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FABRIC – a new future for dance

Our vision is to inspire people through dance, transforming lives, communities and places.

From portraits to group moments, town centres to front rooms, FABRIC will share the evolving narratives of the region and its people. We will celebrate lives and places through authentic collaborations.

We are looking to positively disrupt. Working with artists, audiences, and communities, we seek to create unique, thrilling and ambitious opportunities that share their voices, ideas, and lived experiences.

Our aspirations reach from local to global, we will grow inspiring, diverse opportunities with partners to develop the art form, increase its social impact, and enliven cultural life in the Midlands.

Through the commissioning of choreographic and practice-led research we will support the growth of new knowledge to develop the art form and foster innovation in other industries.

We will creatively and artistically explore digital possibilities for dance and will work to develop new digital content that engages audiences in new ways and different spaces.

Our Philosophy

Our decisions are underpinned by a guiding philosophy of curiosity, disruption, and joy –creating visibility for artists and the communities we collaborate with.

Curiosity – creating and holding space for uncertainty, questioning and taking risks.

Disruption – supporting dance that uncovers the hidden, the unknown and the unexpected; creating new possibilities.

Joy – bringing positivity to people and places through enriching dance experiences.

Our Collaborators

By collaborators, we mean artists who want to work with us, and who support our vision to see artists, audiences, neighbours, colleagues, partners, and friends from across the Midlands, the UK, and beyond, create inspiring dance and choreography together.

Our Priorities

Emboldened by our philosophy and approach, our priorities include:

  • Committing to practices that place care, inclusivity, and compassion at the heart of the work – including creative processes, collaborations, and our working environments.
  • Shining a light on activism – bringing together the voices that actively provoke change, using our activities, events, and programmes as a platform.
  • Supporting meaningful co-creation – bringing artists and communities, professionals and non-professionals to the research, creation, and presentation of new dance and choreographic works.
  • Ensuring that an active response to the climate emergency underpins all our planning, delivery, and practice, and informs our collaborations.
  • Providing creative activities and development for young people, nurturing the next generation of artists, leaders, participants and audiences.
  • Investing in practices that contribute to the de-colonisation of dance practices in the UK and taking positive action to ensure our work is representative of the communities in which we live.
  • Contributing to and promoting the social impact that dance can have in public life.
  • Striving to continually develop the artform.

Our Decision Making

We receive requests from individuals whose needs and practices explore many and varied approaches and genres and who reside as our neighbours, across the Midlands, the UK, and beyond.

Within our current processes, we invite and pay artists, producers, other freelance workers and members of the public to be part of all our selection processes. During the first three years of FABRIC’s life, we will formally develop our governance structures to bring freelance artists and cultural workers closer to the decision-making processes that inform the resources and opportunities supporting workforce prosperity.

We work democratically across our programmes, and the majority of opportunities including commissions are offered via open call. Our festivals are programmes where we invite co-curation from artists and our partners, and make decisions from our own research and knowledge.

Visit job opportunities for current call outs.  Visit residencies for information on current and past programmes.

Stay Connected

We offer 1-2-1 sessions with Midlands-based freelance artists, creatives, and producers working in dance, at any stage of their career. These provide valuable time to meet, connect, and share ideas with each other over a cuppa. Sessions can be booked through 1-2-1 with FABRIC

We also share information and opportunities through our mailing list. You can join here

For further information about our artist development programmes, visit artists

If you are interested to talk to us as a potential partner, co-commissioner or collaborator, you can connect with us at artists@fabric.dance

This statement covers a wider range of work and will be updated from time to time. FABRIC reserves the right to change its policy and approaches.

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