The Big Dance, a week-long celebration of dance aimed at promoting dance and encouraging people to get dancing, will begin on 15 July and climax over the weekend of 2223 July, with a programme of special events in Londons Trafalgar Square. Supported by Mayor Ken Livingstone, Visit London, Arts Council England, Sport England and the BBC, the programme will feature leading dance companies including Rambert Dance Company (pictured), which will be involved through its work with young people.
To coincide with The Big Dance, Dance UK will be launching its Dance Manifesto, a document currently being prepared on its behalf by the National Campaign for the Arts, which will aim to detail what dance needs in order to flourish. The manifesto will form the focus of a national Dance Summit this autumn, which will bring the dance sector together to discuss strategies to enable key goals to be achieved. The first draft of the Manifesto is online at http://www.danceuk.org/news. To find out about organising activities relating to The Big Dance, see the website at http://www.london.gov.uk/bigdance