Yorkshire Dance
Yorkshire Dance is a Leeds-based registered charity (est. 1982) that supports communities and dance artists across Yorkshire through weekly classes, two annual festivals, artist commissions, and studio hire, serving children, older adults, people with additional needs, and professional dancers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1982
- HeadquartersLeeds, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Yorkshire Dance does
Yorkshire Dance is a registered charity (Yorkshire Dance Centre Trust, Charity No. 701624) headquartered at 3 St Peter's Buildings, Leeds, established in 1982 to support communities and dance artists across Yorkshire. The organisation runs a portfolio of community dance programmes segmented by demographic — Saturday Superstars for children aged 0-16, Dance On for adults aged 55+ in Leeds and Bradford, Leaps and Bounds for adults with a learning disability, and In Mature Company for care home residents living with dementia — alongside two annual festivals (Ageless Festival and FRESH Youth Dance Festival) and an artist development pipeline that includes Dance Partner Projects (£3,000 commissions) and the Dance in the North Co-Commission (£12,500).
The underlying technology is a standard web platform: the public site runs on WordPress with LiteSpeed hosting and CloudFlare CDN, with social integrations (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube), Google Maps for location, and third-party tooling for online booking (BookWhen), payments (Absolute Payments), and donations (Give As You Live). There is no proprietary technology stack, app, or API surface; distribution is overwhelmingly physical via the Leeds studios and partner venues such as Bradford Alhambra Theatre and Leeds Art Gallery.
The revenue model is a hybrid charity mix with no single dominant commercial stream. Income is generated from Arts Council England NPO core funding, project and capital grants (most recently a £750,000 Creative Foundations grant for building refurbishment), ticket sales for festivals and events (Ageless 2026 passes £40-£100, plus Pay What You Can and free events), recurring fees from weekly dance classes and studio hire, corporate and individual donations, and artist development commissions. Customer segments are distributed across children and young people, older adults, dance artists, hirers of studio space, donors, and funder partners. Customer concentration is moderate: Arts Council England is the largest single funder, but no individual participant or corporate customer represents a material share of revenue.
Yorkshire Dance firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Yorkshire Dance
- Legal name
- Yorkshire Dance Centre Trust
- Website
- https://yorkshiredance.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1982
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Yorkshire Dance is a Leeds-based registered charity (est. 1982) that supports communities and dance artists across Yorkshire through weekly classes, two annual festivals, artist commissions, and studio hire, serving children, older adults, people with additional needs, and professional dancers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Yorkshire Dance industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Community Dance Programs
- NAICS
- Dance Companies (711120), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (7115)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cultural & Folk Dance Performances (MPAGADAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Community Music & Dance Festivals (Non-Commercial/Local) (MPAGAEAH), Youth/Student & Community Dance Recitals (MPAGADAI), Dance Education (Ballet, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Cultural Dance) (EDAMAAAH), Dance Theatre (Narrative/Experimental) (MPAGADAC)
Keywords
Where Yorkshire Dance is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Leeds
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Yorkshire Dance business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Fundraising: As a registered charity (No. 701624), Yorkshire Dance relies on donations from supporters as a primary revenue stream. The organization receives funding from Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation, and has received grants such as a £750,000 Creative Foundations grant for building refurbishment.
- Dance Classes and Courses: Weekly dance classes and courses generate revenue from participants. Offerings include Zumba, Saturday Superstars for children, TEMPO Street Crew youth performance group, and Dance On programmes for over 55s.
- Event and Festival Ticketing: Ticket sales for performances, events, and festival passes. Examples include Ageless Festival passes priced from £40-£100 and pay-what-you-can events.
- Studio and Space Hire: Three dance studios, meeting rooms, office spaces, and artist co-working spaces are available to hire. The organization also offers standby space booking through BookWhen.
- Artist Development Services: Programmes supporting dance artists through commissions, residency space, producer support, and scratch night opportunities. Artists receive commissions such as £3,000 for Dance Partner Projects and £12,500 co-commissions through the Dance in the North network.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Ageless Festival Weekend Pass |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Ageless Festival Friday Pass |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Pay What You Can |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Events |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels11 records
Yorkshire Dance product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Yorkshire Dance is a registered charity (No. 701624) headquartered in Leeds that delivers community dance programmes for children and young people, older adults, and people with disabilities; supports dance artists through commissioning and residencies; runs annual festivals such as FRESH and Ageless; and offers studio and meeting space for hire from its purpose-built facilities.
Product overview
Yorkshire Dance is a regional charity established in 1982, operating a platform of dance programmes and venue rentals from its home in Leeds' Cultural Quarter. The core offering consists of artist development programmes including Dance Partner Projects (£3,000 commissions) and Dance in the North Co-Commission (£12,500), alongside community dance programmes such as Saturday Superstars (ages 0-16), Dance On (adults 55+), Leaps and Bounds (adults with learning disabilities), and In Mature Company (care home residents with dementia). The organisation runs two annual festivals: Ageless Festival and FRESH Youth Dance Festival. Additionally, Yorkshire Dance offers venue hire services including three studios, meeting rooms, office spaces, artist co-working space, and party hire.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Community Dance Programmes Programme strands of classes, workshops and engagement activity delivered for children and young people, older adults, and people with disabilities across Yorkshire and the North of England.
- FRESH Dance Festival Annual dance festival presenting new work from independent dance makers in Yorkshire, with public performances, scratch events and showcases.
- Ageless Festival Festival programme celebrating dance created by and with older adults, presented annually in partnership with venues and community organisations.
- Artist Development Programme Support for independent dance artists in Yorkshire through commissioning, residencies, producing advice, and platforms to develop and present new work.
- Studio and Meeting Space Hire Booking of purpose-built dance studios and meeting rooms at Yorkshire Dance's Leeds headquarters for rehearsals, classes, auditions, performances and meetings.
- Dance Classes and Workshops Open dance classes and workshop sessions for community participants and artists, scheduled at the Leeds site and in partner venues.
Quantifiable outcome
- 1,295 attendees at Ageless Festival 2024
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Yorkshire Dance
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Yorkshire Dance technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Yorkshire Dance partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Dance in the North ConsortiumcoreDance in the North is a consortium of dance organisations and venues committed to dance artist development and programming in the North of England. The network comprises Yorkshire Dance, Cheshire Dance, Lancaster Arts, Dance City, and Lowry. The consortium launched a new £12,500 co-commission pilot scheme for artists or companies in the North of England, and aims to shift the scale and ambition of dance production in the region.
- The Audience Agency (Audience Finder)minorYorkshire Dance provides anonymised audience data to Audience Finder, managed by The Audience Agency, as part of cross-sector audience research and data analysis for arts organisations.
- Illuminate / PWCminorYorkshire Dance provides anonymised audience data to Illuminate, managed by PWC and funded by Arts Council England, for audience insight and sector benchmarking purposes.
- Company of PeopleminorYorkshire Dance partnered with Company of People for intergenerational performance work at Leeds Art Gallery and co-presented 'How to Change the World by Doing Nothing' at Ageless Festival 2024.
- Talent Development NorthminorYorkshire Dance continued its partnership on Talent Development North to support artists with a learning disability or who are autistic to develop their dance practice.
- Izzy BrittainminorIzzy Brittain was a Dance Partner (2025-26) and received a commission to develop 'The Smalls'. Previous artist supported through the Dance Partner Projects programme.
- Alicia MeehanminorAlicia Meehan was a Dance Partner (2023-24) with her project 'What Adult Am I?', an episodic celebration of queer narratives. Received £3,000 commission, residency space, producer support, and scratch night opportunities.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Yorkshire Dance competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Phoenix Dance Theatre: Leeds-based contemporary dance company that, like Yorkshire Dance, is rooted in the Leeds Cultural Quarter and produces both professional performance work and participation programmes. Operates as a fellow Leeds dance institution with overlapping audiences and partnerships.
- Northern Ballet: Leeds-based major ballet company with its headquarters in the same city as Yorkshire Dance. Operates community engagement and learning programmes alongside professional touring productions, creating direct competition for talent, partnerships, and audience attention in the same city.
- Lancaster Arts: Lancaster-based presenting venue and dance development partner within the Dance in the North consortium. Comparable in operating scale and in its role as a regional dance presenting and commissioning partner.
- Dance City: Newcastle-based dance development organization with a comparable regional model: combines community dance classes, artist development programmes, professional touring, and venue operations. Dance City is also a Dance in the North consortium partner with Yorkshire Dance, making it a near-direct peer in mission, scale, and funding structure.
- Siobhan Davies Dance: London-based dance organization focused on artist development and choreography commissions, with parallel community engagement work. Comparable to Yorkshire Dance's Dance Partner Projects commissioning model but operating in London rather than the North.
- Cheshire Dance: Cheshire-based dance development charity operating with a very similar community-and-artist-development model. Co-partner with Yorkshire Dance in the Dance in the North consortium and operates as a comparable regional dance development organization.
Broad incumbents
- Sadler's Wells: London-based leading dance venue and producer. Operates as a much larger-scale dance presenter with national and international touring programmes, overlapping with Yorkshire Dance's commissioning and presenting activities but at a fundamentally different scale and geography.
- English National Ballet: Major national ballet company running participation and learning programmes alongside professional productions. Comparable in its combination of professional and community dance work, but operates at a much larger national scale and as a ballet rather than a development charity.
- The Place: London-based dance development organization combining a performance venue, artist development programmes, and participation activity. Operates with a similar dual model of artist support and community engagement but is significantly larger and London-based.
- The Lowry: Salford-based major arts venue presenting theatre, dance, and visual arts. Co-partner with Yorkshire Dance in the Dance in the North consortium and presents significant dance programming, but operates on a substantially larger scale and as a broader multi-art-form venue rather than a dance-specialist organization.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Yorkshire Dance social profiles
Digital presenceYorkshire Dance financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Yorkshire Dance leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Yorkshire Dance funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Yorkshire Dance M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Yorkshire Dance
What does Yorkshire Dance do?
Yorkshire Dance is a registered charity (No. 701624) headquartered in Leeds that delivers community dance programmes for children and young people, older adults, and people with disabilities; supports dance artists through commissioning and residencies; runs annual festivals such as FRESH and Ageless; and offers studio and meeting space for hire from its purpose-built facilities.
Is Yorkshire Dance a public or private company?
Yorkshire Dance is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Yorkshire Dance founded?
Yorkshire Dance was founded in 1982. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Yorkshire Dance based?
Yorkshire Dance is headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Yorkshire Dance make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Donations and Fundraising is the primary driver. The others are dance Classes and Courses, event and Festival Ticketing, studio and Space Hire and artist Development Services.
Who are Yorkshire Dance's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Phoenix Dance Theatre, Northern Ballet, Lancaster Arts, Dance City, Siobhan Davies Dance and Cheshire Dance. Broad incumbents are Sadler's Wells, English National Ballet, The Place and The Lowry.
Does Yorkshire Dance have an API?
No public API is recorded for Yorkshire Dance.
What industry is Yorkshire Dance in?
Yorkshire Dance's product category is Community Dance Programs. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGADAD, Cultural & Folk Dance Performances, with a secondary code of MPAGAEAH, Community Music & Dance Festivals (Non-Commercial/Local). Its NAICS code is 711120 and its SIC code is 7990.