A FORMER hosiery factory in Nottingham is being transformed into a new hub for the creative industries, including providing a new home for its anchor tenant – international dance organisation Dance4.
The new venue is set to be a spectacular base for Dance4, helping it to support local, national and international artists to develop work under one roof in the heart of the city.
Dance4 will be moving to its new home on Dakeyne Street in Sneinton from its current base on College Street in the city, establishing Nottingham’s International Centre for Dance and Choreography.
Nottingham City Council secured a grant for the Creative Catalyst project from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to redevelop the site into workshops, offices and studio units alongside meeting rooms and networking spaces. The new building is also set to be home to other creative businesses and organisations.
The new site will provide a further boost to Nottingham’s Creative Quarter. The work is set to complement the further city council project at Sneinton Market which features units on the site which are being refurbished into workshops and studios for use by creative enterprises – helping to establish a vibrant creative business community locally.
Dance4’s new home is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, with further support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation and the Jessie Spencer Trust.
Its new location will provide first class training in contemporary dance and a welcoming environment for young dancers with exceptional talent. The centre will be fully accessible for visitors, audiences, performance makers and dancers with disabilities and offer fit for purpose facilities for all.
Paul Russ, chief executive of Dance4, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity which will enable us to expand the delivery and scope of our activity, creating a new centre which will drive forward innovation and inspire the very best international artists to come and work in Nottingham and provide extraordinary experiences for people who live and work in Nottingham.
“The new centre will help us to build on our previous work and further establish Dance4 as a regional, national and international centre for dance. It will enable us to take our work to a whole new level. It enables us to grow as a production house and as a training, commissioning and presenting organisation that leads on research into 21st Century choreography.
“The centre will be an important voice for dance in the UK and an important creative resource for the region, and enable us to undertake more engagement work with local communities. especially in our new neighbourhood of Sneinton and St Ann’s. We are very excited about being based there.”
There will be greater emphasis on engaging the public as active participants in the creation, production and presentation of new dance works as well as the engagement of specific communities, people with disabilities and young people – particularly through Dance4’s Centre for Advanced Training.
Nottingham City Council has worked closely with Dance4 to ensure the new space benefits local residents and businesses as well as further boosting the Creative Quarter, which is proving to be a flagship location for creative companies, drawing names such as Brown Dog and Rough Trade to the city.
Cllr Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council and Portfolio Holder for strategic regeneration, said: “It’s good news that Dance4 are announcing they will be moving into Daykene Street when it opens as a new hub for creative and digital industries.
“This facility will be great addition to the city’s award-winning Creative Quarter, which has seen so many new and existing businesses grow within it.
“We’re pleased that we have been able to attract funding from Europe to support both the redevelopment of the Daykene Street facility, and the redevelopment of the nearby Sneinton Market. Without securing this funding, the City Council wouldn’t have been able to invest in these project, which are not only helping to kick-start further regeneration opportunities in these areas, but are importantly supporting the city’s creatives industries and the local economy.”
Kathy McArdle, chief executive officer for Creative Quarter, said: “This is an exciting and much needed facility within the Creative Quarter – nurturing new talent and providing first class facilities for many years to come.”
Funding for the project has been via Nottingham City Council, Arts Council England, Garfield Weston Foundation, Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, Jessie Spencer Fund and Dance4.
The new centre is to open in summer 2016.
