Cheshire Dance creates opportunities for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to access dance and to use the art form to live healthier and happier lives. From delivering dance classes in the community, to providing professional development & training to emerging artists and hosting events and festivals, we seek to remove inequalities and co-create opportunity to experience the power of dance.
Founded as a charity in 1976, over the past four decades Cheshire Dance has enabled hundreds of thousands of individuals to engage with dance. We have enticed a wide variety of people from all walks of life to learn from, participate in and enjoy dance –and to benefit from the vast physical, emotional and mental health as well as social, creative and career-defining outcomes that can be gained from dance.
Cheshire Dance is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England, delivers Service Level Agreements with Local Authorities and other public and voluntary sectors and works extensively in partnership across the dance, arts, public, voluntary, health and education sectors in the UK and ocasionally abroad.
‘Cheshire Dance is a team and network of dance artists, creatives, producers, initiators, doers and dance lovers. We work in many different communities and artists, offering people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds the opportunity to co-create, explore, perform and learn. People, their communities, re-imagining spaces and places, overcoming inequalities, performance and festivals, professional development and the desire to make a difference are at the heart of everything we do.’
From working with young people and older adults, to those living with challenging health conditions or disabilities (including profound intellectual and multiple difficulties), at Cheshire Dance we strive to reach as many people as possible to enrich their lives through dance.
Our work spans right across community, health and educational settings throughout Cheshire, and through our partnerships with a wide variety of organisations in the North West, we make dance inclusive, available and accessible to everyone.
We take the art form into areas of low engagement and low income; we work with vulnerable groups and support many in their first social experiences of dance. We believe that the art form is for everyone, and we break down barriers to give everybody access to dance.
Dance artists are at the heart of our organisation, providing transformative experiences and making a real difference to lives through dance. For this reason, we champion the role of dance artists in our society and work with both emerging and established artists to support their professional development, creative practice and career ambitions.
Dance Consortia North West
What’s more, Cheshire Dance is the lead organisation of Dance Consortia North West – a partnership of dance organisations, touring companies, venues, higher education institutions and a network of independent artists who come together to create new opportunities for artists to make and share dance locally, nationally and internationally. We believe in nurturing artistic talent and work as a collective to raise the profile of dance artists and develop audiences for dance in the region and beyond.
From the beginning
Cheshire Dance began in 1976, as a result of a Gulbenkian Foundation Fellowship scheme in partnership with Cheshire Local Education Authority. The Cheshire fellow and founder of Cheshire Dance, Veronica Lewis, set up professional, community and education programmes with internationally renowned dance artists and companies, including many whom were locally based. Building on these firm foundations Cheshire Dance is now a registered Charity and a strongly networked organisation and team of Dance Artists and Development staff that co-creates with participants, audiences, artists and many partners across the dance, arts, public, voluntary, health and education sectors.
Cheshire Dance is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England and partners with organisations across the arts, voluntary and public sectors. We work with cultural, arts and venue partners to co-design, produce and promote bespoke projects, events and programmes in response to both ambition and demand. For further information or to discuss a bespoke requirement, please get in touch.
