
Our work
Children and young People
We believe children and young people deserve high-quality dance experiences that are compelling, coherent, and progressive. Through dance, young people can widen their aspirations and achieve their full potential as successful learners, confident artists and responsible citizens.
We want to create a rich dance experience that allows young people to not only participate in a range of dance genres but also to give them the experience of creating dance, performing, viewing, appreciating and taking up leadership roles.
The key objective is to provide a seamless dance experience that takes an individual from the first steps in dance, deepening engagement through participating in dance both in and out of school, to progression onto training for a dance career.
The lasting legacy will be for young people to become lifelong dance enthusiasts and participants – and for some, our dancers, choreographers and teachers of the future. And for these few, have a thriving dance sector where Tees Valley can be a place for professional artists to work, perform, teach and lead.
For more information about our young choreographer’s programme visit our MoveUP page.
MoveUP
MoveUP is a young choreographer’s programme for dancers aged 13 – 19 years old. The programme gives young dancers the opportunity to develop their choreographic skills and supports them to make their own piece of dance that is showcased on Darlington Hippodrome’s main stage.
We will be launching MoveUP 2025 in Spring 2024 with the programme running from September 2024 to June 2025.
Professional Practice
Watching professional live dance works can inspire, motivate, challenge, widen aspiration, artistic and cultural appreciation and develop skills in perception, interpretation and critical judgement. The immediacy of live dance, with its heightened sense of concentration and the power of the dancer to communicate, collaborations across music, design, lighting and technology, and the sense of event – all makes watching dance live in a theatre setting a special and unique experience.
We believe Tees Valley can be the place to watch high-quality, diverse dance performances in a variety of settings; theatre, outdoors, and on screen. Our mission is for local artists to be able to work and thrive in the Tees Valley. TeesDance is here to support, profile, and celebrate the workforce, having expert dance educators and talented artists that provide opportunities for people to learn, watch and discuss dance.
For more information about our programs for artists, practitioners, and educators, visit our MovePro, CPD, and Artist Commissions pages.
CDP
Continuous Professional Development provides intensive day workshops to develop knowledge, skills and understanding around a range of topics to keep up to date with new practices, policies and methods. You can find out when the next CPD sessions are on our What’s on page and by joining our mailing list below.
Artist Commissions
We have exciting plans to launch seed commissions for artists with a connection and/or commitment to making work in, and for, the Tees Valley.
Don’t miss out - be the first to hear about our commissions by joining our mailing list below.