Dedicated to dance

Birmingham’s DanceXchange brings movement to the masses, encouraging explosive collaborations and participation from people from all walks of life.

One of the most outlandish and exciting events of next year is likely to be a dance extravaganza in Birmingham choreographed by a thousand people.

“It will be like a street mosaic in Birmingham,” says David Massingham, Artistic Director of DanceXchange, which co-produced International Dance Festival Birmingham in 2008 and 2010 and is developing another international showcase in the city in 2012.

The cornerstone of DanceXchange’s policy is that people from all walks of life should engage in dance, as audience members and participants. Next year’s dance of 1,000 certainly looks set to achieve that objective.

Massingham has been a key figure in British dance. He studied at London’s Laban with the award-winning Matthew Bourne and helped set up Britain’s best known contemporary dance company, Adventures in Motion Pictures, alongside him. In 1999 Massingham “fancied a new challenge” and moved on to DanceXchange, the Birmingham dance house dedicated to the production and distribution of high quality dance.

It has three purpose-built studios and a small scale theatre in Birmingham Hippodrome, and this year is celebrating a very successful 10 years in the building. To commemorate this, DanceXchange will be hosting an extended autumn season which highlights some of the successes of the past decade. Hofesh Shechter Company and DanceXchange’s very own Bare Bones are two of the acclaimed companies in the line up.

This summer kicks off an ambitious new outdoor dance programme created for public spaces around the West Midlands,leading into an exciting year for dance in 2012.

To find out more, visit dancexchange.org.uk. There's information on all areas of dance including classes, performances and forthcoming projects.