U.Dance Regional Platform Applications 2025


U.Dance is back!

U.Dance is back and Dance City are delighted to be the lead organisation once again, but with a difference!
 

For 2025, any groups wishing to perform at the regional platform at Dance City in March will need to submit a video of the piece (in progress or final version) alongside an application by 24th January. 

Working with TIN Arts, Dance City hope this revised U.Dance model for the North East will make it easier for lots of groups to apply and be considered for the regional and national U.Dance events. 

Any North East groups wishing to be part of U.Dance 2025 need to complete an Expression of Interest by Friday 6th December 

To find out more, read on.


What is U.Dance? 

U.Dance is a national programme of events offering high quality dance opportunities to young people, presented by One Dance UK. Each year, our nation’s young dancers can explore their creativity, learn more about dance careers, and experience the thrill and sense of achievement of performing! 

One Dance UK and partner organisations are working to present an exciting dance festival programme for young people aged 11 to 19 (and disabled young people up to the age of 25) in 2025. 

U.Dance 2025, at Regional Platform and National Festival level, offers an incredible opportunity to be part of showcases demonstrating the breadth of youth dance choreography and performance, and where possible will offer workshops and industry insight with leading dance professionals.  

One Dance UK and partner organisations aim to present youth dance that is high quality, innovative and ambitious. We want applications to best reflect the commitment and creativity of your work. Groups from a variety of settings are welcome to take part, including:

    • School and college groups
    • Youth dance companies
    • Private dance schools
    • Individuals

Between February and April 2025, exciting U.Dance events will take place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Collectively these are referred to as ‘U.Dance Regional Platforms.’ The U.Dance Regional Platform for the North East of England will take place on the 23rd of March at Dance City. 

For more information from One Dance UK, you can click here to read the U.Dance Application Pack.  

Key Dates 

Please be aware that you must be interested in and able to attend both the Regional Platform and the National Festival to apply. 

    • Expression of Interest to be submitted by 6th December 2024
    • Full application and Video footage of piece to be submitted by 24th January 2025
    • You will be notified whether your application was successful by 31st January 2025
    • U.Dance North East of England Regional Platform at Dance City will take place on the 23rd of March 2025
    • U.Dance National Festival at Sadler’s Wells East in London’s Olympic Park will take place 25th – 27th July 2025

The Application Process 

If you are interested in applying for U.Dance, you can register your interest by completing this form: U.Dance Regional Platform Expression of Interest Form  

The deadline for registering your interest is the 6th December 2024. 


On the 9
th of December, we will send you some further information including the full application form. 

Please note, for the full application you will be asked to: 

    • Send video footage of your piece, either via a link on the application form or via email using WeTransfer.
    • Provide evidence of Chaperone Licenses (or proof of application) for your group (you will need one chaperone per 10 young people).
    • Provide further information about the dance piece you are entering, including number of dancers (30 maximum) and length of piece (7 minutes maximum)
    • Provide further information about group members, including age of dancers (Pieces must only include dancers who are aged 11 to 19 years, or up to and including age 25 for disabled dancers, on 31 July 2025).

The deadline for full application and video footage submissions is the 24th January 2025. 

If you have any questions about the application process, you might find the answers in our frequently asked questions document here: Frequently Asked Questions

If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please feel free to email [email protected] 

If you have any questions about the regional platform itself, please contact [email protected] 


Audition Opportunity



TIN Arts is seeking professional contemporary dance artists for two new programmes: ‘Chance’ and ‘PULSE’.  Auditions for the two opportunities will take place on the same date: Thursday 25 July. Both auditions will take place at Dance City in Newcastle.

OPPORTUNITY ONE: ‘CHANCE’ (Audition – 25/7/24, 10:00 – 12:00)
George Williams is a North-East based dance artist with a learning disability. TIN Arts is supporting George to find a professional dance artist to be part of his new project ‘CHANCE’. Click here for more details: CHANCE Audition Pack v2

OPPORTUNITY TWO: ‘PULSE’ (Audition – 25/7/24, 13:00 – 15:00)
TIN Arts are developing new dance performance work that will tour to schools across County Durham in 2025. We are looking for four dance artists to be part of the project. Click here for more details. Click here for more details: PULSE Audition Pack V2

The above opportunities are paid freelance roles. For further information or enquiries contact Katie Roberts ([email protected] / 0300 124 0448). Closing date to register: Wednesday 17 July 2024.

The Working Group


Candoco Dance Company, Corali, People Dancing, Stopgap Dance Company & TIN Arts are co-collaborators in a shared enquiry and Working Group to challenge ourselves and others to increase and sustain the presence and representation by disabled people in the dance workforce and its leadership. 

We mean business. The Working Group will act with focus and solidarity through long-standing shared histories and collaborations to: 

  • Strengthen & renew connections, practices, and shared project activities. 
  • Amplify diverse voices and engage widely in dialogue. 
  • Catalyse change, influence and activism with new thinking, critical reflection, and tangible actions. 

The Working Group 
September 2023 

Working Group members are all National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) of Arts Council England. 

For the purposes of this document when using the term ‘disabled people’ we mean this to include but not be limited to, people who define as D/deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, or who are chronically ill, have a learning disability or live with impairments or mental health conditions. We also understand that our terminology and language may not fully represent or be the preferred descriptive definition for all individuals who define as having a disability, condition or impairment. 

Leadership in Action: Amplifying and advocating learning disabled dance leaders


Wednesday 26 June 2024
Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester
10.30am – 4.00pm

People Dancing and Corali Dance Company are delighted to present this one day in person event for learning disabled dance leaders and their supporters.

Led by supporting partners Anjali Dance CompanyDanceSyndromeStopgap Dance Company and TIN Arts, the day, a first of its kind, supports the coming together of learning disabled dancers and dance leaders in one space.

To find out more about this event, please click here.

Heart to Heart


Commissioned by the North East North Cumbria Congenital Heart Disease (NENC CHD) Network and produced by TIN Arts, “Heart to Heart” is a short film exploring the hopes, challenges, and dreams of five resilient young souls living with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

“Heart to Heart” is now available to view here: Heart to Heart

Writer Laura Lindow and filmmaker Laura Degnan, regular collaborators of TIN Arts, were invited to lead the project and to work with the young people to bring to life a new work that reflected conversations and meetings held between the young people and the artists.

At the heart of this project are the five extraordinary young people, who have generously shared their unique perspectives. “Heart to Heart” is their voice, their narrative, and their opportunity to convey their message directly to the world. What has emerged is a manifesto, a pledge, a promise to themselves, their peers and the wider CHD community.

On the 8th of November 2023, there was a private preview for the young people involved and their families before the film premiered at the British Congenital Cardiac Association conference in Bristol on the 14th of November 2023. 

There have been many people involved in the creating and making of Heart to Heart who deserve massive thanks and praise.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Kaye Walsh from the CHD Network for commissioning this film and for her invaluable expertise and insights throughout the journey. Special thanks are due to Laura and Laura for their outstanding creative contributions, dedicating countless hours to bring this vision to life.

Animator Sheryl Jenkins and composer/performer Katie Doherty have both brought their brilliance to the process and elevated the work to a whole new level.

Last but certainly not least, we extend our deepest gratitude to the young people who have shared their stories and experiences with us. This film truly belongs to them. Witness for yourself how bright they shine and the deep significance their words hold for the CHD community and beyond.  

Welcome Back


We’re looking forward to welcoming back our GeTIN2Dance participants from 11th September.

We hope everyone has had a great summer break and is looking forward to getting creative in our dance studio again.

We would like to share our participant handbook with you to help you get ready to come back to TIN Arts. Please follow this link to our handbook: 2023-2024 Handbook

See you soon!

Artistic Journeys: A Closer Look at our Best Foot Forward Performers


Our Durham University summer interns, Rachel and Verity, interviewed four of our GeTIN2Dance participants: Laura, Alumbeni, Catherine, and Alex. We wanted to find out more about their personal experiences of being performers at Best Foot Forward, TIN Arts’ annual showcase performance featuring work created and performed by artists with a learning disability or who are autistic.

The four articles give first-hand accounts of the performers’ journeys from rehearsals to the performance itself, as well as showing the support they received from their families and from TIN staff. To read more about these talented individuals, please see the links below:

Launch of new ‘Giving Back’ Campaign


TIN Arts are launching a new ‘Giving Back’ campaign to raise vital funds for the charity and to celebrate our 25th anniversary, which will take place on 13 January 2024.

‘Giving Back’ starts officially on 10 June 2023 when TIN Arts Executive Director, Martin Wilson MBE, takes on a 200km ride from Durham to Dunbar in one day. Starting off at first light, Martin and friends from Paradise Bank Cycling Club have a deadline to catch a return train from Dunbar at 19:20 that eveningso the challenge is on for them to reach their destination on time to make sure they can get home! 

Anyone connected to TIN Arts is invited to support the ‘Giving Back’ campaign in any way they would like. You can donate, volunteer your time, attend an organised event or create an event of your own: we would love to find a way to help you to commemorate this special period for TIN Arts.

You can donate in support of the Durham to Dunbar ride here: https://gofund.me/3f9ac7a0

There are lots of planned events in the pipeline, including a fabulous Fundraising Ball on Saturday 13 January 2024 at a ‘soon to be revealed’ location in Durham.

Keep an eye on this blog page for news on more events soon.

If you would like to organise an event to raise funds for TIN Arts, please get in touch via [email protected].