SUPPORTING DANCE

Our strategy is delivered through six important activities:

Advocacy

We advocate for the UK dance sector on issues ranging from diversity, health, education, working conditions for dance artists, COVID-19 sector recovery and Brexit.

We work in partnership with cultural sector bodies such as Creative Industries Federation, WhatNext? movement, Culture Counts in Scotland and the FreeMoveCreate campaign to inform and mobilise our members and act as a constructive partner to Government. We act as secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Dance Group.

We are also devoted to our children and young peoples advocacy as the Subject Association for Dance informing educators, policy makers and media about research and professional practice, informing approaches to the curriculum, pedagogy, teacher training and development.

Children and Young People(CYP)

We aim to engage CYP of all backgrounds from Early Years Foundation Stage to the end of their statutory education in and beyond schools, in excellent dance experiences. We directly engage CYP through U.Dance, which provides a framework for schools and youth dance groups nationwide to progress to our annual festival event.

We also work to ensure that dance education and its provision in schools, organisations, colleges and universities remain a key priority and are delivered at highest standards.

We convene an expert panel of leading dance educators to advise on matters affecting the curriculum and teaching of dance

Dance of the African disapora

We advocate and support the practice and appreciation of Dance of the African Diaspora (DAD). We aim to make the many recognised DAD forms, practice and research equally valued as part of the British cultural experience.

We have a unique role in identifying the needs reported to us for the DAD sector. We work to create strategies with dance organisations and related institutions to further support talented individuals working with forms rooted in the African Diaspora to have an environment of successful creative enterprise and education in DAD forms, along with entry routes into management.

Professional development

We provide Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for dance teachers in healthier dance and mental wellbeing practice through our services to dance organisations.

We also work with partners and funders to raise awareness and promote professional development programmes to provide artists, at all stages in their careers, opportunities to develop their practice and sustainability in the sector.

Events and Information Sharing

Our targeted activities to support the development of a diverse, sustainable, unified, valued, connected and healthy dance workforce include:

• Annual industry conference

• Annual awards celebrating those who develop and work tirelessly for dance

• Networking for dance professionals

• One and HOTFOOT magazines

Healthier Dancer Programme

We are committed to dancers’ health, wellbeing and performance, and established specialist provision through our HDP training, dissemination of health information and accessible response to injuries.

We are one of the partners in the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science with

• Birmingham Royal Ballet

• The Royal Ballet

• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

• University of Birmingham

• University of Wolverhampton

Together, with the NHS, we developed specialist NHS dance injury clinics in London, Birmingham and Bath. Fundamentally, we are changing attitudes that result in safe practice, injury prevention and wider wellbeing issues being taken more seriously across the sector.