Greenwich Dance to keep community projects going

Plans have been announced for the local community to continue to benefit from Greenwich Dance, after it closed at the end of 2023.

The news follows Greenwich Dance’s success at the One Dance UK Awards, where its CEO and Creative Director, Melanie Precious won The Dance Spotlight Award and the organisation was nominated for the Community Champion Award.

Greenwich Dance and Arts Trust Productions’ partnership project, Summer in the Park, a festival series which animates popular and lesser known public spaces across Greenwich and Bexley, and the popular outdoor class series presented in Greenwich Park, will now be delivered solely by Arts Trust Productions, an organisation dedicated to bringing cultural experiences to public spaces for marginalised communities and artists. This follows successful negotiations with funders The National Lottery Community Fund and The Royal Parks who have both agreed to transfer grant agreements to Arts Trust Productions.

Launched at the start of the pandemic, Dance for Wellbeing will continue with the programme now being led by Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. This weekly class programme taking place across five locations in South East London, aims to enhance people’s physical and mental health, while offering an inclusive space for people to come together and dance. City Bridge Foundation has agreed to transfer the grant to Trinity Laban to ensure the project can continue to have a positive impact on the community,

ArtsUnboxed, the revolutionary platform offering new ways to create and share dance work in a sustainable and cost-effective way, will be hosted by People Dancing, the UK’s leading organisation for community and participatory dance.

As previously announced, the organisation’s Adult Performance Company, known as GD Collective, will now be taken on by its Artistic Director Maria da Luz Ghoumrassi, with a year of studio hire costs provided by Greenwich Dance to help ease financial risk. Talking Moves, a podcast all about dance, will be kept available for people to listen and download by Woolwich based podcast production studio Creative Kin.

Following Greenwich Dance’s closure, monies remaining will be distributed to Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, Luca Silvestrini's Protein, and Chisenhale Dance Space.

CEO and Creative Director of Greenwich Dance, Melanie Precious said: “Through the challenges of the last year my team and I at Greenwich Dance have continued to work tirelessly for our community of local residents and dance artists. While we are all saddened by the closure of the organisation, I am pleased that by negotiating these new agreements our work will continue beyond the organisation and Greenwich Dance’s legacy will be felt for years to come.”

For 30 years Greenwich Dance was at the centre of participatory dance and artist development across South East London, providing a home for innovative dance creation, performance, and community participation. Its wide-ranging portfolio of activities included classes, performance projects, festivals, and events. Before its closure Greenwich Dance became a fighting voice for the importance of arts and culture, highlighting the challenges other similar organisations were experiencing with key policy makers at local and central government level.

To find out more about Summer in the Park and the Greenwich Park class programme see www.artstrust.co.uk

For more information about Dance for Wellbeing see www.trinitylaban.ac.uk

For queries regarding ArtsUnboxed see www.communitydance.org.uk