's plenty of opportunity for taking in the best that the Manchester has to offer.
Please visit the following websites for more information on the city:
