Matthew Bourne’s charity, Re:Bourne, has recently seen its patrons announced. Darcey Bussell CBE, Tom Daley and David Walliams have all taken roles as the charity’s patrons, flying the flag for its work and championing dance for Bourne. For young people, role models are vital in inspiring their participation in the arts and this is more important today than ever.
Founded in 2008 Re:Bourne invests in the future of dance, and is a crucial way of finding and nurturing the next generation of dancers, choreographers and audiences. The charity has grown significantly in recent years, now delivering workshops, projects and productions across the UK and around the world. Re:Bourne’s activity has continued to grow fast, with new projects and productions planned in order to engage more young people and audiences in dance.
In 2014 Re:Bourne created and toured a ground-breaking dance-theatre adaptation of William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies”, introducing many boys to dance who had no experience in the performing arts The production brought together adult dancers from the New Adventures company with young people in an innovative project, consequently creating a large-scale touring network. The production went on to play to an audience of over 70,000 and engaged over 8,000 young people all over the country.
Having Darcey Bussell, Tom Daley and David Walliams on board as patrons is a huge coup for Re:Bourne. They are inspiring and much-loved figures and are undoubted role models for young people in the UK today. They each have a list of accolades to their names, including dancing and now judging “Strictly Come Dancing”, being an Olympic icon who single-handedly put diving on the map and being one of the most popular comedians and actors of the last decade.