Farewell to our Chair of Trustees, Maureen Salmon

Reflecting on her time as Chair Maureen says:

“It has been a privilege to serve the dance community of the south east region at a really exciting time in South East Dance’s journey, including during the opening and establishment of our state-of-the-art dance space. 

“I thank our passionate and brilliant trustees, executives and staff who have worked hard to make South East Dance a success in the context of a challenging external environment. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together: particularly in making dance more inclusive, transforming lives socially and culturally, and creating an artistic programme which has seen participants and audiences flourish.  This positions South East Dance for continued and future success, and  gives me confidence knowing the organisation is in a strong position as it embarks on the next chapter.”

Over the three years since The Dance Space opened, our work with artists, communities and partners has grown both in The Dance Space and beyond. Thanks to the generosity of our funders and supporters, we have:

• Established a programme of regular classes ranging from musical theatre jazz to salsa; and from contemporary to Qi Gong - with over 500 people attending each week.
• Developed and delivered projects and activities with vulnerable and marginalised groups of people, including silent discos with mASCot, a community of neurodivergent families in Brighton; Parkinson’s and dementia-friendly dance classes; regular classes for early years children from local community nurseries; and, working with local charities RISE and JustLife, a programme of classes for vulnerable women.
• Delivered cycle two of our pioneering Little Big Dance programme, in partnership with DanceEast, Take Art and Yorkshire Dance, changing the face of dance for very young audiences.
• Supported 706 artists and awarded commissions to artists and companies worth £28,000
• Provided residency space worth £104,100 and paid artists over £265,000 to deliver classes, performances, residencies and commissions.
   

Maureen’s time as Chair has also seen the launch of RAPPORT: International Residency Exchange Programme as part of the opening season of The Dance Space. This is an international collaboration which is increasing opportunities for artists from the UK and internationally to take part in transformative creative residencies, fostering the vibrant exchange of creative practices.  The programme has worked with international partners in Italy, Canada and Australia, supporting artists to take up exchange residencies, develop their creative practice and immerse themselves in a different creative and social culture. 

Our Artistic Director, Cath James, and Executive Director, Rachel Gibson have paid tribute to Maureen’s successful leadership of South East Dance and the significant contribution that she has made to the organisation during her tenure, saying:

“We have been very fortunate to have Maureen as our Chair over the last three years as we have established ourselves in The Dance Space.  Her leadership and hard work during a period of transition for South East Dance has strengthened our governance and overall artistic and organisational resilience, and we are poised to meet future opportunities and challenges with confidence.” 

We are sorry to be losing Maureen and are grateful for all she has done for South East Dance during her tenure as Chair.

Special thanks to our long-standing trustee Anna Christoforou who has kindly agreed to take on the role of Interim Chair while we recruit a new Chair.  Anna has over 25 years’ experience leading strategic communications in the arts, culture, non-profit and commercial sectors, and brings expertise in leadership, governance and advocacy, together with deep knowledge of the cultural ecosystem.