Nottinghamshire dance group's fundraising success

Nottingham-based dance organisation Dance4 has successfully raised £25,000 from members of the public to support the development of a new international Centre of Choreography (iC4C) in Sneinton.
Dance4's new headquarters/

Photo by Martine Hamilton KnightDance4's new headquarters/

Photo by Martine Hamilton Knight
Dance4's new headquarters/ Photo by Martine Hamilton Knight

Campaign25 was set up as a series of 25 fundraising events to raise £25,000 in their 25th year.

Aware that artists say that space is one of the most important factors in making great work, Dance4 has long held an ambition to create purposely developed spaces to ensure the correct conditions for creativity to flourish, inspiring the very best artists to come and work in Nottingham.

This month sees Dance4 open the doors to their exemplar creative facility in a re-purposed factory building.

Paul Russ, chief executive and artistic director said: “It is thrilling to breath new life into an old factory space to inspire artists, our local community and continue to place Nottingham as a cultural hub for the UK and beyond.

“Our new centre brings us the opportunity to extend our work in supporting artists and increasing public engagement in choreography and dance.

“The building has a history of production and distribution. It was once home to the Wilson & Sons factory (manufacturers of the ‘matron’ brand of hosiery), and was bombed in World War Two, previously occupied by Moot Gallery and Backlit and held a host of textiles companies in the 80s.

“From iC4C Dance4 will invest in dance artists and deliver specialist support and space for the research, production and distribution of new choreographic work.”

Kathy McArdle, chief executive of the Creative Quarter said: “The dance sector has seen extraordinary growth in the last ten years and the development of Dance4’s international Centre for Choreography in The Creative Quarter will be a great new addition to a creative family of businesses based in this area.

“This proximity of creative businesses offers new creative possibilities for choreographers who want to work with film, media, motion capture, and animation.”

Dance4 has a rich history in engaging with the public and communities of Nottinghamshire as participants, makers and commentators through projects such as the dance-film Mass Bolero starring Torvill and Dean and hundreds of people of all ages and abilities, and Lone Twin’s Street Dance, danced by local residents of Sneinton.

The 25 fun fundraising events brought together public support from Nottingham, the region and UK and included a 25-hour Dance-a-thon. Other events included a challenge to build and dismantle flat-pack furniture 25 times.

iC4C will provide local communities even more opportunities to participate, perform and engage in extraordinary choreography and dance.

Dance4’s international Centre for Choreography is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England with further support from Nottingham City Council, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Jessie Spencer Trust, The Idlewild Trust, WREN & J N Derbyshire Trust. The centre is sponsored by GDS, Centre Stage and Clarke’s of Nottingham.

Photo by Martine Hamilton Knight