People Dancing :: Home :: Foundation for Community Dance

People Dancing is the development and membership organisation for community and participatory dance, driving forward inclusion and excellence through professional development, resources & safeguarding services, specialist programmes & networks. It supports a UK-wide network of members - dance artists, practitioners and organisations - who make great dance happen in all its diversity.

People Dancing offers a range of memberships for individual dance artists, teachers and leaders, and for organisations of all sizes.

COVID-19 Government guidance and risk assessment considerations

To assist dance artists, practitioners and teachers in preparing for a return to in-person practical work during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve outlined some areas to consider when undertaking a risk assessment of your work in respect of COVID-19.

Open Space

Photo: Jeremy Wong, Operations and Finance Officer, Improbable

Online conversation

On Friday 25 Sep 2020 an online Open Space conversation with around 170 people in response to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic took place: Is this actually a great time to make some changes in Dance?

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Disability arts

Commissions open to disabled dance artists

Unlimited's Senior Producer Jo Verrent chats about Unlimited's commissioning round that is open to disabled dance artists.

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Tango in lockdown

The Tango Effect: Parkinson’s and the Healing Power of Dance was published during the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly after the country went into lockdown. Here, we are pleased to share recordings with you that were made by the author, Kate Swindlehurst, from March - July 2020.

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Individual artists toolkit

A resource for artists to help them demonstrate the value and impact of participatory arts and develop partnerships for funding work - including a Marketing & Communications pack and a set of Case Studies.

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On a mission

On a mission

Listen to dance artist Tamar Dixon talking about her Podcast series, ‘INSiGHTZ: An insight into your dance journey’: a series of interviews, personal stories, experiences and hot topics about dance.

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Parkinson's discussion

Dance with Parkinson’s roundtable discussion

Cheryl McChesney and Kiki Gale in conversation with artists, producers and dancers bringing together a range of perspectives on dance with people with lived experience of Parkinson's during lockdown.

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Marcia's story

Knocking on doors with biscuits

People Dancing Associate Artist Louise Katerega in conversation with dancer and choreographer Marcia Edwards about her transition from dancer to setting up her own community dance company.

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New skills, new normal?

Moving, in and out of lockdown

Arts participation specialist Peter Laycock offers some thoughts around our new ability to deliver digitally and asks us to imagine what we could achieve in the future without the restrictions of lockdown

Read Peter's blog

Additional tips

10 things I've learnt over the past five years

Creative Director and artist Kwesi Johnson on mindset, methodology and our ability to transition to teaching dance and movement online.

Read Kwesi's blog

Dance delivery online

Dance and digital participation

In this vlog for People Dancing Tom Hobden reflects on his experiences of developing participatory dance delivery online, using digital tools and the art of making a human connection.

Watch Tom's vlog

Artistic courage

Maria da Luz Ghoumrassi. Photo: Foteini Christofilopolous.

Artistic courage under lockdown

Associate Artist Louise Katerega in conversation with artists and People Dancing Members Jorja Follina and Maria da Luz Ghoumrassi talking about the benefits of a one to one with People Dancing and their very different experiences of dealing with lockdown at such short notice.

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Being together

Dancers Yi Kwek, Stella Mcauly, Maria Evans and Kiera Sanderson. Photo: Sophie Jane Hughes

Love letter to a lost dance

Dr Ruth Pethybridge, Senior Lecturer, Dance, University of Falmouth and People Dancing Board member invites us, in a bid to articulate the value of our shared practice of dancing, to write a love letter to a lost dance

Read Ruth's blog