Yorkshire Dance was established in the early 1980s and we moved to our current home in an old textile mill in Quarry Hill in 1988. With the ambition to create a home for dance in the city, by 2025 Yorkshire Dance welcomes thousands of people through the doors from babes in arms to centenarians.   

With its exposed brickwork, wooden beams and industrial metal fixtures Yorkshire Dance has garnered a national reputation as one of the most unique dance studios in the UK to create, perform and watch work. 

Since the 1980s Quarry Hill has transformed into a thriving cultural quarter. This injection of £750K from Arts Council England’s Creative Foundations Fund will allow Yorkshire Dance to embark on phase one of a multi-million pound refurbishment project to preserve the beautiful heritage of the building and bring Yorkshire Dance into the 21st century. 

The £750K revamp will include converting currently unused spaces into a brand-new dance studio and three new offices for creative organisations. Access is at the heart of the project with upgrades to the well-trodden foyer, seating bank, changing areas and toilets. Finally the building will benefit from upgrading the energy efficiency of our plumbing and heating systems.  

Mark Hollander, Chair of Yorkshire Dance said “The announcement today cements Leeds’ reputation as a city of dance with recognition from Arts Council England of the importance of Yorkshire Dance’s venue. With so many dance artists based in Leeds, the lack of studio space in the city is well recognised. Our current building hasn’t been renovated since the 1980s so you can imagine after almost 40 years and hundreds of visitors each week the facilities are in critical need of refurbishment. Receiving this grant is a transformational moment for Yorkshire Dance, expanding studio space in the city and improving access to ensure more local people can benefit from dance.” 

Yorkshire Dance are working with Leeds’ based architects Group Ginger, who specialise in the radical retrofitting of existing buildings. Refurbishment work is due to start this summer. 

Jo Hawkes, Executive Director and Hannah Robertshaw, Creative Director of Yorkshire Dance said “This building renovation has been in development for over 10 years. We’re extremely grateful to our incredible community of supporters who donated towards our renovation enabling us to secure this £750K investment from Creative Foundations. We have a big summer ahead of us but we’re so excited to welcome audiences back in September.”

Yorkshire Dance is one of sixteen cultural venues, local museums and libraries in Yorkshire set to receive a share of just over £11 million to protect them for present and future generations. In total, 130 organisations across the country are receiving a share of funding today, marking the first projects receiving cash from the government’s Arts Everywhere Fund, a bumper £1.5 billion package to support cultural infrastructure projects.  

Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy said: 

“I want everyone, everywhere to feel a sense of pride about where they come from. Cultural organisations across Yorkshire and the Humber are important custodians of  local identity and play a key role in the story we tell ourselves as a nation. 

Our Arts Everywhere Fund is delivering on our commitment to support culturalassets across the country, increasing access and preserving them for futuregenerations. This is demonstrated by grants announced today that will benefit sixteenculture venues, museums, and library services across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Arts and culture are the beating hearts of our communities, they have the power to unite us in the face of division and break down barriers to opportunity. We want to harness the power to help us build a brighter future for the people of Yorkshire and the Humber.” 

 Rebecca Ball, Area Director, North, Arts Council England said: 

“Our museums, libraries and arts organisations have the power to change lives, they give us access to new worlds, teach us about our heritage and give us new perspectives on life. 

I’m so pleased that we’ll be supporting so many of our cultural organisations in the North with this capital investment, which will ensure that they can continue to deliver incredible arts and culture to their communities.”