Who We Are 

The Dance Leaders Group (DLG) is a network of dance professionals across the West Midlands who share a collective passion for inspiring and involving young people in dance and movement and ensuring that opportunities are open and accessible for all. 

The network enables members to work together to develop bold, ambitious and unique projects and activities, through partnerships and joint working that extend and share expertise, resources and capacity.  

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. 

#DanceConnect R&D 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 as a high-profile signature of the Commonwealth Games Culture Festival in 2022.