The report outlines several key recommendations aimed at creating a vibrant and sustainable dance culture throughout Wales.
You can read an Executive Summary or the Full Report here
In response, the Arts Council of Wales has put in place an action plan with a £350,000 development budget for dance allocated for 2025/26, on top of the funding that is provided to dance companies through core funding and to projects through Lottery-funded grants.
During the Arts Council’s Investment Review in 2023, it became apparent that there was a need to look at the dance infrastructure, and to explore what future provision could look like. This report was part of that commitment to review dance provision in Wales, particularly acknowledging the difficulties in the community dance sector.
The Wales Dance Review - led by consultant and researcher, Karen Pimbley - provides a detailed analysis of the country’s entire dance ecology, from professional and community dance to the importance of dance in schools, dance for health, and dance as part of our cultural heritage.
Drawing on extensive research and consultation with dance artists, companies, venues, educators, and audiences, the review highlights areas where there are funding inequities and infrastructure gaps and includes 11 recommendations to begin to address those issues.
Key Recommendations include:
- Appointment of a dance specialist to ACW Council
- Provide funding for bursaries to enable talented individuals to attend Centres for Advanced Training (CAT)
- Establish an independent panel to oversee national planning and implementation for dance throughout Wales
- Develop community hubs to enable collaboration across communities and art forms
- Embed the Welsh language and culture into dance practice
This review makes clear the urgent need for reimagining, rebuilding and reinvesting in the dance sector in Wales. Broad and inclusive engagement helped present a full and accurate picture of the dance landscape, and I’m sincerely grateful to everyone across Wales and beyond who generously shared their time and perspective. My thanks also to the Arts Council of Wales for their commitment to developing a positive, long-term action plan for dance that is informed by the report’s eleven accepted recommendations.
Key actions approved by the Arts Council of Wales for the short to medium terms are:
- The Dance Review has revealed a number of critical areas where dance needs to be developed and better supported in Wales. We want to scope out the potential for a national dance development agency to help drive forward progress.
- Establish a task force to represent the Dance sector and oversee the implementation of the Dance Review recommendations and feed into a dance development plan for Wales
- Identify and engage a group of dance experts who can provide mentorship, guidance and support for Artistic Directors, foster conversations around practice and programming choices for venues and consider overall cultural relevance and context to Wales
- Develop regional community hubs for dance within existing creative spaces
- Develop more opportunities for people to participate in and make work through the medium of Welsh and to create work that reflects and takes inspiration from our cultural heritage, exploring synergies with our soon to be published Welsh Language strategy and outcomes of our Traditional Music review
- Work with the education system including our Creative Learning and the Arts programme on how to expand and develop dance content within schools
- Work with venues across Wales to build structured connections and support for dance artists through establishing a Dance Artist in Residency scheme
- Explore potential for Centres for Advanced Training and / or options for young Welsh dancers to access and benefit from the network of CAT schemes across England
- In addition, the action plan integrates with and will inform the Arts Council’s work in Creative Learning and Arts and Health as well as our commitment to simplifying funding application processes so that they are more straightforward and accessible for all.
The dance community in Wales has shown remarkable resilience in the face of deep structural challenges. We are grateful to Karen Pimbley and all those who took part in creating this report on suggesting ways for us to support the dedicated artists who sustain this vital part of our cultural identity. I am delighted that we now have two dance specialists Emily Bamkole and Julia Sangani as Council members, and a comprehensive action plan in place to give this artform the support it deserves.