Yorkshire Dance Annual Review 2014 2015 by Yorkshire Dance

Yorkshire Dance Annual Review 2014 - 2015

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Alex Croft Dance Relationship Manager, Arts Council England “Yorkshire Dance continues to play a vital role in the delivery of dance in Yorkshire, supporting established artists, exciting emerging talent and young dancers across the region.”

Wieke Eringa

Mission Yorkshire Dance champions the value of dance and its development in Yorkshire. We do so by raising standards, increasing knowledge and understanding and fostering creativity and innovation.

Introduction

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This year we put a capital ‘D’ in Development: we successfully developed our research profile with two projects that chart the broad spectrum of Yorkshire Dance’s activity, producing on the one hand new contemporary practice for the professional stage and, on the other, grass-roots participatory health and wellbeing work in areas of deprivation. respond_ and Dancing in Time enabled us to start reflecting in more detail on the impact of our work and gave us a hugely valuable chance to develop new partnerships, so critical in this time of economic uncertainty. Sketch, our new dramaturgy project, aligned itself with respond_ in its quest to open up the creative process to a wider audience and explore the relationship between dance and its audience through enhancing critical discourse.

Margaret Coleman

We were immensely pleased with the development of the infrastructure in the region with a thriving and increasingly joined-up (youth) dance community and excellent evaluation of the conference, the regional showcase, substantial new investment in Hull and East Riding and new workforce development through Dance Transports. A hugely rewarding year with new partnerships, a new digital exploration and much optimism for the role of dance in answering some of the critical challenges facing our local and global community. Wieke Eringa CEO & Artistic Director

Hannah Buckley Independent Artist “I appreciate the warmth and support Yorkshire Dance has shown me, and respect your continued effort to connect with Europe, London and generally bring good things North!”

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This year is yet another of great achievement and innovation at Yorkshire Dance. As you read this review of our activities I am sure you cannot fail to be impressed by the range of work that pushes creative boundaries and that demonstrates our continuing commitment to use the power of dance to work with so many different people. The board shares my passion and enthusiasm for this excellent organisation and congratulates Wieke and her team on an outstanding year. Margaret Coleman Chair of the Board of Directors

Wieke Eringa photo © Sara Teresa; Margaret Coleman photo © Yorkshire Dance Cover photo Bodies on the Beach, Big Dance 2014 commission © David Lindsay

Snap shot: our achievements During 2014 / 2015 we: • Developed a new digital platform respond_ through which 120 people, some frequent, infrequent or non-arts attenders, actively participated in critical dialogue with two producing artists, the impact of which was investigated by University of Leeds (supported by Digital R&D Fund award).

OYO at Friday Firsts © David Lindsay

• Produced Douglas and Air Hunger, new works by Robbie Synge and Hagit Yakira. • Presented Dance Visions, the region’s Youth Dance conference bringing together 127 delegates in York to share good practice, network and increase knowledge and skills. • Delivered Fresh 2015, the regional youth dance showcase with a record 255 young people performing and participating in workshops at Yorkshire Dance and West Yorkshire Playhouse. • Delivered a high-quality, well-attended workforce development programme, Dance Transports, supporting 12 selected regional practitioners and providing access for 69 practitioners to work with Dance United Yorkshire and Stopgap, Candoco and 2Faced Dance Companies.

Fresh 2015 at West Yorkshire Playhouse © Brian Slater

• Supported the development of artistic practice and critical discourse, investing in 6 new dance ideas through Sketch, an 8-month dance dramaturgy project with international dramaturg Peggy Olislaegers. • Presented a thriving Friday Firsts performance series including work by nationally established artists alongside local artists, providing opportunities for enhanced critical debate. • Started Dancing in Time, a research collaboration with University of Leeds, supported by Leeds Public Health, a health and wellbeing dance programme for older adults in areas of deprivation.

Saturday Street Crew at CBBC event, Trinnity Leeds © Yorkshire Dance Grace Surman performs at Sketch 1: The Live Masterclass © Sara Teresa

• Delivered Bodies on the Beach, a large scale Big Dance commission performed by an intergenerational cast of 76 people on the beach in Bridlington. • Re-launched a 3-year Youth Company programme in East Leeds, supporting a group of young people and their families to engage with learning, making, performing and watching dance. • Secured substantial investment for a 2-year strategic step-change project with Hull Dance and the Hull & East Riding Dance Hub.

Dancing in Time © Yorkshire Dance

• Co-presented Thinking Dance and Questioning the Contemporary symposium in collaboration with Leeds Beckett University.

ReBuzz (Rotherham Boys Project) at Fresh 2015 © Brian Slater

Leadership and regional development We worked in partnership with four sub-regional hubs to improve access, progression routes and performance opportunities for young people and professional development for their leaders. A key development this year was in the East Riding & Hull where, with our support, substantial new investment was secured for an artist and practitioner development programme. The Regional Dance Development Network (RDDN) is thriving and continues to be a driving force for Fresh and the Dance Visions conference.

Fresh 2015 The Regional Youth Dance Showcase celebrated the richness of young talent in Yorkshire through a successful fringe event and main stage showcase at West Yorkshire Playhouse. 255 young people took part, many showcasing their work for the first time. Groups took part from Hull, Bradford, East Riding, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds and Pontefract. The event culminated in a spectacular finale choreographed by guest artist, Jon Beney.

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Thank you for allowing us to give our students such an amazing opportunity in such a prestigious venue. 412 Dance Theatre Fresh 2015 was the best night of my life! Participant

Rotherham Boys Project The Rotherham Boys Project continued to provide grass roots youth dance opportunities through outreach sessions that fed into the core group Rebuzz.

Sub regional Hubs North Yorkshire & York Hub North Yorkshire County Council; Hambleton District Council South Bank Hub North Lincolnshire District Council & Lincs Inspire Hull & East Riding Hub Hull City Council & Hull College South Yorkshire Hub Wayne Sables Project & Point Blank Theatre West Yorkshire is served by two dance strategy groups

Most notably, the group created new work with Zoie Golding (FuzzyLogic) and Dave McKenna (Beingfrank Physical Theatre), performing at local and regional venues. In February, a two-day taster project led to the creation of a film Surveillance in which the group worked with CCTV footage, handheld devices and drones to create a 9-minute dance documentary. Rebuzz was selected as one of ten regional youth dance groups to take part in the regional youth dance project Dance Whispers.

Dance Visions workshop © Brian Slater

Dance Visions – the Regional Youth Dance Conference The Dance Visions Conference was the third and largest regional youth dance conference delivered by Yorkshire Dance in partnership with RDDN. The focus this year was on exploring two core themes of Quality and Content within the Youth Dance Sector. The conference brought together 127 young people, delegates and presenting artists. Speakers included Lucy Bennett (Stopgap Dance Company), Zoie Golding (FuzzyLogic),Vicky Igbokwe (Uchenna Dance), Linda Jasper (Youth Dance England), Helen Linsell (Dance United Yorkshire), James Morgan (choreographer, performer & writer), Lily Turner (professional dancer) and Verity Clarke (Cape UK).

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Really buzzy day, great to explore real dance issues and understand other situations. Nice to have young people involved in the initial presentation.Very well organised event, I look forward to attending next year. Delegate Feedback

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The balance between practical and discussion was great, very inspiring to see talented young people dancing at the conference. Delegate Feedback

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The conference was fantastic, one of the best I have been to as it was honest and open about the work, not pretentious. Zoie Golding, FuzzyLogic

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It has been a very productive day and it has been good to be able to bring fresh new ideas away to experiment with in future sessions and practice. Delegate Feedback

Dance Visions seminar © Brian Slater

Ellen Turner performs at Dance Visions conference © Brian Slater

Bodies on the Beach © Yorkshire Dance

I have begun to look at how we embed the 12 Visions for Youth Dance alongside Arts Council’s quality principals in every aspect of our work. We want to be able to address the 12 Visions and bring these to life where possible. Tracy Witney Northern School of Contemporary Dance

Bodies on the Beach – Big Dance Commissioned for the national Big Dance programme,Yorkshire Dance produced a large scale community work led by Susanne Thomas (Seven Sisters) working alongside Julius Ebreo, Kim Oakley, Sam Lawrence and a cast of 76 community participants and young people. It provided a valuable artistic experience for those young people, groups and schools networked through the East Riding, Hull and North Yorkshire Hubs and was performed on a particularly atmospheric morning in July. www.bodiesonthebeach.co.uk

Bodies on the Beach © David Lindsay

Developing Talent: creating inspiring dance opportunities with people with little or no access to quality dance Dancing into the Third Age, Middleton © Yorkshire Dance

Dancing in Time The longstanding Dancing into the Third Age partnership with Leeds Community Health and University of Leeds resulted in research with older adults from various economic backgrounds into attitudes to and barriers to attending (contemporary) dance.

Dancing in Time © Sara Teresa

Initial research led to a new Public Health commission, Dancing in Time, for work in 3 economically disadvantaged communities in the inner city, the first of which took place in partnership with Middleton Elderly Aid. The project was a huge success and the group has decided to continue a weekly session whilst the Dancing in Time project will move on to Woodhouse and Richmond Hill, with research outputs due to be published in 2016.

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I didn’t know what to expect, I thought it would just be exercise but it’s nothing like exercising, it’s dancing, which is great and I’ve really enjoyed it. Making friends, meeting other people and basically having fun. Participant

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I can already see that people have benefited; one lady has more mobility in her shoulder than she had before, one lady has started to feel muscles that she forgot she had starting to tone up. There’s already an improvement and an improvement in confidence levels. Artist

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The focus group was lovely to be part of as all the participants had such overwhelmingly positive things to say about their time dancing, how it has affected them and their desire for it to carry on! Dr Sarah L. Astill, PhD Lecturer in Motor Control, University of Leeds

Yorkshire Dance Youth at Fresh 2015 © Brian Slater

Youth Dance Company, East Leeds Yorkshire Dance Saturday Street Crew at Fresh 2015 © Brian Slater

Following a review this popular programme was re-launched, supported by a new 3-year relationship with the Igen Trust. Two companies of young people living in East Leeds are creating and touring topic-based work whilst developing dancing and leadership skills (through, among others, Arts Award). The groups benefited from a range of performance opportunities including Fresh (part of U.Dance), the Rugby Champions Cup Final (Wembley), Leeds Sports Awards and Aspire.

Yorkshire Dance Youth Juniors © Yorkshire Dance

Two ex-company members successfully entered Higher Education this year and one is now in paid employment as an assistant on our Saturday Superstars programme.

Youth and Community programme in Leeds The weekly Saturday Superstars dance programme continues to be highly popular with a diverse group of families who enjoy access to affordable, pupil-centred dance provision which is creative as well as challenging and fun. The Saturday Street Crew grew in stature and became a hugely effective flag-ship group for our organisation due to the standard of performance and skills level of young people. Performance opportunities included U.Dance, the National Youth Dance Festival in Nottingham.

Saturday Street Crew at U.Dance 2014, Nottingham © Bobak Walker Leaps and Bounds, Rothwell © Sara Teresa

The ongoing partnership with Leeds Adult Social Care resulted in a plethora of work with adults with learning disabilities as part of the Leaps & Bounds programme. Our weekly Mind the Step group for adults with learning disabilities was extended with a pilot project, Raised, bringing together an integrated performance company.

Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) meeting the Tour de France

OYO at Le Grand Départ © Philippe Talavera

We were thrilled to offer an unusually inspirational opportunity to young dancers in West Yorkshire on account of a long standing partnership with OYO in Namibia. www.ombetja.org Leeds Inspired supported us to welcome a group of ten young Namibian dancers to work with Yorkshire-based young people during an intensive week with input from artists Zoie Golding, Dr Philippe Talavera and other supporting artists Rachel Fullegar and Stuart Waters. This culminated in a sharing of new and existing work at Friday Firsts (Unusual Connections) and Le Grand Départ (Tour de France), Scotthall Road spectator hub. The participants were so deeply inspired by the collaboration that one Yorkshire dancer joined the apprentice programme in Namibia a month later.

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OYO perform at Friday Firsts © David Lindsay

For us the project was very nice, we enjoyed it and working with young different people from Yorkshire the creative tasks we[re] perfect. We learned that even if we are different coming from different places we can work together and make a difference. OYO dancers, July 2014

Dance Transports with StopGap Dance Company © Yorkshire Dance

Developing, retaining & attracting talent; independent artists Dance Transports This new regional workforce development programme was programmed in consultation with the sub-regional youth dance hubs and therefore hugely well-attended and well-received. We championed The Regional 12, selected dance practitioners based all over Yorkshire who received a small bursary for professional development and one-to-one support. Two-day intensive training workshops were held by Candoco Dance Company, Stopgap Dance Company, Dance United Yorkshire and 2Faced Dance Company.

“ Tara Baker / Dance Network Sheffield’s Cityscapes © Charlotte Armitage Anthony Middleton’s theMiddletonCorpus at Friday Firsts © Sara Teresa

A much-needed event across Yorkshire. Artists I speak to comment on the lack of CPD for contemporary dance practitioners, so an event targeting this was extremely beneficial. The workshops offered variety, yet the programme felt cohesive and offered fundamental information for those working in community dance. Steph Potter, Regional 12

Open Access: professional development This year’s open workshops for artists & practitioners were led by Hagit Yakira, Stopgap Dance Company, Janine Fletcher, James Wilton, Rita Marcalo, Charlotte Vincent, Peggy Olislaegers, Deborah Light, Jo Fong and Liz Lerman.

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This has already had a massive effect on my practice, I’m much more aware of details in my work, and how it’s important those details are meditated upon – not necessarily changed or altered – but recognised and reflected upon. I feel I’m more aware, and seek to find further depth in my work, and hope these skills will stick with me as I continue to create with my company. Anthony Middleton

Yorkshire Dance was pleased to support Gracefool Collective’s popular new Professional Class with free studio space alongside NSCD, Phoenix Dance Theatre, RJC and Dance Studio Leeds.

Liz Lerman leading Critical Repsonse Process workshop © Yorkshire Dance Snakebox perform P.L.A.Y. at Friday Firsts © Sara Teresa

Artists members: The Collective Following a review we re-launched The Collective, our artist membership (on average 42 artists), through which we provided 141 days of residency space for 47 artists, and 750 hours of free stand-by space for 49 members. 9 artists / companies amongst those received specific project support.

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Thank you for helping us and providing us excellent facilities and atmosphere. It’s been fun and a step up for us to have this time and space to explore a new idea. Akeim Toussaint Buck & Otis Jones (Snakebox)

Sketch workshop with Peggy Olislaegers © Yorkshire Dance

Developing, retaining & attracting talent: independent artists Sketch – artist development project Sketch was developed as a direct result of the learning of the previous New Associate programme. For this 8-month project we invested in the development of artistic practice of 7 artists who were selected, with the help of independent expertise, on the strength of their artistic ideas. Sketch included:

Grace Surman with Peggy Olislaegers, Sketch 1: The Live Masterclass © Sara Teresa

• a mini-commission of just under £1200 • a 1-day followed by 3-day dramaturgy workshop with international dramaturg Peggy Olislaegers • a series of 4 peer-to-peer learning meetings facilitated by producer Richard Sobey • a minimum of 2 weeks of studio time • 1-2-1 time with a member of the YD team The project culminated in a well-attended and hugely appreciated open access dramaturgy Masterclass where Peggy worked with Grace Surman and Carlos Pons in front of a very appreciative audience. Most Sketch projects are receiving further project support in 2015.

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My work gained another level of richness on a physical, intellectual and artistic level. Peggy made me look at my work in much more detail and question my practice and process. I gathered a greater understanding of form, structure, detail and the importance and use of subtext. Sketch artist

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The performance was really good fun.You can only do this type of thing if you feel the trust from the audience [which] you can push quite far. I felt I was able to share that, in this kind of approach to developing dance, you can combine serious rigour with fun, provocation with safety [and] jointly enjoy the questioning of shared territory and experience how much fun this can be. Peggy Olislaegers

Carlos Pons Guerra with Peggy Olislaegers, Sketch 1: The Live Masterclass © Sara Teresa

Keira Martin at Thinking Dance © Yorkshire Dance

Thinking Dance Thinking Dance grew out of the City of Dance partnership’s shared desire to support choreographic innovation. Lead partners Leeds Beckett University and Yorkshire Dance collaborated with NSCD and Phoenix Dance Theatre to deliver new choreographic research opportunities for emerging choreographers and academics. This was achieved through a two-week programme leading up to the symposium Questioning the Contemporary in 21st Century British Dance Practices in which artistresearchers Rosanna Irwine, Mark Flisher and Beth Cassani developed practice-based research. The symposium was a huge success and will be developed for the autumn of 2015.

Questioning the Contemporary © Yorkshire Dance

12 Degrees North, Lucid © Sara Teresa

Developing talent: presenting work Friday Firsts

Gary Clarke, Between Me and You © Sara Teresa

Nadia Iftkhar, The Sense of an Ending © Sara Teresa

Eight Friday Firsts evenings provided a platform for independent dance artists working on the small scale whilst introducing audiences to contemporary dance. We were particularly proud to invite Associate Artist Gary Clarke to curate Bend It, an evening celebrating queer work which was hugely successful and brought in a new audience.

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I particularly enjoyed the performances that explored, questioned and challenged taken-for-granted ideas on gender and relationships. The vinyls (real vinyls!!!) played in the foyer, the cross-dressing, the amazing and approachable performers and artists. Roser Rafols-Hilari, audience member, Bend It

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It was a great experience to be in the role of curator at this stage in my career and thank you for trusting me with that. It would be something I would do again! Gary Clarke

The programme included: Bish Bash Bosh, open scratch night; Live Bites, the best of new independent work across the North; This is Where It’s At, a new scratch night; and two new works produced through respond_. As a previous Juncture artist, we were pleased to present Brighton-based Janine Fletcher with her new work in progress, Trace Elements.

“ Sophie Unwin, The Chronicles of Joy © Sara Teresa

It was a real pleasure to be involved in Burst – a great performing and networking opportunity for the graduate company and the atmosphere was so supportive and welcoming it made it all very enjoyable. Giorgio de Carolis, 12 Degrees North

Northern Platforms As part of this annual artist-exchange with Dance Base, Dance City and Merseyside Dance Initiative we supported Gracefool Collective to perform at Manchester’s Turn platform and Sophie Unwin to perform Chronicles of Joy in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. In return we were able to invite Melanie ForbesBroomes (Scotland) and Nadia Iftkhar (North East) to Leeds for Friday Firsts #27: Live Bites. Post-show discussion and facilitated dinners & breakfasts provided artists with a critical chance to enter into dialogue with audiences and promoters.

Melanie Forbes-Broomes, Buy This! © Sara Teresa

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The feedback session was very useful. I’m really starting to understand the work and its direction. Being part of Northern Platforms was great; it’s valuable to work across new venues, spaces and agencies, raising my profile as an artist whilst seeing work being created across the region. It’s enabled me to build my networks which is positive for future collaborations. Sophie Unwin

Navaridas & Deutinger,Your Majesties © Navaridas & Deutinger

Aerowaves and Your Majesties With a shared ongoing commitment to create an international hub for contemporary practice we worked with Northern School of Contemporary Dance to welcome the exceptional Austrian Navaridas & Deutinger with Your Majesties, an Aerowaves priority piece in 2013 (www.aerowaves.org). The post-show talk was attended by five local Councillors who exchanged views with the artists on political responsibility and public speaking.

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We need to thank you and NSCD for bringing Your Majesties to Leeds. What a terrific piece of work. And excellent to have the discussion afterwards. More events like that please! Roger Harington Councillor for Gipton & Harehills

The Dance WE Made, Trinity Leeds © Brian Slater

The Dance WE Made The presentation in Leeds of this unique performance project by Tim Casson was the result of an ongoing relationship with Trinity Leeds shopping centre. For the first time in two years Tim was able to develop the project with 3 new (local) artists who together created 48 short new dances with members of the public, resulting in a beautiful short film on YouTube. This project will be developed in June 2015 to include community groups.

Vincent Dance Theatre: 21 Years / 21 Works We were delighted to welcome Charlotte Vincent back to the region with a tour of an Archive and Engagement installation in Studio 2, an open talk and the performance of Look at Me Now, Mummy. Over 120 people, some new community groups, students and regular dance aficionados got stuck in and enjoyed a peek into Charlotte’s creative and intellectual process.

Vincent Dance Theatre, Archive & Engagement Space © Yorkshire Dance Vincent Dance Theatre, Look at Me Now, Mummy © Matthew Simpson

Six emerging young artists will be working with Charlotte as mentor to create their response to this 21 Years work at Yorkshire Dance in July 2015.

Hagit Yakira’s Air Hunger © Sara Teresa

In September 2013,Yorkshire Dance, in partnership with Breakfast Creatives and University of Leeds, was chosen by Nesta, Arts Council England and Arts & Humanities Research Council as one of over 60 arts and cultural projects to receive funding from the £7 million Digital R&D Fund for the Arts. The partnership used the award of £125,000 to build respond_, a responsive online platform to encourage audiences and the wider public to become more actively engaged in the creation and interpretation of contemporary dance. A digital adaptation of Liz Lerman’s renowned Critical Response Process (CRP), the technology enabled participants to interact directly with artists; share their feedback and interpretations of artistic ideas and works-in-progress; and exchange ideas with others on the site.

Hagit Yakira’s Air Hunger © Sara Teresa

CRP is a feedback system based on the principle that the best possible outcome is for the maker to want to go back to work. In use for over 20 years, it has deepened dialogue between makers and audiences, enhanced learning between teachers and students and proved valuable for all kinds of creative endeavours and collaborative relationships within and beyond the arts. Some of the award money was used to commission two new dance works to be developed through the digital adaptation of CRP, and Yorkshire Dance put out an open call to dance artists at the end of 2013, inviting them to submit a digital ‘pitch’ for their planned new works. The six shortlisted films were posted online, and the public invited to vote for two they would like to see commissioned. Almost 800 people from around the world voted, and selected Robbie Synge’s Douglas and Hagit Yakira’s Air Hunger. Following an initial creative period, Robbie and Hagit each made a short film, giving a flavour of their works-in-progress, both posted online for a week in September 2014. Hagit’s film was shared privately with a ‘Closed Group’ of 30 participants working with researchers from University of Leeds; a mixture of Frequent Attenders of contemporary dance (4+ performances per year), Infrequent Attenders (1-4 performances per year) and people who identified themselves as Non-Attenders. Robbie’s film was made public, and anyone, anywhere in the world, was invited to watch it and join in the Critical Response Process as a member of the ‘Open Group’. Participants in both the ‘Open’ and ‘Closed’ groups interacted with Robbie and Hagit through the four steps of CRP. At each step, respond_ enabled direct communication back and forth between artists participants, with members of the respond_ team acting as a facilitator in the same way that CRP in a ‘real-life’ environment would be facilitated by an intermediary.

When the week of CRP came to an end, Robbie and Hagit went back into the studio to develop Douglas and Air Hunger further, equipped with all the questions, feedback and opinions from their respective participants and, in November, supplied new films demonstrating how their works had developed further. The films were posted online and a second week-long period of CRP was launched, this time featuring two live webchats to which online participants were invited; one between Liz Lerman herself and Robbie, and one between Liz and Hagit. In December, both artists returned to Yorkshire Dance to complete Douglas and Air Hunger in time for their world premiere performances. The research team has been busy analysing data gathered through observation and content analysis of the audience’s engagement with the platform and through qualitative feedback provided during a focus group, a series of surveys conducted throughout the programme, and depth interviews conducted with selected participants from the three user groups and with the two artists.

Findings indicate that the process has enhanced participants’ engagement with contemporary dance, broken down barriers to attendance for non-attenders and changed the way that participants will provide feedback in future, both in the context of the arts and beyond. One participant described the platform as a welcome antidote to the immediacy of feedback encouraged by social media and to today’s ‘pundit culture’. For participants, the platform seems to have enabled the fostering of productive and empathetic relationships between audiences and artists and supported the understanding of contemporary dancemaking processes within non-dance audience groups.

The respond_ team will publish its full research findings on the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts’ website later in 2015: http://artsdigitalrnd.org.uk/ The two new commissioned dance works have successfully established lives beyond the project, with Douglas taking international bookings and Air Hunger scheduled to the tour the UK later in 2015. We continue to develop the respond_ platform, in partnership with Liz Lerman, and have already planned to develop a new work by dance artist Lucy Suggate using respond_ in July 2015.

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I’m thrilled that Yorkshire Dance has taken the leap to test CRP within a digital platform. It has been so interesting to me to consider what feedback reached me and what didn’t, and why, questions which spurred me to develop CRP and which continue to drive its refinements and variations. I hope that users of respond_ will experience new pleasures of the Process through this platform. Liz Lerman

In the spotlight Tara Baker, independent artist, Sheffield Tara has been striving to establish a Dance Network for Sheffield for the past 12 months and Yorkshire Dance identified Tara as a catalyst individual to support and develop. Tara was chosen to be one of the Regional 12, new initiative offering individually tailored support and advice. Subsequently, Tara took part in Dance Transports regional CPD, working with Stopgap, Dance United and 2Faced. Yorkshire Dance then supported her to achieve her first Grants for the Arts bid Cityscapes, which will build on The Dance Network Sheffield and deliver a site-specific project linking with local festivals including Sheffield Design Week and Tramlines Music Festival.

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Being in the Regional 12 has had a positive impact on my development as a professional artist. My aim at the start of the year was to attend more professional performances that reflect my areas of interest, including physical theatre, sitespecific work, and theatre-based productions. It has been great to have my own little pot of money to fulfill these ambitions.

Recognition of the Regional 12 programme has been particularly useful at networking events; as a result I had the opportunity to join professional artist Gerry Turvey in the creation and performance at Leeds City Gallery in March, working with other professional dancers and Regional 12 artists, and with Leeds College of Music students, towards a collaborative public performance.

“I’ve really valued the support and feel I’ve developed a key set of management skills.” Joe Cummins performing at Fresh 2015 West Yorkshire Playhouse, April 2015 © Brian Slater

My involvement has also provided me one-to-one mentoring and support from Yorkshire Dance in writing and successfully receiving my first Arts Council bid. I’ve really valued the support and feel I’ve developed a key set of management skills needed to operate the activities of the Dance Network. Joe Cummins (14), Rotherham Boys Project Joe has been part of Rotherham Boys Project for two years, before which he had little experience of dance. Through it, he has developed in confidence, skill and enthusiasm and was recently nominated as lead choreographer for the regional Dance Whispers project.Visiting Sadler’s Wells and connecting to young people in the National Youth Dance Company has opened Joe’s eyes to new opportunities and experiences. He is now considering auditioning for the Yorkshire CAT scheme.

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“If I didn’t come [to ReBuzz], I think I’d just be playing on my Xbox or winding my Mum up!” 14

Rebuzz has given me so many opportunities, I’ve made new friends, learnt new skills and performed at so many different platforms. When I leave school I want to complete a diploma in Dance at Rotherham College and hopefully go on to study dance at University as I want to become a dance teacher. I’ve really enjoyed working with different choreographers in ReBuzz and I’m looking forward to our next project as I’m able to make my choreography on the group. I really enjoy coming to Rebuzz every week. If I didn’t come I think I’d just be playing on my Xbox or winding my Mum up! Being involved has made me realise how much I enjoy dancing.”

Financial Overview 2014-2015 Income £ Core income Core: Arts Council England Core: Leeds City Council Other public funding Arts Council England Leeds City Council Digital R&D Fund for the Arts Earned income Artistic and educational activities Tenants and hires Trading and other income Trusts and Foundations Donations Corporate Donations Total income

325,794 60,000 65,276 10,028 95,500 91,329 194,643 11,209 52,234 6,923 36,128 949,064

Expenditure £ Artist development & professional programme Youth and community Regional dance development Marketing Building and admin overheads Salaries and staff costs Total expenditure

122,741 87,361 33,603 25,276 206,274 318,321 793,576

The information above is derived from the Detailed Statement of Financial Activities contained in the audited annual accounts for the year ended 31st March 2015. Full audited accounts and Trustees’ report can be obtained from Yorkshire Dance.

Digital Reach Yorkshire Dance’s website attracted over 77,000 visits by 50,200 unique visitors during the year, an increase from 2013-2014 of 16,000 visits and 10,200 unique visitors.

Yorkshire Dance films on YouTube and Vimeo received nearly 3500 views, more than double the figure in the previous financial year, and reflecting our aim to make more of our work available online.

The new Bodies on the Beach site (launched in the last week of March 2014) attracted 187 visits by 162 unique visitors in the week to the year-end.

Yorkshire Dance continued to develop its social media activity; by the year-end, we had attracted 6,100 followers on Twitter (up by 1,600), 1,850 Facebook ‘Likes’ (up by 450) and 179 followers on Instagram (account launched August 2014).

www.respondto.org attracted 3,857 visits by 2,336 unique visitors, engaging an international digital audience in an unusually extended and involved online process of critical inquiry and exchange.

Board of Directors

Katrina Ward Studio Operations Manager

Laura Griffiths respond_ Project Manager

Margaret Coleman (Chair) Alison Andrews Helen Bowdur June Goodson-Moore Ric Green Rachel Krische Graham Mallinson Ruth Moran Cllr Adam Ogilvie Andrew Walker

Sarah Lyon Youth & Community Dance Manager

Clementina Pun respond_ Project Placement

Hollie Harkness-Gowers / Kate Thomas Programmes Manager / Co-ordinator

Sarah Johnston Annelise Andersen DARE Fundraising Fellow

Fuzzy Jones / Seetal Gahir Administrative Assistant

Yorkshire Dance staff

Judy Rose Finance Administrator

Natalie Duffield-Moore Junior Producer, Amplified

Lauren Clarke Assistant Studio Operations Manager

Wieke Eringa CEO & Artistic Director

Danielle Byars / Lisa Clayton Youth & Community Dance Intern

Andrea Smart Administrative Director Hannah Robertshaw Youth & Community Dance Director Kirsty Redhead Creative Producer

Katie Roberts / Sophie Inkster Marketing & Development Intern

Sam Hobrough / Jackie Malcolm Fundraising & Development Manager Antony Dunn Marketing & Communications Manager Artist Advisory Group Andrea Buckley Beth Cassani Rachel Krische Balbir Singh Sarah Spanton Associate Artist Gary Clarke Artist practitioners (regular) Katie Aynsley Anthony Bayou Jemma Broomhead Charlie Buchanan Cassandra Butler Danielle Byars Sharon Cameron Alison Grace Clissold Rachel Dean Victoria Drew Rachel Fullegar Laura Liddon Janetta Maxwell Louise McDowell Alex Mettam Laura Murphy Bryony Mylroie-Smith Zoe Parker Matthew-Jay Pratt Sheridan Sherratt Craig Turner Bobak Walker Laura Withers Artists receiving project support Akeim Toussaint Buck Hannah Buckley Jamaal Burkmar Beth Cassani Gary Clarke Gavin Coward Dance United Yorkshire

Gemma Whitham Youth & Community Projects Assistant

Melanie Purdie BBC Performing Arts Fellow Akeim Buck, Rachel Clarke, Jayne Fullerton, Alex Ivanov, Maria Jardardottir, Angie Knott, Rachael O’Neill, Nina Ojuroye, Matthew Peters, Daniel Phung, Beth Powlesland, Connor Quill, Chloe Richardson, Rebekah Roman Front of House Sarah Buckmaster, Elb Hall, Leanne Hobbins, Adam Steed, Huw Williams Theatre Technicians Mansys IT Support

Callum Powell Studio Operations Apprentice Anil Patel Building Maintenance

Janine Fletcher Gracefool Collective Carlos Pons Guerra Igor & Moreno Rosanna Irvine Annika Kompart Deborah Light Rita Marcalo Keira Martin Antony Middleton Non Applicables Rachael O’Neill Connor Quill Devika Rao Phil Sanger Lucy Suggate Grace Surman Robbie Synge Sophie Unwin Vincent Dance Theatre Hagit Yakira Artists in receipt of bursaries Tara Baker Gemma Barker Anthony Bayou Sharon Cameron Lois Grinstead Carlos Pons Guerra Nisha Lall Sam Lawrence Laura Liddon Riccardo Meneghini Zoe Parker Stephanie Potter Matthew Jay Pratt Ayisha Simpson Rosemary Spencer Benjamin Skinner Tenants Balbir Singh Dance Company DJ School UK Elephant Marketing

Kendells Bistro Red Ladder Theatre Company Split Design UK Talking Lens Therapy Heaven Type Agency Yew Tree Therapies With thanks to all our funders and partners for 2014 – 2015 Arts Council England Ann Maguire Trust Bailey Thomas Charitable Fund Bircham Dyson Bell Breakfast Creatives Co-Operative Community Foundation Creative Employment Programme Esmee Fairbairn Foundation The Fenton Arts Trust Foundation for Community Dance Green Hall Foundation Grey Court Trust Hull and E Riding Charitable Trust IGEN Trust Irwin Mitchell Jimbo’s Fund Kingdom of the Netherlands Land Securities Leeds City Council and Leeds Inspired Leeds Adult Social Care Leeds Public Health Leeds Beckett University Leeds Building Society Leeds City College Leeds Community Foundation Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation The National Lottery Nesta N Smith Charitable Settlement Northern Ballet Northern School of Contemporary Dance Phoenix Dance Theatre Rayne Foundation

Yorkshire Dance, 3 St Peter’s Buildings, St Peter’s Square, Leeds LS9 8AH 0113 243 9867, admin@yorkshiredance.com Yorkshire Dance Centre Trust Ltd Registered 2319572 England Registered Charity No. 701624 VAT No. 418 0193 70

Royal Norwegian Embassy RTR Foundation Sovereign Health Space 2 Sylvia and Colin Shepherd Trust Thistle Trust University of Leeds Wade Charity West Yorkshire Playhouse West Yorkshire Sport Youth Dance England All our individual donors – many thanks! Volunteers Beth Armstrong Victoria Clapshaw Tori Drew Kerry Frood Katy Hewison Laura Holbrook Nikki Hope Pippa Inkster Laura Kaye Hannah Martin Luke Mcdonough-Stratford Stephanie McGrath Sophie Mitchel Ashley Neal Sophie Newall Rachael O’Neill Rosie Riley Eimear Smyth Emily Snow Charlotte Statham Andrew Walker Lillian Walsh Rebecca Ward Lauren Watshaw Emma Wilde