Leeds Dance Open Day: Volunteers

We are looking for Volunteers to help support the Leeds Dance Open Day on Sunday 19 September, plus prior training sessions.

The free Leeds Dance Open Day will take place across several leading dance organisations and venues in Leeds: Northern Ballet & Phoenix Dance Theatre, Yorkshire Dance, Leeds Playhouse and Northern School of Contemporary Dance. From dance films and performances, workshops and classes, to backstage tours, the Volunteers and Volunteer Coordinators will be on hand to assist in the smooth running of the day.

Find out more by downloading the information below

To express your interest please complete this form.

If you would like more information, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Callum Holt on openday@leedsdancepartnership.com.

Photo Emma Clayton

Call Out: Independent Advisory Panel

Call Out: Independent Advisory Panel
Leeds Dance Partnership
£180 (£60 per session)
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Thursday 30 September
To register your interest, please email
simone@leedsdancepartnership.com

We are looking for six independent dance artists based in the Leeds City Region to form the Leeds Dance Partnership Independent Advisory Panel.

Led by our independent board member João Maio, the Panel will be made up of freelance dance artists with a diverse variety of social backgrounds, career phases, age, gender and ethnicities. The Panel will meet for three facilitated discussions, helping to shape our future work to ensure that freelance dance professionals in our region are supported to thrive. These sessions will also provide an opportunity for engagement and exchange with other independent artists and facilitators.

Each artist will receive a £60 contribution to attend each session (totalling £180 across the three sessions).

Who we are looking for

We are looking for artists who:

  • Are aged 18 or over and work as freelancers in the Leeds City Region
  • Are keen to contribute collaboratively to supporting and celebrating dance in and beyond our region
  • Have a desire to exchange ideas and practices, valuing difference and mutual respect
  • Have an interest in an ecological approach to the local and national dance sector and beyond

Register your interest

To register your interest, please email simone@leedsdancepartnership.com briefly telling us about you, why you would like to be involved and your work relevant to the Panel.

If you would like to apply in another format please contact Lucy Dusgate, Partnership Director on 07974 3332609.

The deadline to register your interest has been extended to Thursday 30 September 2021.

Making dance work!

A series of free seminars & social evenings by dance professionals

Join Leeds Dance Partnership every month to enjoy a series of free talks by dance and arts industry experts designed to help develop your dance career. Whether you’re a professional or enthusiast, everyone is welcome. You can attend in person at Yorkshire Dance in central Leeds or join us online via the livestream.

Each seminar focuses on key themes across a range of subject areas such as building and demystifying networks and partnerships, knowing your practice and working with other artists/artforms. Our speakers are all experts in their field and include Gary Clarke (Gary Clarke Company), Rachel Fullegar (Gracefool), freelance fundraiser Pam Johnson, digital innovator Sean Clarke (Test Card).

Find out more about the speakers

Seminar 2: Demystifying Funding

Hosted by Pamela Johnson,
Fundraiser and audience development specialist

Wednesday 28 July, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

With a new round of Arts Council England funding for Developing your Creative Practice about to launch, experienced independent fundraiser Pamela Johnson will take us through the process of funding applications, using this grant as an example of how to approach applications. She is one of the best fundraisers in the region, so come and get top tips in this group session and share any advice you have to help assist others.

Seminar 3: Demystifying Networks & Partnerships

Hosted by Dr. Joseph Mercier
Choreographer, Performance Maker and Lecturer at Northern School of Contemporary Dance

Wednesday 25 August, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

What is my practice? What do I offer? How do I see my practice evolving in the coming two, three, five years and as a longer career? We talk with established northern dance professionals Joanne Bernard, Rehearsal Director for Phoenix Dance Theatre and Rachel Fullegar, founder of Gracefool Collective and ProDanceLeeds.

Book now

Seminar 4: Making work Work!
Knowing your Practice and articulating your aims and objectives

Hosted by Dr. Joseph Mercier

Wednesday 29 September, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

(Re-scheduled from June)

How do you communicate to audiences and other creative professionals what you do? In this seminar speakers Gary Clarke and Julia White, Marketing and Communications Manager at Yorkshire Dance, take an honest look at getting your message out there, adapting it to different audiences and recognising how to best promote your work.

On sale Wednesday 1 September

Seminar 5: The Digital Dancer

Hosted by Dr. Joseph Mercier

Wednesday 27 October, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

We speak with Kenneth Tindall, Artistic Director of Digital at Northern Ballet and Sean Clarke, founder of Test Card to discuss how working in film/digital and for online has changed and informed approaches to their work. What has been learnt and what can we all take forward in creative practice when thinking about the digital online space?

On sale Friday 1 October

Seminar 6: Performance outdoors & at festivals

Hosted by Dr. Joseph Mercier

Wednesday 24 November, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

We hear from Abbe Robinson, Festival Director at Light Night Leeds and Victoria Firth, Performer, Theatre Maker and Director, who between them move between venue, outdoor and festival presentations. They share their experience and question us to look at how we create and communicate to these expanding areas of performance opportunity with thoughts on site specific, festival networks, place making and the new normal for outdoor art.

On sale Monday 1 November

Return to Dance Webinars, One Dance UK

​Professional Development: Return to Dance Webinars
One Dance UK
Online/Digital
Catch up

If you missed them, One Dance UK’s Return to Dance Q&A webinars, co-hosted by the Dance Medicine and Science Expert Panel, are available to view online.

Covering topics such as social distancing in dance and mental health and injury management, catch up on the webinars on the One Dance UK website.