Thanks to National Lottery players we’ve been able to support a number of imaginative projects that tell the story of dance. Whether you’re a smooth mover or an embarrassing dad dancer, you're sure to find something that interests you...

Highlights include: helping internationally-acclaimed Rambert develop and showcase its archive documenting the Company’s 90-year history; supporting State of Emergency Productions’ plans to create the first-ever fully-accessible archive of British Black Dance; and setting in motion Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre and Taunton Youth Dance Company’s initiative, ‘War and Peace: Commemorating the Centenary through Dance’.

Rambert

Based on London’s South Bank, the UK’s oldest dance company – Rambert - was awarded £693,500 to fund several projects aimed at preserving and displaying its historical collections. Spanning almost a century’s worth of dance history, the archive has been opened up and taken on tour to tell the story of Rambert’s role in establishing British dance. It includes costumes by prestigious designers Roland Mouret, John Galliano, Stephen Jones and Katherine Hamnett. 

Find out more on the Rambert website.

British Black Dance Archive

From the hip hop company involved in the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony to the pioneers of UK jazz dance in the 1970s, the British Black Dance Archive showcases 29 collections plus a range of collective memories relating to black dance in the UK. This comprehensive archive was brought together thanks to National Lottery support of £658,500.

Find out more on the British Black Dance Archive website.

War and Peace: Commemorating the Centenary through Dance

Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre and Taunton Youth Dance Company in Somerset used nearly £10,000 of National Lottery funding to create War and Peace: Commemorating the Centenary through Dance. The project involved young people, schools, community and elder groups, professional dancers and music practitioners. Its focus was the real-life experiences of Somerset women during the First World War, including RAF worker Kathleen Tacchi-Morris who went on to become an ardent peace campaigner. As part of this work, four new dance commissions were performed in Taunton town centre.