Increased production costs mean we're reliant more than ever on external financial support to continue both the delivery and the development of the Yorkshire Schools Dance Festival. This year our support comes from Yorkshire Dance, Make it York, City of York Council and the Shepherd Group and Portakabin Community Support Fund.
Yorkshire Dance is a long-standing supporter of the Yorkshire Schools Dance Festival.
This year Yorkshire Dance have increased both financial support and partnership working. They are supporting the Festival to explore use of additional venues across the region and to help increase the reach of the festival. We also want to increase connections with the regional platform FRESH to ensure young people in our region have equal opportunities and progression.
Hannah Robertshaw, Programmes Director at Yorkshire Dance, said: "Yorkshire Dance is delighted to offer increased support. It continues to be one of the largest and most successful events of its kind nationally. YSDF provides an incredible opportunity for schools to unite in a celebration of dance across the region, supporting progression for our youngest dancers through to those who choose to study dance at further and higher education. The Yorkshire Schools Dance Festival aligns with our ambition to support showcasing opportunities for young people in Yorkshire."
We are grateful to Make It York and City of York Council for financial support through the ARG Events and Festivals Grant Scheme. The grant funding supports the delivery of events and festivals which were negatively impacted by the pandemic and therefore unable to fund the overall costs of activities themselves. It comes from the Government’s ARG fund, provided by City of York Council to Make It York and delivered in consultation with the Executive Members for Culture and Communities, and Economy and Strategic Planning, supporting York’s economic recovery from Covid-19.
Helen Apsey, Head of Culture and Wellbeing at Make It York said: "The Yorkshire Schools Dance Festival is a fantastic event, bringing together children and young people from across the region, to take part in and celebrate dance here in York. We're delighted that we could help fund the festival through the Events and Festivals Grant Scheme. It's a truly inclusive event, which supports local communities and encourages young people's participation in culture - one of the key aims of the York Culture Strategy."
The Shepherd Group and Portakabin Community Support Fund have kindly made a donation to help us address a significant increase in venue costs. The Company has long since had a close relationship with York and its communities with many of their staff based in and around York. The Fund focuses on, amongst other things, education and training and the arts so is a perfect fit to the Festival.
Wider Support
Hannah and Drew from York Dance Space continue to be a much valued part of the core Festival delivery team. They help us make changes and improvements to the event each year to ensure the best experience for performers and audience.
We’ve forged strong links with Phil Sanger at Northern School of Contemporary Dance to provide their students with an opportunity to develop a performance and workshop package for primary aged participants to take part in during the mornings of the Festival days.
We continue to work in partnership with the Children & Young People’s Dance Network North to consult with young performers about the value of dance and their thoughts and feelings about taking part. The association also allows for a wider sharing of Festival news and updates with artists and organisations across the region.