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The Big Dance 2012 Handbook How to get involved with the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance
Foreword Big Dance 2012 is the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance. Taking place across the country, Big Dance will include thousands of events in all sorts of locations and in all dance styles that will all be open to absolutely anyone. We’re aiming for 5 million people to be involved! This Handbook is full of information on Big Dance; what it is, why it is happening, how you can be part of it and how you can create successful new Big Dance events. There are links to many related pages and resources on the Big Dance website and other online sites. If you can’t find what you need in the Handbook, just get in touch with the Big Dance team or your local Big Dance Hub. 2012 will be one extraordinary year in the UK, with more opportunities to get involved in cultural activity than ever before. When the eyes of the world are on the UK, join us in showing what a great dancing nation we are and most importantly, have fun!
www.bigdance2012.com
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Contents 4. What is Big Dance? Everything you need to know about Big Dance 2012 4. What is Big Dance? What it’s all about. 5. When is it taking place? The different stages of Big Dance 2012 and the important dates. 6. Who is Big Bance for? Who can get involved. 6. Why should I get involved? If you’re involved in dance, you should be involved in Big Dance.
7. How to get involved Information about how you, your group, organisation or school can get involved with Big Dance 2012 8. Register your dance events at the Big Dance 2012 website Have you already got a dance event planned? Could you make it extra-special for 2012? Find out here how to make sure it’s a part of Big Dance 2012! 9. Take part in Big Dance performance and participation events. Opportunities to be part of national flagship projects, organised by the network of Big Dance Hubs.
19. Making your event happen If you have an idea for a local event, we can help you to make it happen 20. Partnerships and working with others Big Dance 2012 is all about working together to make something really special happen. 21. Raising funds Does your planned event or idea need some extra cash to help make it work? 22. Communications Our advice on spreading the word about your event. 23. Volunteering How to provide or find volunteering opportunities to be part of Big Dance.
24. Connect with the Big Dance 2012 Network How to make contact with your local Big Dance Hub 25. How to get in touch with us and our network of partners, right across the UK.
13. Organise your own Big Dance event and register it online. Do you have a brilliant new idea for a dance project or event? Is there an opportunity to make something brilliant happen in your community? 14. Bring a Big Dance project to your area We think some of our favourite events could work anywhere! Here’s more information on how you could make them your own.
www.bigdance2012.com
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What is Big Dance? Big Dance 2012 is the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance. Taking place across the UK, Big Dance will feature thousands of events inspired by dance. They will take place in all sorts of locations and in all dance styles which will all be open to absolutely anyone. Events will include classes, workshops, courses, performances, flashmobs, have-a-go days, film screenings, photography courses, competitions, world record attempts, dancing in unusual spaces – shops, parks, galleries, shopping centres – dancing in schools, at home, wherever you like.
We’re aiming for five million people to be involved. Whatever your style, age, talent or interest, everyone is invited to be part of Big Dance – we hope you’ll join us. Big Dance is London’s Legacy Trust UK programme led by the Mayor of London in partnership with Arts Council England and 5 London hub organisations. The Big Dance 2012 national programme is being delivered by the Foundation for Community Dance in partnership with a network of regional dance organisations known as the Big Dance Hubs. Big Dance 2012 is part of the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural Olympiad for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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I love to dance. It’s a way of celebrating life Alice, ballet and contemporary
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Get Scotland Dancing Get Scotland Dancing aims to encourage more people to get active and participate in dance. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and 2014 Commonwealth Games, provide an unparalleled opportunity to raise the profile of dance as a creative, participative and physical artform. In support of this Scottish Government policy, Creative Scotland is creating an inclusive celebration of dance across Scotland, linking into the wider UK and marking Scotland’s place in the world. Working with Scotland’s key dance organisations, it will bring together professional and amateur dancers of all ages to dance in public spaces in our towns, villages and cities – bringing dance to the people and people to dance. We want to strengthen opportunities to participate in dance and create a lasting legacy for communities throughout Scotland. Through Get Scotland Dancing we aim to increase and strengthen the opportunities to dance across Scotland and are working with Education Scotland on projects to get Scotland’s schools dancing.
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Most importantly, Big Dance is about people dancing – everyone, everywhere – take a look at the video on this page to see how. Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity whose mission is to support a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities which celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and which will leave a lasting legacy in communities throughout the UK.
www.bigdance2012.com
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When does Big Dance 2012 happen? Save the Date and Organise Your Event, September 2011 – April 2012
The Big Dance Hubs will be working on their flagship events and providing support to event organisers throughout this time, with regularly updated resources and partnership opportunities on the Big Dance website and other websites accessible through this Handbook.
Big Dance Schools Pledge, 18 May 2012
The Schools Pledge is an opportunity for groups in schools, colleges, youth groups, universities – or any other regularly meeting dance group – to download the choreography, learn and rehearse the dance for a global performance in a world record attempt. The choreography will be available to download from the Big Dance website from January 2012, allowing up to 18 weeks to prepare your performance.
Big Dance Trail, 18 May – 6 July 2012
The warm-up to Big Dance Week is seven weeks long and will include a diverse range of events and opportunities all over the UK, and starts on 18 May 2012 with the Big Dance Schools Pledge world record attempt.
www.bigdance2012.com
Big Dance Week, 7 – 15 July 2012
The nine day finale of the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance. There will be thousands of activities in all dance styles for all ages and types of people in every corner of the UK, and our celebratory flagship events in each region.
Big Street Dance, 14 July 2012
The nationwide flagship event for Big Dance is led by a performance of a specially commissioned Wayne McGregor choreography. Streets, squares, parks and all sorts of public spaces across the UK will come alive.
Keep into Dance, 16 July – 9 September
The aim is to keep the nation dancing during the London 2012 Festival and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We’re planning more opportunities to take part, watch performances and want to include all of your dance events to celebrate the summer of an extraordinary year for London and the UK.
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Who is Big Dance 2012 for? It’s for anyone who dances, wants to dance or wants to watch dance. The Big Dance Handbook is designed to help anyone who’d like to organise an event for Big Dance 2012; organisations, events planners, leaders of youth groups, dance artists, teachers, local authorities, libraries, businesses: if you have an idea that will excite your community to get involved in dance, we’d like to help you realise it and make it part of Big Dance.
Why should I get involved with Big Dance 2012? To tell more people about what you’re doing The national profile and marketing campaigns of Big Dance during 2012 will inform more people than ever before about your dance events. You’ll be able to use the Big Dance logo, register your events on the website for listings and be part of other online and media features.
To be part of the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural Olympiad, wherever you are in the UK
To share how much fun dance is and why it is so good for us
Dance is growing in popularity and we want to see more and more people get involved! Whether it’s to have fun, to improve your health, to meet others in your community, to relax or to celebrate, we want to help you share how dance makes your life better with other people.
Attract new audiences and participants
Getting new and more diverse people to watch your dance events or to try taking part will be one of the greatest things you can achieve with Big Dance. However you’d like to see your audiences and participants grow, the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance is the perfect opportunity.
Get connected, and try out a new idea
Being part of Big Dance is free and gives access to greater links and networks of organisations and individuals who can help you to achieve something outstanding. The online resources and regional hubs are available to support you in realising your idea, providing the perfect opportunity to go for it.
As the eyes of the world turn to the UK during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Big Dance is your chance to be part of history and show the amazing dance that takes place in the UK as part of this extraordinary year. Big Dance is an opportunity to show your commitment to the Olympic values of ‘excellence, respect, friendship’ and the Paralympic values of ‘equality, determination, courage, inspiration’.
Over 4.8 million people participating in community dance each year in England.
www.bigdance2012.com
1.8 million people were involved with Big Dance 2010 in London, in 850 events.
Ten million people regularly watch the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Over 13 percent of the population attend dance performances.
Dance is the most popular physical activity for young people, after football. Dance is the fastest growing art form.
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How to get involved
Dancing is a great way to express yourself
This section of the Handbook is divided into 4 practical parts showing the ways that teachers, leaders, event organisers and community groups can get involved with Big Dance 2012:
Register your dance events at the Big Dance 2012 website Take part in a registered Big Dance event
Izzy, street dance
Organise your own Big Dance event and register it online Bring a Big Dance event idea to your area
P r o m o t ing classes, wo rkshops or per forma nces
Watching, p h o t o g r a p hy or filming www.bigdance2012.com
t r a p g n i k Ta ord-breaking events in rec
Volunteering
Taking par t
Organising
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Register your events on the Big Dance website from January 2012
Click the image to take a look at The What’s On page. You can register your event from January 2012. Sign up for emails to get a reminder.
The Big Dance website will be the ultimate place to go for listings, opportunities and features on all Big Dance events between 18 May – 9 September 2012. Whether it’s a regular class at a local venue or a major one-off event across sites nationwide, it will be detailed here. Listings are searchable by area, event type or dance style. We recommend you add your events as soon as you’re ready to publish details, to allow as much time as possible for your event to be seen. You can update the information and add more details at any time.
As soon as your event is registered and approved, you’ll have access to: The Big Dance 2012 logo Our event organisers online shop providing low cost items to support your event, including official Big Dance 2012 event posters Advice and guidelines on using the Big Dance brand
It takes only a few minutes to register an event, and it’s free.
www.bigdance2012.com
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Take part in Big Dance performance and participation events Thousands of events across the UK offer lots of opportunities to get involved with local Big Dance events, all profiled in listings and featured on the Big Dance website. National initiatives will also be available for anyone to get involved in, aimed at individuals and groups from every corner of the UK. They are summarised here with more detail on the Big Dance website.
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Dancing makes you feel great Lesley, Scottish country dance
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For more detail on these and more ideas, take a look at our Event Organisers section of the Big Dance website.
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Big Dance Schools Pledge – 18 May 2012
Ways to get involved
The Schools Pledge is all about providing groups with the inspiration and tools to engage with dance and to be one of thousands of schools, colleges, universities, workplaces and any other groups taking part in a global world record attempt.
If you’re a local authority Promote the Big Dance Schools Pledge to the schools in your area as a perfect way for kids to get active and creative
If you’re a dance artist If you work in a school, encourage them to take part – it’s a great way of advocating for dance in schools
Talk to your Children’s Services department and get them to promote through their networks
Use the choreography in your classes
The Pledge is in two parts: 1.
Undertake to do 20 minutes of dance a day during Big Dance week
2.
Take part in a world record attempt for the ‘Largest simultaneous dance routine – multi-venue’ on their school sites at 1pm on 18 May 2012
The choreography for the world record attempt will be created by Wayne McGregor, Artistic Director of Wayne McGregor | Random Dance and Resident Choreographer at the Royal Ballet. The taught sections will be available to download from the Big Dance website in January 2012 - after that it’s all up to you to learn the dance and join in on 18 May.
Encourage Pupil Referral Units to sign-up for the Schools Pledge If you’re a teacher Sign your school up – it’s an easy way to get the whole school motivated Don’t limit to your pupils – get teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime assistants and even parents involved
If you’re a youth group or leader As we say – not just schools, why not get your members to have a go at dancing using the choreography? Can you let a local dance group use your venue to rehearse or for the record attempt?
Over the past two years, 900 schools have signed up to take The Big Dance Schools Pledge. We’re hoping that 2012 will be the best yet. The record is currently held by the Netherlands with 264,188 participants in 1,472 locations. We’re working with the British Council’s education programme to make this a global record attempt. If you’re interested in linking with classrooms around the world, click here to read more. The Schools Pledge has been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark and is a partner programme for Get Set. For more information on Get Set, please visit London 2012. Register here to receive updates and notification when the official choreography goes online. You can contact the Big Dance Schools Pledge Coordinator or visit the Schools Pledge page on the Big Dance website for more information.
www.bigdance2012.com
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Big Street Dance Day – 14 July 2012 Big Street Dance Day will include events in Trafalgar Square, London and in public spaces and streets around the UK. This is a perfect opportunity for communities around the UK to dance in the streets and public spaces to be part of this unique celebratory day of dance. Do you know a group that could perform as part of the Big Street Dance Day? Is there a public space that would be spectacular filled with people dancing? Could you get your own street out and dancing together? Is there an existing festival taking place near you on this day, why not get them involved in Big Street Dance? Wayne McGregor, Artistic Director of Wayne McGregor|Random Dance and Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, will work directly on the creation of a new dance piece for thousands of dancers in Trafalgar Square to be performed on Saturday 14 July 2012.
Ways to get involved If you’re a local authority Could you support a local dance group to use your public spaces to join in? Are you holding an existing festival that you could add a dance tent or stage to? Could you encourage local residents to hold a street dance party on that day? Encourage private landowners (such as shopping centres) to host a Big Dance stage and offer workshops, mass participation and showcases
If you’re a dance group Get in touch with your Big Dance Hub to see if your dance group can join in at Trafalgar Square (London only) Hold an open studio day and encourage the public to have a go at dance Talk to your local authority, shopping centres, lidos, parks, etc. about them hosting a day of dance performances If you’re a youth group/leader Can you organise a dance party at your venue and invite the local community to join you in dancing?
Alongside members of his dance company, Wayne McGregor|Random Dance and English National Ballet, dance groups from across London will be invited to be part of this large-scale collaborative and creative choreographic project. Outside of London, groups could take the lead from this or do something entirely different. For more ideas and advice on getting your street or public space involved, check out your regional page on the Big Dance 2012 website or contact your local Big Dance H ub.
www.bigdance2012.com
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Big Dance Shorts for Channel 4 In Association with BAFTA Big Dance and Channel 4 in association with BAFTA present an opportunity for choreographers and filmmakers to work together and create 5 short films to be broadcast on Channel 4 and screened to live audiences during Big Dance Week 2012. In order to stimulate and encourage collaboration between the filmmakers and choreographers, Big Dance Shorts offers the chance for filmmakers (directors or producers or teams thereof) and choreographers (or choreographic teams with filmmakers on board) to get their film idea commissioned. 5 films will be commissioned in total. After the initial application process, 10 projects will be selected to pitch to a panel of experts and the 5 strongest projects will receive £4,000 and a package of support to make their film, including support from a BAFTA mentor and guidance from an experienced Production Executive. The films will be broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the ‘Random Acts’ season and will also be screened as part of the Big Dance Pop-Up Cinema programme in summer 2012 at a high profile central London location. Applications closed on 15 November 2011. Sign up for newsletters to hear more about the successful projects and any related opportunities.
Competitions and World Record Attempts Could you organise a competition for local dancers, groups, photographers or designers? Do you have an idea to generate lots of excitement and interest to feed into a Big Dance event? Competitions are a really good way to get people interested and involved with your event and a way to make it even more exciting. If your idea is really special, bigger or unlike anything you’ve heard of before, it could be a contender for a world record. Think carefully about how you could do it and check with the official Guinness World Records website to see if the record exists and if it is possible for you to try and break it.
www.bigdance2012.com
Watch out for national competitions during the Big Dance Trail and Big Dance Week and get involved with our world record attempts. Sign up for emails to find out more!
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Organise your own Big Dance event The Making Your Event Happen section is full of information, ideas and resources to help. Beyond the organisation of your event, carrying out an evaluation of it and creating an archive are both an important part of Big Dance events. Our evaluation framework and templates will help you complete an evaluation quickly and easily and allow you to share the success of your event with all those that were involved and may develop the idea with you in the future. There will be a public archive of all Big Dance 2012 events hosted online at www.bigdancelegacy.com. Ensuring you save all of the details of your event, especially photography, film, quotes and media coverage will give you an individual record of the event to revisit in the future. Sharing it with us will allow your event to be captured as part of the extraordinary year and the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance.
Take dance somewhere unusual with an open-air event Reach for the sky with a world record attempt Offer some dance to an existing carnival or festival Highlight captivating stories and dance books by partnering with a library Catch people as they’re shopping with a high street or shopping centre dance experience Throw a country dancing party or a ceilidh Capture the imagination of your community by animating a local landmark Celebrate a local museum with a dance event inspired by their collection or your local history
www.bigdance2012.com
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Bring a Big Dance event to your area There are so many wonderful ideas for Big Dance events. We’re keen to share ideas that have worked really well so that many more people can enjoy them. This section contains some of our tried and tested, adaptable project ideas that we think could work for almost anyone, anywhere. Most have been piloted in London in 2010 and have superb responses from participants and audiences. Events like these have all taken place before and are planned for 2012, so you have the assurance that the experience of delivering the project successfully already exists and by taking it on, there will be other Big Dance people and resources to support you.
Big Dance Bus The Big Dance Bus is an adapted double-decker Routemaster London bus. As part of our passion for taking dance to unusual places, the Big Dance Bus will tour to unique locations to host a day of dance on its own special pop-up ballroom and dance floor. It’s an excellent way to get dance to areas that don’t have a large venue or to areas where people don’t usually get dancing. Each individual bus stop can be programmed to include a mixture of any or all of the following: Workshops that cover a range of dance styles Site specific or relevant performances Local performance showcases Dance parties Flashmob events Open Stage for freestyling Tea Dances Almost any outdoor location can host the Big Dance Bus and dance programmes of any kind can be run, though there are some limitations to the distance the bus can travel! It’s a simple way of creating a local landmark for a day and attracting people to come and watch or take part in the programmed activity.
www.bigdance2012.com
The Big Dance Bus is available for hire at competitive rates and will be in high demand throughout Big Dance 2012, so early booking is advised. The Big Dance Bus Project Manager will work with you to plan your event and work out the cost depending on how long you’d like it, what you’d like to offer and how far the bus has to travel. The following case study gives an example of how the bus has been used in the past. Note the important size statistics to make sure you have a location the bus can get to and be set up in. The space needed for the Big Dance Bus: Length of pitch: 20m (the bus is between 8.5m-9.1m in length) Width of pitch: 10m (the bus is 2.4m wide) Height of space and access route: 5m (the bus is around 4.38m tall) Costs are specific to each event and start from around £2,000
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Case Study
Ways to get involved
In 2010 the Big Dance Bus made a tour of London; 19 stops in 16 London boroughs. It reached almost 100,000 people with 1,733 people taking part in workshops. The London Borough of Redbridge hosted Dancing on Wheels as part of their local dance festival, the programme included wheelchair, BMX, roller-skating performances and ‘mums n buggies’ workshops. The Big Dance Bus provided the perfect backdrop to a day inspired by dance and wheels. In a partnership between Big Dance, English National Ballet, The Royal Parks, the London Borough of Westminster and Dance UK, the Big Dance Bus stopped at Horseguards Parade to provide a high profile event to promote dance within government. Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, spoke at the event. See the film of the event here.
If you’re a local authority Consider booking the bus for a standalone event in an area where there is no existing cultural infrastructure Use the bus as part of an existing festival to provide dance workshops and showcases
If you’re a dance group Find out if the bus is coming to an area near you and get yourself on the programme Talk to us about running workshops on the bus
Encourage businesses or landowners in the borough to book the bus (shopping centres, etc.) Support with publicity / signposting to bus stops within your local area
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Dance is a way of life for me; without it I’d be lost Danielle, flamenco
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www.bigdance2012.com
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Big Dance Pop Up Cinema The pop up cinemas are almost just as they sound – giant, inflatable screens that are perfect for showing dance films in almost any outdoor or indoor location. Daylight needs to be fading to dusk at outdoor events for the screen to be most visible to your audience, so it is the perfect way to finish off a day of activity on a dancefloor or in the space around your pop-up cinema. There are different sized screens depending on the number of people you want to be able to see it. The screens are available to be hired and are provided with fully qualified crew who will set your screen up for you. You will need to organise a location, any daytime workshops or performances and decide which film to show (although some films may incur additional screening rights costs). You could show Strictly Ballroom in the park, Billy Elliot in the Abbey ruins, Step-up in a car park or Dirty Dancing in a nightclub. The films created for Big Dance Shorts are also available as a curtain-raiser. A bespoke programme can be offered to suit individual locations. Ideas have included:
Ways to get involved If you’re a local authority Book the pop up cinema to show dance films as a standalone evening event
If you’re a dance group/artist Send us a link to your film – we might be able to include it in our menu of films on offer
Organise a whole day of dance activity with the screen as a back-drop
Hold a film evening in your venue showcasing your work on film
Present a specific film programme in different locations around the borough (for instance Bollywood season)
Use the screen to create an outdoor interactive dance and film performance
Encourage businesses or landowners in the borough to book the screen (shopping centres, etc.)
If you’re a youth group/leader Have a dance film day – use it to inspire your members to re-create dances from their favourite films
Support with publicity/ signposting to pop up cinema within local area
You can see a short film about how the pop up cinemas work here.
Offer a night of Bollywood, Salsa or any other dance style Create a whole day’s event using the screen as a backdrop Showcase the film work of local dance groups Have a dance-along with famous dance movies For support in organising your pop up cinema event, your local Big Dance organisation can help and for technical questions and booking a screen contact our Pop-Up Cinema Project Manager directly. Costs start from around £1,000
Click to play video
www.bigdance2012.com
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Big Dance Library Events There are many books written by people who are passionate about dancing, from thrilling fictional novels to stunning photography publications, and our libraries want to share them with us. Working with your local library or libraries in your area, you could organise a ‘Big Dance Book Week’ to promote the exciting range of resources on offer to encourage interest in dance. You could organise readings of a selection of titles and even opportunities to have dance take place in or around the library buildings. Contact your local library to discuss your idea and check out the libraries information sheet on the Big Dance website for more ideas. Then let your Big Dance Hub know what you’re planning so that they can support you.
Case Study Apsara Arts at Thornton Heath Library Apsara Arts received a micro grant for Big Dance in 2010 for Bollywood Beat. Working in partnership with the Manager at Thornton Heath Library in Croydon, Apsara Arts offered Bollywood workshops and performances one Saturday afternoon in Big Dance week. The library were keen for the event to go ahead as it makes the library a community space where live art is part of the scene. Performances were watched by 100 people and 68 people took part in workshops. By holding a performance in the window, the library became a focal point in the high street during the day and the dancers attracted new people in who had not used the library before.
www.bigdance2012.com
Ways to get involved If you’re a local library Promote dance related books with a special display Recommend one dance book per week through the Big Dance Trail List your usual activities, such as Baby Rhymetime, on the Big Dance website Invite a local dance group to animate your library – talk to your Big Dance Hub who may be able to link you up
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When you inspire someone through dance, it’s a great feeling Prianka, Bollywood and classical Indian
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Big Dance Silent Disco
See a video about how Silent Discos work
Imagine a dance floor where everyone wears headphones to listen to the DJ, giving the sense of your own private disco but bizarrely shared with hundreds of other people. Every single person dances along (and usually sings aloud) as if nobody else is watching. Silent Discos can take place anywhere – inside or outside (precautions needed in case of rain!). All of the equipment, technology and set up is provided by the qualified team of experts, so you’ll just need to think about how to organise entrances and exits for large numbers and a cash deposit system for headsets. For help and advice on organising a Big Dance Silent Disco, contact the Big Dance National Coordinator.
Click to play video
Costs range between £950 - £1,850 including VAT for events of between 100 – 1000 people.
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I love to dance, it makes me smile
Gabriella, folk
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Making your event happen A good starting point for organising an event for Big Dance 2012 is to ask some simple questions to help organise your thoughts, and make it easier to communicate your ideas to others:
1. H ow would you describe the dance event you want to organise? 2. W ho can get involved, by taking part, watching or helping you to organise it? 3. Where and when will it happen? 4. D o I need partners and other people’s support to make this happen? 5. W ill I need to raise or spend any money to make this happen?
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Dance is a happy, sociable thing to do Salonee, Bollywood and classical Indian
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6. H ow will I let people know that it’s taking place? 7. How will we know if it has been successful? The next step is to make contact with your local Big Dance Hub, and register your event on the Big Dance website. You might find some of the free resources available on the Big Dance website useful. We also provide signposts to sources of a range of practical short training courses. Ensuring you have the necessary public liability insurance is essential for safe and successful Big Dance events. Many venues and local authorities will be able to advise you on the requirements of your event and may even have an exsiting policy that you could be covered by. The Foundation for Community Dance offers insurance as part of it’s membership packages for anyone working in dance. Find out more here.
www.bigdance2012.com
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Developing partnerships and working with others Big Dance is an example of the power and effectiveness of partnership working. Whatever your plans or ideas for a Big Dance event, working with others could make your event bigger, better, easier or add something you’d not thought about. In addition to your specific event partners, Big Dance 2012 Hubs can help to raise the profile of your event and put you in touch with others who could link to or add something to your event. Big Dance 2012 and our network of partners can help to bring people together to make the most of the possibilities, including collaboration, support and sharing resources. Get in touch with your local Big Dance Hub and register your event.
www.bigdance2012.com
These are some of the types of partners that have been involved in Big Dance events and the kinds of things they have been able to offer: Local Authority Arts or Events Team Leisure Centres and Gyms Shopping Centres Dancewear and Sportswear Retailers Water suppliers Doctor’s Surgeries and Health Centres Food retailers or restaurants Theatres and Arts Centres Clothing and costumes Microphones and PA systems Events Companies Festivals – music, film, literature, crafts Local fetes and county shows
Print and Copy Shops Changing facilities Posters and flyers Expert knowledge Showers Money Advice Toilet facilities Staging Lights Tables Fencing Water Food Volunteers DJs Music Musicians Museums Venue
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Raising funds
Resources
Some Big Dance events are organised for little or no cost. However, you might need to find some additional money - hiring a minibus to get your group to a venue, for example - to help make your idea a reality.
A really useful ‘how to’ guide called Tried and Tested Ideas for Local Fundraising Events is available to purchase from the Directory of Social Change – as well as fundraising ideas it includes practical tips on running events and keeping them legal.
Some relatively straightforward ways to raise small amounts of money include raffles, collections, bag-packing in a local supermarket, jumble sales, organising a barbeque, social event, karaoke night or a sponsored dance-a-thon!
Youth Dance England provide a free information sheet about raising funds for your event, including links to websites, fundraising guides and websites, and top tips to help make fundraising for your event successful. The information offered is relevant to any fundraising, not just activities for young people.
Local businesses can be really useful sources of support – this might include donations of equipment or time, use of a venue or marketing support, rather than actual money, which can be equally valuable to a project. It might be possible to access some grant funding though this can be quite time consuming and competition for funds is often great. There are a broad range of organisations that provide grant funding to community projects, including National Lottery programmes and Trusts and Foundations. Each will have a different focus and set of priorities.
The Fundraising Toolkit, written by an experienced arts fundraiser and published by Foundation for Community Dance and Youth Dance England, offers a practical step-by-step guide to making a grant application. It is available to purchase from the Foundation for Community Dance online shop.
Good research is the best starting point. For lottery funds, including small grants to community groups, check out the opportunities at www.lotteryfunding.org.uk. If you’re working in partnership with an organisation, you can also ask them for their advice about where you might look for support.
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Communications Big Dance is all about inspiring people through dance – so communicating what you’re doing is key. Whether you’re looking for people to get involved, to come and watch or even to help you organise and manage it, spreading the word is critical. This six-step guide covers the essentials to make your event as successful and well communicated as possible. Templates and resources to help with these will be available on the Big Dance website from 2012.
1. Register the event on the Big Dance website Through our national marketing campaign, the listings on the Big Dance site will be searched by hundreds of thousands of people, including press and media organisations. They will all be looking for events to attend; make sure yours is one of them! Listings open in January 2012.
2. Tell your regional Big Dance Hub and your local authority about it They can help spread the word, suggest other ways you can communicate your event and may even want to make it a flagship event for your region.
3. Use social networking websites Give your event its own page or account, link up to the official Big Dance accounts and share the information amongst friends, colleagues and organisations in your area. It’s one of the fastest and easiest ways to get your information out there and, importantly, allows you to update information as more details are confirmed.
4. Use Big Dance branding and the official posters Once your event is registered, you’ll be able to use the Big Dance logo online or in print. A selection of practical templates will also be downloadable to support your event planning, include risk assessments and press releases. The official customisable posters and a range of low cost merchandise will be available to buy from the Big Dance online shop to help promote the event or to sell or give away souvenir items on the day.
5. Tell your newspapers, radio and TV broadcasters Local press are often looking for stories and events that are happening in your area. Produce a media release that gives all the key details of your event and send it round to your local press, media, Big Dance Hub, friends and colleagues.
6. Tell your local councillors, Mayor and MP or MSP about your event Invite them to come along and lend their support to your event. This can really help you attract media coverage, and build local interest. You can download free templates and other resources from the Big Dance website from January 2012. Also check out the guidelines produced by Shape for organising an accessible and inclusive event – it’s got some useful advice on accessible marketing.
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A big ceilidh is better than clubbing! Scott, English and Scottish country dances
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Volunteering The Big Dance Volunteering Programme will be launched in January 2012 with a national call for volunteers. A national volunteering coordinator will work with our regional organisations to link volunteers with their local organisations and their planned Big Dance events.
Opportunities will be available in the following areas: Event Planning and Administration Marshalling and Ushering Marketing and Promotion Specialist areas for particular events Whether you’re interested in volunteering or you’re an event organiser who would like to provide volunteering opportunities, you can find out more by going to the Big Dance 2012 website.
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Dance gave me a voice when I thought I didn’t have one
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Jack, street and contemporary
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Connect with the Big Dance 2012 Network Big Dance Hubs Big Dance Hubs have been created around the UK. They are leading dance organisations that are responsible for delivering Big Dance activity in all the nations and regions of the UK.
The best way to stay linked in to what’s happening in your region is to contact your Big Dance Hub – they’re looking for new partners and friends all the time.
www.bigdance2012.com
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Dance is a brilliant way to keep fit Elena and Monika, Polish folk dance
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Click on the regions to connect to your Big Dance Hubs
Inverness and the Highlands Eden Court Theatre - edencourt@bigdance2012.com North East Scotland Citymoves - citymoves@bigdance2012.com Dundee Area Dundee Dance Partnership - dundee@bigdance2012.com Stirling Area Macrobert Arts Centre - macrobert@bigdance2012.com
Northern Ireland Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre - northernireland@bigdance2012.com
Edinburgh, East and West Lothians Dancebase - dancebase@bigdance2012.com Glasgow and greater Glasgow Dancehouse - dancehouse@bigdance2012.com
North East Dance City - northeastengland@bigdance2012.com Wales wales@bigdance2012.com
North London Sadler’s Wells - north@bigdance2012.com West London English National Ballet - west@bigdance2012.com East London East London Dance - east@bigdance2012.com South East London Greenwich Dance - southeast@bigdance2012.com South London Siobhan Davies Dance - south@bigdance2012.com
www.bigdance2012.com
North West Merseyside Dance Initiative - northwestengland@bigdance2012.com Yorkshire Yorkshire Dance - yorkshire@bigdance2012.com West Midlands DanceXchange - westmidlands@bigdance2012.com East Midlands Dance4 - eastmidlands@bigdance2012.com East DanceEast - eastofengland@bigdance2012.com South West Dance South West - southwestengland@bigdance2012.com South East South East Dance - southeastengland@bigdance2012.com
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Big Dance London Team at Greater London Authority and Arts Council England Anne Hartley, Big Dance Coordinator 020 7973 5363 anne@bigdance2012.com Jacqueline Rose, Big Dance Director jacqueline@bigdance2012.com General Enquiries info@bigdance2012.com
Big Dance National Programme at the Foundation for Community Dance Richard Parr, National Coordinator 07866 616454 richard@bigdance2012.com Chris Stenton, Executive Director, National Programme 0116 253 3453 chris@bigdance2012.com Lindsay Jenkins, Projects Assistant 0116 253 3453 lindsay@bigdance2012.com
Big Dance Project Managers Georgina Harper, Big Dance Shorts Project Manager georgina@bigdance2012.com Sharon Phillips, Big Dance Schools Pledge Coordinator sharon@bigdance2012.com
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I love the fact that anyone can dance Roz, street and hip hop
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Tia Hassan, Big Dance Bus Project Manager tia@bigdance2012.com Big Dance Pop-Up Cinema Project Manager cinema@bigdance2012.com Volunteering Coordinator volunteering@bigdance2012.com
www.bigdance2012.com
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Dance Takes the Lead Group is an informal consortium of organisations that have come together to make a collective response to the opportunities presented by the Cultural Olympiad for London 2012 for the dance sector. Big Dance 2012 national programme was adopted by the group and is supported and championed by its members.
The Big Dance 2012 Handbook How to get involved with the UK’s biggest ever celebration of dance
The group is led by Foundation for Community Dance, with Council for Dance Education and Training (CDET), Sport and Recreation Alliance, The Dance Champions Group and Youth Dance England. Other members include Akademi, for the South Asian Dance Alliance (SADA), Arts Council England, Association of Dance of the African Diaspora, Community Dance Wales, Creative Scotland, Dance UK, English Folk Dance and Song Society, Exercise, Movement and Dance Partnership, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing; London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, National Association of Local Government Officers; Northern Ballet Theatre, PopEvents; Lishi; Royal Academy of Dance; Scottish Ballet, Shape, South East Dance for the National Dance Network, Voluntary Arts, Welsh Independent Dance and YDance. Big Dance 2012 are delivered with the support of a Programme Board, made up of the following organisations: Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Sport and Recreation Alliance, Interactive, Council for Dance Education and Training, Greater London Authority, Dance Champions, Legacy Trust UK, London Councils, London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Museums, Libraries and Archives, NHS London, Sport England, Shape and Youth Dance England.
Photgraphy by Simon Booth, Rachel Cherry, Nick Gurney, James O Jenkins, Stephen McLaren, Kois Miah, Frank Noon, David Parry
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