**2023-2024** ANNUAL REPORT **PREPARED BY BETH ALLUM - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES** h e l l o @ d a n c e r e a d i n g . c o m @ d a n c e _ r e a d i n g w w w . d a n c e r e a d i n g . c o m ## INTRODUCTION FROM THE CHAIR I am pleased to be submitting our third Annual Report as a registered charity covering the financial year January to December 2023. Despite funding challenges throughout this year we are pleased to have been able to maintain many of the most valuable strands of our work, with a particular focus on supporting young people and children to engage with and grow through exciting dance projects. Supported by the Board of Trustees and the core freelance team, our Artistic Director Beth Allum has successfully managed a number of grant funded projects recruiting freelance project assistants, artists and dance organisations to deliver the activities and bringing about significant cultural and community impacts. Beth continues to develop strong relationships within and around Reading, working collaboratively on projects with schools, community leaders and other stakeholder in dance to design and deliver projects ensuring that the work is well placed and relevant. Our unique role, as the primary dance development organisation in Reading, continues to provide an important function for the local cultural sector, nurturing the dance landscape in Reading by bringing high quality dance work to town, building new audiences for dance and developing knowledge and skills. As an organisation we continue to demonstrate our passion for dance in all of its forms and maintain our belief in its ability to transform lives, well being, health and bring people together for uplifting shared cultural experiences. We are hoping that the future will bring a more stable funding landscape for everybody and that we will be able to grow Dance Reading Festival and deepend and broaden our reach through our community work . Danielle Corbishley Founder & Chair **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## A SUMMARY OF OUR WORK IN 2023 2023 was a busy and challenging year, without Arts Council funding for our annual festival. However, our Artistic Director managed to secure a range of funding from other sources and put together a programme of events, classes and workshops, building on partnerships and reaching new audiences. Our youth programme delivered high level work this year, with 20 young people engaged in an amazing programme of producing, creative workshops, writing and staging their own work, creating choreography and films, and learning from industry professionals. On The Block had two performances this year, and continues to go from strength to strength with increasing audience numbers and increasing skill levels, as well as reaching young and aspiring dancers. We are proud of the work we are doing in the community, and also with our local and regional partners. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## THE HISTORY OF DANCE READING Dance Reading, previously known as Junction Dance, was founded in 2014, when a group of arts professionals, dancers, producers, writers and teachers got together to consider how to strengthen and raise the profile of the dance landscape in Reading. Whilst there were, and still are, hundreds of dance schools and clubs teaching thousands of young people and adults to dance, there were no venues programming dance, very few accessible and affordable performance spaces and no professional development for dancers locally. We consulted extensively with the dance sector in the area, finding out their needs, their skills, their interests and their hopes for the future. We started by addressing the need for professional development through a programme of skill sharing, and then we moved on to our first month long festival in November 2016. Since then, Dance Reading has grown and grown, and in 2020 we constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with objectives based on our firm belief that dance and movement are invaluable tools to improve the lives and wellbeing of our wider community. The community work we had been undertaking since 2014 has grown extensively, and the professional programme and festival continues to bring new and exciting dance to Reading, as well as providing a platform for, and showcasing, the dance talent that exists locally. ## THE TEAM 2023 We are very lucky to have a fantastic board of trustees who continue to support us and all our work since 2020. They bring a wide range of skills and expertise and we are actively recruiting at the moment for more to add to the team. We also have a dedicated team of regular freelancers that we work with each year, who bring amazing skills and connections. This year we worked with an additional 134 freelancers across our youth project, schools project and the festival. ## TRUSTEES ## STAFF Daniel Cameron Irene Cameron Anuradha Chaturvedi Danielle Corbishley Obiageli Onyekpe Grant Thornton Beth Allum Artistic Director Core Freelancers Tom Ryan Laura De Moxom Marley Seville Elle George Becky Blackburn Josie Norman Volunteers Toby Schofield Rich Moxom Raghad (Rayan) Dawn Simmonds Abdurahman Ismail Plus young people from our youth project **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## DANCE READING FESTIVAL 2023 Dance Reading Festival 23 was considerably smaller than previous years, but still saw a wide range of innovative and ambitious performances, workshops and classes, along with community engagement, meaningful participation and in depth youth engagement. Two stunning performances from Dani Harris-Walters and FubuNation created a double bill at South Street Arts Centre, bringing contemporary dance and hiphop together, for an audience who rarely get to see either style. Young people from our youth project took the role of producer for this event, supporting the artists, preparing the venue and taking on front of house roles. A partnership with Reading Borough Council enabled us to bring CODE, by Justice in Motion, staged outdoors at Reading Football Club, bringing dance to a whole new audience of football goers before a key match. The themes of the piece tied in closely to a tragic event in Reading’s recent history, and saw participation and funding from the Community Safety Partnership and Safer Streets, and was supported by Reading Football Club as a continuation of ‘Olly’s Work’, started in commemoration of a young boy who died as a result of knife crime, and whose legacy continues to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying a knife with young people. Diversity came to Reading Hexagon, and our youth project participants were able to see the show thanks to support from Reading Borough Council. Their visit contributed to their Arts Award portfolio, and they created work inspired by it. Two stunning pieces of classical Indian dance took centre stage in the festival’s programming and brought two local dance companies to the fore. South Street Arts Centre programmed 3 dance pieces this month, as part of the festival, bringing dance to their tradionally theatre and comedy focussed audiences with great success. This partnership continues to grow and we see an increasing impact on the programming here, resulting in a new audience expecting high quality dance in this venue. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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li ,IA :If.I ri PAGE 6 EXPERIENCE DANCE IN READINGTHIS NOVEMBER AT DANCE READING FESTIVAL The 4pglnnlng Happy F thers Day IYLEZ BALLET Iq CE ,CLASS v•mb*r T . SINGIN RAIN STERCL Wèst C FREEI Tu•sda 7.&30pm Th•Abb•ySchool ¢3ym. Rvoding DANCE Reading festival 2023 BOOK NOWI dance performances and workshops for everyone www.danceieading com ## OPEN FOR ART We have been actively seeking opportunities to bring dance to existing cultural events across Reading, and this summer saw us partner with Jelly, a visual arts organisation and one of Reading’s National Portfolio Organisations, to bring a brand new open dance jam to the streets, as part of Jelly’s Open for Art festival. With a dance floor, DJ and compere, we invited local dancers, dance companies and people passing by to come and dance with us. The result was 4 hours of free style jamming, in a range of dance styles, by a whole cross section of the community, bringing in dancers from Oxford and other surrounding areas. The lack of pressure on performance, and the open ‘jamming’ format meant that young children, a passing hen do party, and festival goers alike could all take part. ## YOUTH AND MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT DANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH We continue to work closely with John Madejski Academy and with Reading School of Dance to deliver this mentoring focussed project with over 20 young people aged 11 to 18. This year saw the bulk of their creative programme take place. We delivered 39 sessions, plus creative workshops and opportunities, per group of young people, supporting them at every stage with their learning and producing. Amongst other work, they took part in workshops with industry professionals exploring lighting design and lighting operation, DJ skills, sound and music production, script writing, career talks, and discussions with inspiring people in their chosen industries. They worked on their portfolios, doing research, reflections and discussions. They designed logos for On The Block hiphop event and produced stickers and hoodies for the event. They worked as producers, front of house and social media designers for several arts events. They planned, delivered and evaluated their own arts events with members of the public and with young dance students. And one group wrote and staged their own play, from start to finish, learning lighting, sound and filming all at the same time. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## YOUTH AND MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT DANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH These young people continue to invest their time in this project, turning up every week and reflecting on the impact that it is having on their mental health. _**“I just wanted to say thanks so much for u and Liz and anyone else putting this arts award thing together. I’m so glad I get to do something like this it’s the first time I might actually be good at something that can help me and give me something to do with my education that I can show people and be proud off that. I am sooooooo very excited. So thank you so much and I’m gonna try my hardest on this. And this year I’m taking my gcse and I’m proberly not going to pass because I’m so far behind so just to know that I have this makes me so happy I could like just drop dead and now I might hahve something I ca show my mum for once that I’ve done good in.”**_ **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## YOUTH AND MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT DANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH One group of young people created a film for a Youth In Mind Conference, run by the charity Mind, which was screened at Reading University, to an audience of over 200 industry professionals, and talked about the importance of dance for young people’s mental health. You can watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDOgc0DFBsM&t=13s FINANCES DANCE IIReading DANCE READING CIO No.: 1192879 INCOME AND EXPENDrruRE ACCOUNT 1101r2023-3111212023 Y•ar lo 31-12-2023 Y•ar to 31-12-2022 INCOME Arts COW￿11 Grants Oihar Arts Grants & dorotlons Grant Income 2,331 40,400 55,830 10,690 42,731 66.520 Trar6ferr8d from precursor charity Box Office and misc. I￿orne 3,321 2,459 245 5,780 48,511 245 66,765 Total Incom• EXPENDrruRE Adveiising arKI mark8tirrJ Artist arKI prodLKtion fees Travel Halfft*atre Nr8 Stationèrylprintir Sundry Total coats {33) (33,570) 1238) (3,038) 1720) 617 (3,593) <57,1591 (1,6091 (2,5381 (2,2791 2,157 38,215 69,335 Excoss of Incomo over expendtturo 10,296 (2,570) Cash ba￿9￿8 as at 01101r2023 13,669 16.240 Cash balance as at 31112r2023 23,965 13,669 PAGE 14 PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS fiark COMMUNITY FUND COMMUNITY FUND 4r* Reading Cots ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND Borough Council Workin9betterwithyou a8 rts /&At/ sr4) 66 ve .com JOHN MADEJSKI ACADEMY IIIDIIFJspace for art Illak￿g ## **DANCE READING CIO No.: 1192879** |**INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT**
1/01/2023-31/12/2023
**Year to 31-12-2023**
**£**
**£**
**INCOME**
Arts Council Grants
2,331
Other Arts Grants & donations
40,400
**Grant Income**
42,731
Transferred from precursor charity
3,321
Box Office and misc. income
2,459
5,780
**Total income**
**48,511**
**EXPENDITURE**
Advertising and marketing
(33)
Artist and production fees
(33,570)
Travel
(238)
Hall/theatre hire
(3,038)
Stationery/printing
(720)
Sundry
(617)
**Total costs**
**(38,215)**
**Excess of income over expenditure**
**10,296**
Cash balance as at 01/01/2023
13,669
**Cash balance as at 31/12/2023**
**23,965**||| |---|---|---| ||**Year to 31-12-2022**
**£**
**£**
55,830
10,690
66,520
245
245
**66,765**
(3,593)
(57,159)
(1,609)
(2,538)
(2,279)
(2,157)
**(69,335)**
**(2,570)**
16,240
**13,669**|| |||| |||| |||**(2,570)**| |||16,240| |||**13,669**| 23, Whitfield Stanford in the Vale Oxon. SN7 8FL Dance Reading 26[th] July 2024 To the Trustees: I have carried out an independent review of the accounts which are detailed in the annual report and am satisfied that they accurately represent the financial affairs of the charity, Dance Reading, for the year ending 31.12.2023. ## Yours Faithfully ## Sally Luther ACMA, ACT ## **DANCE READING CIO No.: 1192879** **Balance Sheet at 31.12.2023** |**Bank**
**Total net assets**
**Restricted funds**
**DR Festval 2023**
**CYP RBC**
**Total Restricted funds**
**General Fund**
**Total Funds**|23,965| |---|---| ||23,965| ||5,285
16,318| ||21,603| ||2,362| ||23,965|