About Us
DanceXchange 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, DanceXchange has some of the best dance facilities in the UK, with three studios and The Patrick Centre, a 206-seat studio theatre which was the first dedicated dance space outside London and remains one of the most important spaces for dance performance and production in the country.
Performance
DanceXchange takes the best British dance to a worldwide stage and brings outstanding artists from across the world to Birmingham.
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DanceXchange Performance Season
We programme outstanding artists from across the world, who perform in our 206-seat studio theatre, The Patrick Centre, which was the first dedicated dance space outside London and remains one of the most important spaces for dance performance and production in the country. Read about our current performance season here
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DanceXchange Family Weekend
Every year, we stage the DanceXchange Family Weekend, for four days over the May Day bank holiday, featuring performances created specifically for children and their families, along with schools performances and workshops. Family Weekend is also incorporated with International Dance Festival Birmingham every two years, when it is held at mac birmingham and Cannon Hill Park.
Participation
We nurture the best young dance talent, and work with communities, hard-to-reach groups and schools. We train and inspire the region’s dance talent through education and professional development, to help shape the dance artists, performers and leaders of the future.
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The DanceXchange Class Programme
DanceXchange runs an open recreational Class Programme of around 45 dance classes each week for people of all ages, from beginner to professional, in a diverse range of styles, from Contemporary, to Capoeira, to Street Dance.
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Discover Dance
DanceXchange is leading, in partnership with Dance4 in the East Midlands, on the development of Discover Dance, a new strategic education model, which will embed dance in schools as an art form and as a tool for enhancing learning and critical thinking across the curriculum. This innovative project is the first of its kind and has the potential to improve academic attainment and influence the way education is delivered in schools.
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westmidlandsdance.com
DanceXchange is managing the legacy of the Cultural Olympiad for dance in the West Midlands, with a new go-to site for dance in the region intended to bring together the sector, stimulate new projects and reach a wider audience.
Production
DanceXchange produces innovative site-specific commissions and large-scale performance events in both professional and community contexts, co-produces a range of touring productions, and runs its own small-scale touring dance company, Bare Bones. We produce exciting new dance works and bring them to new audiences, through International Dance Festival Birmingham, and through our Production and Touring Hub.
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International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB) 2014
DanceXchange is a co-producer, with Birmingham Hippodrome, of International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB), one of the largest and most diverse dance festivals in the world.
The biennial, four week festival has been running since 2008 and brings some of the world’s best dance artists to Birmingham’s finest venues. Incorporating an outstanding international theatre programme, world premieres, outdoor shows, workshops, family activities and school performances, IDFB has something for everyone.
With over 250 free events across the city, IDFB enlivens outdoor spaces, attracts audiences of over 60,000 and brings dance into the daily lives of people within the city. Exciting plans are in place for the next festival, which will take place in April and May 2014.
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Production and Touring Hub initiative (PATH)
DanceXchange is leading on a ground-breaking 3-year project in partnership with dance houses and venues across England, to develop and support the production and distribution of the best quality contemporary dance work and bring it to the widest possible audience. This is a pioneering new production and touring model that will be the first major strategic intervention in small-scale dance touring, building touring networks and skilling up venues to programme and market dance. There will be significant investment in marketing and audience development, in order to grow audiences for dance and reach a wider demographic in right across the country, particularly in cultural cold-spots