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Dance United

£240,000.00 over three years

The purpose of this grant was to support Dance United's artistic management team to develop its work into new areas and expand its award-winning Academy programme. An intervention for persistent young offenders and those at serious risk of offending, the Academy is an intensive and demanding 12-week programme based on professional contemporary dance training and performance.

A pilot scheme in Bradford, evaluated by Manchester University, is now paving the way for new Academies elsewhere in the UK, including East London and Wessex, and internationally. What is striking about Dance United's work is the quality of the teaching and the high aspirations they have for the young people they work with. These core elements depend on the quality of the artistic engagement they offer and the calibre of the dance  artists who deliver it. In a sector where, historically, the world of 'high art' professional dance and the world of 'non-professional dance'/'dance in social inclusion' have rarely conjoined, Dance United is forging quite unique links.

Sector recognition: A report by New Philanthropy Capital that analysed the most cost-effective youth offending programmes, highlighted the work of Dance United, identifying an £82,000 saving of public-sector funding by stopping even one young person from reoffending.