Big news for 2022: Bring on July, We’re Opening The Dance Space!

We’ll be kicking off our launch with a very special Our City Dances 2022 – our first annual celebration of dance to take place in The Dance Space. Then we’ll head straight into a week of free taster dance activities in the space, offering an opportunity to whet your appetite for what you can expect from our classes programme which will kick off in full from September.

The Dance Space is Brighton & Hove’s first ever building designed especially for dance and the first new cultural venue supported with public money to open in the South East in over a decade.  

Alongside dance classes, workshops and performances, the building will play host to artists and choreographers creating and rehearsing new work. The two studios, performance space, meeting and conference rooms are all available to hire too. 

The Dance Space is a sustainable building for a green city, one of only 10% of new builds in the UK awarded a BREEAM rating of excellent for its environmentally sustainable features. These features include a decision not to use gas in the building; the installation of a green roof; positioning the windows to maximise natural light; installing motion sensor lighting so they only come on when a room is in use; and mounting photovoltaic panels on the roof, which convert natural light into energy to power the building. When we begin fitting out the building later this month, we’ll also be concentrating on using second hand and reconditioned furniture, otherwise destined for landfill. 

Cath James, Artistic Director, says: “We’ve waited a very long time to be able to finally announce this opening date and it feels incredible. The Dance Space is here to move you - it will be a place where professional artists will create and present world class work, and people of all ages and abilities will be able to have a go at dance.”

We want the building to be a safe, welcoming, useable place for everyone and this month we will be working with Studio 360 and Dan Daw Creative Projects as part of Reimagined Futures, a national initiative which aims to design and build a dream performing arts venue that is open to everyone and places care at its heart. The initiative includes consultations around the country with people who have a range of access needs and we will be hosting one of these in The Dance Space. We will use the feedback from this session to help us make sure The Dance Space is as welcoming and accessible as possible for everyone who uses it.

Then, from April we’ll test the building with a small number of classes, workshops and performances to make sure the building works for its users. 

More information on that and details of the full launch programme will be available very soon.

Lots of work to do before July, but we are so excited to get stuck in and really can’t wait to welcome you inside. Happy New Year!

The Dance Space would not be a reality without the generosity of our supporters and we are incredibly grateful for it. Thanks to Brighton & Hove City Council, The National Lottery awarded through Arts Council England, Arts Impact Fund, Sir Rod Aldridge OBE, Garfield Weston Foundation, Lindsay Tomlinson OBE, Rampion Fund, Wolfson Foundation, 29th May 1961 Charity, Pebble Trust, Chalk Cliff Trust, Bob Lockyer OBE and all those who wish to remain anonymous.