We are delighted to announce the commencement of our 50th anniversary celebrations, marking this milestone with a year-long programme of events, workshops and creative projects across the UK.
DCD was founded in 1973 – originally as ‘The Dancers Resettlement Fund’ – with the aim of providing career retraining support to the dancers from the then nine Arts Council funded dance companies. Today we proudly provide career development programmes for all UK professional dancers – from every dance genre, background and at every career stage. In 1993, DCD became the founding member of the International Organisation for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD). This network is dedicated to the interests of dancers as they transition into post-performance careers.
Today we announce “EVOLVE on Tour” – a series of live career coaching sessions and creative inspiration evenings for dancers delivered in collaboration with place-based partners across the UK. Each event will have a specific genre focus but will be open to all professional dancers and graduating students. This series begins with EVOLVE Birmingham in partnership with SAMPAD – a South Asian Dance focused event on Monday 2 October. In 2024, there will be EVOLVE events in Swindon (Hip Hop), Leeds (Contemporary) and London (Musical Theatre).
Vanessa Lefrancois, DCD Executive Director, said:
“We are looking forward to celebrating our big 50th birthday together with our whole dance community – our partner companies, schools and conservatoires, dance agencies, funders, individual supporters, alumni and dancers from every dance genre.
This is an opportunity to celebrate everyone who has been part of DCD’s story for the last half century, and the extraordinary contribution to society that dancers and DCD alumni are making both within and beyond the creative industries. We’re proud to be co-creating the anniversary programme with such talented and creative dancers and alumni, as we look forwards to the future and reaching more dancers than ever before.”
Media Contact:
Vanessa Lefrancois, Executive Director, Dancers’ Career Development. vanessa@thedcd.org.uk