Greenwich Dance to close at the end of the year

Greenwich Dance has announced it will cease operations at the end of the year.

The organisation, which was founded 30 years ago, has entered redundancy consultation with all its staff ahead of a forthcoming closure on 31 December 2023.

A statement released by the organisation today (23 October) says the decision follows the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s (RBG) decision to remove its longstanding funding and an unsuccessful application to Arts Council England’s (ACE) National Portfolio.

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Greenwich Dance’s statement says the two developments “led to a major destabilisation of an already fragile funding situation, resulting in the loss of further Royal Borough of Greenwich project funds”.

It adds a succession of nine ACE Lottery Project Fund applications have been rejected, the most recent “likely due to the government’s levelling up agenda”.

Known for running free and donation-based dance classes across South London, Greenwich Dance announced its future was in question earlier this year amid funding losses and rising costs.

Since losing its National Portfolio Organisation status five years ago, the organisation has brought in over £1.8m in funding for dance-based activity in the local community, with almost half (£0.88m) generated through relationships with 16 trusts and foundations.

In-person performances since 2019 have seen over 43,000 attendees and a move towards profiling digital work received over 115,000 views and downloads.

CEO and Creative Director Melanie Precious commented: “Ever since the loss of our NPO funding in 2017 we have been consistently navigating financial challenges, but the lack of time we had to adjust to RBG’s withdrawal of funds earlier this year put the organisation into an immediate critical state. 

“Add to that the context of the current political and socio-economic climate and it has simply become impossible to uphold our fundamental mission. By continually chasing project funding we risk limiting the organisation to whatever it is funded for. 

“We believe in the transformational power of our work and if we are unable to fulfil this ambition then we cannot continue.”

Precious added the dance organisation’s team has been knitted together by the “opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives with our work”.

“Whilst we are all going through a process of grieving, we’re hoping to find a moment where we can come together to celebrate our considerable achievements and honour everyone who has worked so tirelessly to make Greenwich Dance the incredible organisation it is.”

Greenwich Dance’s statement says it is exploring a variety of options for its project-based work and community services to continue beyond the organisation, further details of which will be shared when appropriate.