One Dance UK – the result of the merger of the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora, Dance UK, National Dance Teachers Association and Youth Dance England – was launched earlier in December at an event attended by 450 dance professionals. The event was also live streamed, drawing together more than 130 years of experience between the separate organisations, creating a new force for dance for the whole of the UK.
The merger will complete in April, and One Dance UK will eventually be moving out of London, possibly to Birmingham or Leeds. The name One Dance UK was selected following extensive stakeholder, industry and staff consultation, reflecting the UK-wide reach of the new organisation, the unity of its voices, and celebrating the combined experience of the organisations to create a new future for dance in the UK.
The formation of the new industry body for the dance sector has been funded by Arts Council England, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. It will provide services for young people dancing, teachers and training institutions, as well as for professional dancers, choreographers, companies and producers. The aim is to create a single, more powerful voice for dance, a central knowledge hub, professional development opportunities and performance platforms to nurture talent, and strategic initiatives that will benefit the sector.
The body has secured £145,000 to invest in leadership development for both dancers and teachers, and will also run new performance platforms for artists working in dance of the African diaspora. A national conference for choreographers in 2016 is another of the programmes to be run in its first three years, which will also see the creation of a new exhibition and a digital platform celebrating the last 70 years of British dance launched in 2018. The national youth dance festival – U.Dance – will be also expanded and presented at The Lowry, Salford in July 2016.