Dance City, the North East’s leading organisation for Dance is opening ‘Dance City Sunderland’ in 2017.

Leading the way for dance in the North East for over 30 years, Dance City’s busy Newcastle-based building is a thriving centre for dance and dancers of all kinds – from public classes, to formal dance training, from dance productions in its Theatre, to supporting locally based dance artists.

Dance City Sunderland will see the development of two brand new dance studios opening in the city centre as part of a wider vision to create a Music, Arts and Cultural Quarter (MACQ), due to launch in August 2017. Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust have secured support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Sunderland City Council to develop the old Fire Station building as phase one of the MACQ. The building, empty since 1992, will be brought back to life as a hub for cultural activity.

Dance City will be an anchor tenant in the Fire Station, along with Live Theatre. There are plans to offer a varied programme of public dance classes and the studios will also be available to hire to community and private groups and for children’s dance parties. Dance City will also deliver some of its formal education activity from the building.

The new classes will take place in state-of-the-art professionally equipped studios, and will also be set up for aerial and acrobatic use. As with Dance City’s Newcastle building, the classes will be run by highly trained, specialist dance teachers in a wide range of styles and will be welcoming and inclusive.

There will be classes for those with previous dance experience as well as complete beginners; classes for children, adults and people aged 55 and over. Rather than offering progression through grade exams, Dance City classes are about developing at an individual’s own pace for enjoyment, health and social benefits.

Anthony Baker, Dance City Artistic Director and Joint CEO said:

“We are excited to be able to offer amazing dance opportunities in Sunderland through the opening of our new spaces there.

I come from just outside the city and spent a lot of time in Sunderland as a child as my father had a toyshop on the High Street, so it’s somewhere that’s close to my heart.

We’re delighted to be part of such an ambitious and forward thinking development and that Dance City will be able to play a key role in redeveloping this area into a thriving cultural epicentre.”

Dance City Sunderland is due to open in August 2017. Individuals who wish to be kept informed about the new Sunderland classes programme can contact Dance City on 0191 261 0505, info@dancecity.co.uk to be added to a special mailing list.