Support has been confirmed through the Developing Practice Grants (or ‘go see’ grants) for the following practitioners:

• Iona Waite – The Grant will support Iona in developing her practice by attending the Ailey School for 10 days and to attend The International Association of Blacks in Dance conference in the US.
• Laura Vanhulle – will attend the 2018 Women in Dance Leadership conference in the US.
• Adam Rutherford – The grant will fund choreographic mentoring support from Gary Clarke (Gary Clarke UK) and a dramaturg, as well as assisting Adam in developing LGBTQI choreography and dance.
• Johnny Autin – Continual Professional Development and mentoring in outdoor arts festivals, including go and see opportunities.

Dance Hub Birmingham has invested in three projects through the first round of Artistic Commissions:

Autin Dance Theatre: Queer Words (working title)
A bold, early stage, new collaboration between dance and spoken word artists, exploring themes of mental health, masculinity, and gender, created for diverse, urban and adult audiences. The company plans to present the work in non-conventional spaces as well as more traditional venues, across the UK and – in the future – internationally.

Humanhood: Torus
The premiere of an ambitious and exciting new work from one of Birmingham’s brightest new talents. Combining art, science and technology, Torus will see Humanhood move their work to a new ensemble scale from their established excellent solos and duets. The proposal detailed ambitious and compelling plans for international partnerships and shared learning locally that would genuinely deliver benefit for the Birmingham dance sector, not just the company themselves.

Sampad: About The Elephant
With co-commissioning support in place from Serendipity Arts India and Dance Hub partner mac Birmingham, Sampad will support and showcase Birmingham-born Vidya Patel and her fellow BBC Young Dancer grand finalist Connor Scott’s first choreographic collaboration About The Elephant. This original piece from two of Britain’s breakthrough young artists provides a wonderful opportunity to inspire a new generation of dancers, across forms, across the West Midlands and beyond. Investment from Dance Hub Birmingham ensures this work will be refined and seen UK-wide.

Monique Deletant, Director of Dance Hub Birmingham said: “The quality of applications we received for both the Developing Practice Grants and Artistic Commissions was fantastic clearly demonstrating the quality and breadth of dance in Birmingham and the wider region.

“Through this first round of commissions we have been able to bring additional investment to the dance sector in the West Midlands from ensuring independent artists have professional development opportunities to ensuring more new dance is created here and in doing so continue to establish the region’s position as an international centre of excellence for dance. The work created in the region through these commissions will be showcased across the UK so the rest of the Country can see what we are achieving here in Birmingham and the West Midlands.”