Dance News and Opportunities

The Dance Space - A new home for dance in Brighton and the South East

Artist impression of the Circus Street development (c) John McAslan & Partners/Alan Martin

Circus Street Artist Impression 2

John McAslan & Partners/Alan Martin, Dec 2005

A home for dance

We are hugely excited about a project that is being gifted to us by Brighton & Hove City Council. It will be a new build development, in Circus Street, in the cultural quarter on the edges of the centre of Brighton.

The development will reach completion in 2012. We are expected to be the manager of the building's creative spaces, including substantial offices and two state of the art dance studios. The space will be a production space and not a performance space.

We have commissioned a feasiblity report and have been busy consulting with artists, communities and other dance spaces and buildings.

Brighton and Hove City Council have selected Cathedral Group to redevelop their Circus Street site into an exemplar mixed-use urban development, which will provide amongst other objectives, flexible creative workspace and a creation space within 1,128m squared, for use by cultural organisaitons, artists, community groups and the broader creative industries.

For a look at the site go to: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1141683 To learn more about Cathedrals projects go to: www.cathedralgroup.com

This project represents a potential in-kind investment to the value of £2.133 million pounds to us, the artists and communities we work with and other local creative industries by the Council. By choosing to invest this money in the provision of these facilities we are being offered a secure home where work can be created by the artistic and wider communities that we work with.

This project is a potentially unique model for the provison of such spaces nationally. It could be a flagship project for the City, the region and the country and could provide a real focus for artistic activity in the region and an exciting new future for us as a key regional and national cultural organisation.

The realisation of The Dance Space and Workspace, will allow us to move towards a new and exciting future with access to international standard facilities for the creation of dance in our home city.

By bringing together a combination of commercial, artistic and community uses we could benefit from a broader range of income streams to secure our ongoing financial viability.

Vision for The Dance Space

To create a natural and accessible home and locus for the creation of dance in the City and South East region, of national and international profile
To build a special dance space for all aspects of dance creation, focussing on creativity, production, choreography, research & development and transformation
To establish a working ethos and environment that is open and welcoming which enables professional dance artists and local communities to be valued equally and work side by side and together in the space
To work with like-minded partners to provide access to dance that currently does not exist, to raise young peoples understanding and experience of dance
To grow the dance and creative industries in the South East by providing a much needed resource

If a building is achieved the long term benefits will be huge and far-reaching for thousands of people and will include:

Growth of a viable artistic community in Brighton and Hove and the South East
The continued relocation of artists to the South East
Tremendous growth in the dance sector within the South East
Supporting the increased role dance is playing on the health agenda and providing greater opportunities for participation
Increased standards in community practice and training
Increased provision in artistic creation in the South East
A creation space of significant quality comparable with the artistic quality of the artists based in the region.

The Dance Space Feasibility Study

The impetus for The Dance Space stems from the simple concept that choreographers, dance artists and wider dance communities should have the best possible environment in which to make and share their work. This environment is currently unstable, poorly resourced and hampered by a lack of physical and financial resources. To read the Dance Space Feasibility Study click here.

We are hugely excited about this project and will keep you updated with its development. If you have any comments or questions do email us at: sue.welham@southeastdance.org.uk

Mailing List »

Passionate about dance? Register now to receive our
free e-bulletins...