Dance Umbrella

·      In the late 1970s there was enough dance activity happening in Britain to generate festivals or showcases to share the independent work

·      There were three major dance festivals- ADMA, Dance at Darlington and Dance Umbrella

·      The idea for Dance Umbrella mainly came from the arts council and arts administrators

·      It was in 1977 that Noel Goodwin suggested that London needed a dance festival

·      Val Bourne along with a colleague wad asked to write a proposal for DU

·      Later Matthew Bourne became director for the festival until 2006

·      The parts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) funded the festival

Key facts:

·      Bourne “could not have foreseen the extent to which DU would be instrumental in establishing the buoyant dance culture that now exists throughout the country”

·      Pressure had been building to recognise dance as an art form as equally deserving of funding and encouragement for experimental projects

·      Several small companies from the UK were scheduled to appear- all funded by the Arts Council

·      Bourne proposed that the festival would need venues suitable for professional theatrical companies- the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Riverside Studios gave their support

The first DU festival included:

·      Richard Alston and dancers

·      Fergus Early

·      Extemporary Dance company

·      Janet Smith and Robert North

·      Four American soloists

·      The first festival included films, seminars, workshops and exhibitions

The aims of the first festival were

·      Give British artists an opportunity to present their works in professional venues

·      Focus public attention on an area of work thought to be worthy of support

·      To prove that the public was interested in seeing the work

·      DU had been set up as a one off project but members of the newly found DU board fought to continue to fund the project- it was then proposed that it would be an annual festival

·      The second festival was held in 1980 in 5 venues

·      The American dancers were all Post-Cunningham dancers, which were real eye-openers

·      UK companies were mainly newly established, lacking professional experience

·      British performers used political statements/ pure dance experiment/ theatrically based work

·      The DU still exists today with the mission to celebrate 21st century choreography

·      Their aim is to entice audiences, nurture artists, innovate practice and stimulate interest in the power of the body in motion

·      Since 1978, Dance Umbrella has been bringing outstanding contemporary dance to London, presenting more than 739 artists from 34 countries to over one million people

·      DU has commissioned over 80 new works and presented at 72 different venues