  We report the observation of subradiance in dense ensembles of cold $^{87}$Rb
atoms operating near Dicke's regime of a large number of atoms in a volume with
dimensions smaller than the transition wavelength. We validate that the atom
number is the only cooperativity parameter governing subradiance. We probe the
dynamics in the many-body regime and support the picture that multiply-excited
subradiant states are built as a superposition of singly-excited states that
decay independently. Moreover, we implement an experimental procedure to
release the excitation stored in the long-lived modes in a pulse of light. This
technique is a first step towards the realization of tailored light storing
based on subradiance.
