About Us

Established in 1993, DanceXchange (dx) is a power house of dance with excellence, innovation, participation and inclusion at its heart and, together with Birmingham Hippodrome and Birmingham Royal Ballet, is part of the largest dance partnership in Britain.

Housed within the Birmingham Hippodrome complex, dx has some of the best dance facilities in Britain today, with three studios and The Patrick Centre, a 206-seat studio theatre. The Patrick Centre was the first dedicated dance space outside London and remains one of the most important spaces for dance performance and production in the UK. It is a valuable resource for artists in the research, development and creation of new work, making it vital to the UK dance sector.

dx takes the best British dance to a worldwide stage, brings outstanding artists from across the world to Birmingham, and has a growing reputation as a producing house. Its contemporary dance company, Bare Bones, which performs in-the-round giving audiences an ‘up-close-and personal’ experience of dance, has toured internationally, playing a significant role in enhancing the reputation of the West Midlands as a centre of excellence for dance. dx produces innovative site specific commissions and large-scale performance events in both professional and community contexts, and co-produces a range of touring productions, most recently, Funny Bones, an inventive double-bill of dance for children and families.

dx also engages people from all backgrounds in healthy participatory dance activity, and nurtures gifted young people to help shape the dance artists, performers and leaders of the future.

As part of this, dx:

• runs an open recreational Class Programme of around 40 dance classes each week for people of all ages, from beginner to professional, in a diverse range of styles – from Contemporary, to Capoeira, to Kathak;
• is at the forefront of good practice in Access and Inclusion, through engaging young people and communities at risk of exclusion in high quality dance projects, underpinned by a developmental, consultative approach to partnership working.

dx is also the strategic West Midlands hub for a number of nationally significant dance initiatives and partnerships, most notably working with:

• Youth Dance England to deliver a joined-up region-wide strategy for Youth Dance in the West Midlands, through a network of partner organisations with Youth Dance posts, based in each of the six sub-regions of the West Midlands.
• The Department of Education’s Music and Dance Scheme to deliver the Centre for Advanced Training for South Asian and Contemporary Dance, aimed at young people with exceptional talent and potential in dance. The Contemporary strand is aimed at young people from the West Midlands; the South Asian strand, developed in partnership with sampad, South Asian Arts, is unique in the UK and selects students from across the country.

dx, in partnership with Birmingham Hippodrome, successfully produced the inaugural International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB) in 2008, a major four-week festival of outstanding international dance, and followed this with a bigger, more distinctive festival in 2010 – increasing its regional reach, audience engagement, youth and community participation, economic impact, and profile. Already one of the largest and most diverse dance festivals in the world, IDFB makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of the region and has a positive impact on perceptions of Birmingham as an attractive visitor destination.

dx has both a national and a regional remit and is a premier UK dance house.

dx is committed to raising the profile of Birmingham as an internationally significant cultural city and world centre for dance – and continues to work with its partners to maximise the benefits of its work for the city, the region, and the UK dance sector.