Contemporary dance - Activities - British Council

Javier De Frutos with Montana's Winter. Photographer: Chris Nash.

	Contemporary Dance

The contemporary dance scene in Britain is about as hard to define as British fashion, since its influences are drawn from so many parts of the world and from so many aspects of culture, high and low. It certainly can’t be described in terms of a national style but is more a collection of individuals, working in a range of highly idiosyncratic methods. Performances on today’s modern dance circuit may feature elements of ballet or postmodernism; martial arts, tap dance, hip hop or Bharata Natyam, they may be integrated with rock music, computer technology, performance art or film.

Judith Mackrell, The Guardian

Javier de Frutos with Montana's Winter. Photographer: Chris Nash.

Dance



		How We Work


		What We Do


		Drama and Dance Publications and Resources


		Dance Genres


		Performance in Profile 2008


		Education


		Dance events


		Forward Motion

What work does the British Council do in this area?

The sheer variety and the physical immediacy of UK contemporary dance brings exciting opportunities to connect with people overseas. We work with the country's most high profile artists: Akram Khan has brought his unique blend of contemporary and Kathak traditions to every continent except Antarctica, to unprecendented acclaim. New technology pioneers Random Dance toured the Balkans with a production especially adapted for international touring, and we helped George Piper Dances (aka TV's Ballet Boyz) to link up with semi commercial US promoter networks.

We spread the word about new talent with initiatives such as Next Step, a UK dance showcase in Croatia that included young exciting groups such as h2dance, Philipp Gehmacher and Robert Hylton. Addressing social issues with dance, Ludus Dance has worked with conflict resolution across East Asia, and Adugna with street children in Ethiopia. We encourage innovative collaborations, such as choreographer Charles Linehan and Romanian born composer Alexander Balanescu creating a new performance piece with a group of young Romanian artists, exploring Romanian folk arts and the Roma community.