Debbie has big ambitions for the Waterside

2:20pm Tuesday 19th August 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

DEBBIE Cowley has fallen in love with the north.

A Londoner by birth, she left the capital nearly a decade ago and has no intention of returning to her roots.

“The quality of life here is much better,” she says.

For the past three years this bubbly character has been running Sale’s Waterside Arts Centre. When she took over the manager’s post it was supposed to be in situ for six months, covering maternity leave. So, what made her stay on?

“I am able to work with a great team of people who are very dedicated about what they do and I actually think Trafford is a great place to work. It’s quite a small authority but people are generally very supportive of what we’re trying to do. There have also been lots of challenges along the way which is great for me because I enjoy a challenge and I enjoy learning something new,” she says.

A trained dancer, she enjoyed the time she spent passing on her skills to children in primary schools and when asked why she decided to concentrate on the teaching rather than the performance side of things, Debbie answers with characteristic candour.

“I think I realised that, in all honesty, I probably wasn’t good enough,” she smiles. “I also realised that the career of a dancer is quitte short and very intense and I just felt that wasn’t the way I wanted to go.”

Why did she find working with the under 11s so rewarding?

“I think that age group are very open to exploring ideas and they’re not self conscious about their bodies and how they move. Their imaginations took you off in all sorts of different directions and to me that was quite inspirational because you could work with them rather than just teaching them,” she says.

It was a management position with Dance Initiative Greater Manchester that made her move north. As for the WAC, she sees regular consulation with the people of Trafford as crucial in shaping its events programmes and believes the results of this are there for all to see in the centre’s forthcoming season, which is strong on family friendly shows. Debbie also believes the Waterside should be complimenting rather than competing with neighbouring venues and what’s on offer in the cultural powerhouse of Manchester.

“When the venue was first set up it was about looking what was out there, what areas are already covered and how we could complement that. We don’t want to be competing with other venues that are very close to us because we don’t want to be perceived as taking their audiences away from them,” she says.

A passionate ambassador for the Waterside Arts Centre, Debbie believes the venue is already turning into a vibrant building that the people of Trafford have taken to their hearts. So, for her, the future is already looking very bright indeed.

“The key to our future success is going to be about continuing to engage with the people who want to use the building and not putting ourselves on a pedastal,” she says.

Rick Bowen