The Dance Leaders Group (DLG) is an open, independent network of over 300 dance professionals and leaders from across the West Midlands.

Driven by a shared commitment to inclusion and equality, members come together with a hunger to collaborate, exchange ideas, and strengthen the region’s dance ecology through collective action and shared purpose.

Who is the Dance Leaders Group?

The network enables members to work together to develop bold, ambitious and unique projects and activities, through partnerships that extend and share expertise, resources and capacity.  Providing the foundations for ambitious works and professional development, DLG is creating a movement for inclusive dance participation, creating innovative strategies and ambitious opportunities with training, performance and education.

What is unique and special about the DLG is the collaboration, co-production and generously shared learning that happens on a regionwide scale and invites people, at all stages in their career and across the spectrum of organisational contexts and dance styles, to contribute and develop ideas on an equal basis. 

This makes DLG a unique, responsive, ambitious approach to dance development regionwide, creating the conditions for the dance community to connect and thrive. DLG represents a model of culturally democratic innovation which is unique to the region and envied in other parts of the country.  

We wish to build on its position as independent of any one dance organisation and not an organisation in its own right. We see this as integral to its effectiveness, power and success so far. 

Background

DLG pioneered a creative enquiry action research approach to learning and development, in which dance participation professionals were paired across the region and across different sizes and types of organisations to exchange practice. 

#DanceConnect20 Research & Development evolved in response to the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. It set the scene for the Steering Group to secure additional funding for Beyond Borders 2021 and to negotiate an exceptional partnership with Birmingham 2022 Festival team to deliver Critical Mass 2022 as a high-profile signature of the Commonwealth Games Culture Festival in 2022. 

How to Join the Dance Leaders Group

If you wish to join the Dance Leaders Group please complete the sign up form.

The network currently comprises 70+ dance professionals from core funded and project-funded organisations as well as independents, working in all parts of the region.