Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella is a UK registered charity, founded in 1978, that runs London's annual international contemporary dance festival across 50+ London venues and streams digital content globally via a Digital Pass, serving London audiences, international online viewers, families, and arts professionals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Dance Umbrella does
Dance Umbrella is a registered UK charity (No. 277221) founded in 1978 that organises London's annual international contemporary dance festival. It presents live performances across more than 50 London venues — including Sadler's Wells, Barbican, The Place, Somerset House, Cecil Sharp House, and Rich Mix — and streams a parallel digital programme worldwide via a Digital Pass platform hosted on Vimeo. The 2026 festival runs 7-27 October, with digital content available 7 October – 30 November. Programming is curated by Artistic Director & Co-CEO Freddie Opoku-Addaie (appointed February 2021), and artists are selected by invitation rather than open application, reflecting a relationship-driven curatorial model built over 45+ years.
The product surface spans the annual festival, the Digital Pass (£15 standard / £7 concession), Artist Encounters talks, the Sunday Shorts film series at Barbican Cinema, the Creative Learning Programme for families, the Visiting Artist Programme (23 partners in 22 countries via Big Pulse Dance Alliance), and the Diversifying Curatorial Stewardship (DCS) sector programme (2026-2028), funded by Arts Council England and British Council. The recent launch of the Emma Gladstone Award (inaugural winner Jiaxin Chen, February 2026) institutionalises a named recognition programme. Underlying technology is a standard website ticketing and donation stack (Beacon for e-commerce, Stripe for payments, Mailchimp for email, Google Analytics, CookieYes for consent, Vimeo for streaming) with no proprietary technology or AI components.
Revenue is generated from four streams: in-person ticket sales (£10–£13 including accessibility pricing), Digital Pass sales, individual donations and merchandise, and — most significantly — public funding from Arts Council England (National Lottery) and British Council, supplemented by Creative Europe co-funding through the Big Pulse Dance Alliance. The organisation is governed by a Board of Trustees, has no parent company or subsidiaries, and reports revenue only through UK Charity Commission filings, which are not disclosed in the input.
Dance Umbrella firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Dance Umbrella
- Legal name
- Dance Umbrella Ltd
- Website
- https://danceumbrella.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Dance Umbrella is a UK registered charity, founded in 1978, that runs London's annual international contemporary dance festival across 50+ London venues and streams digital content globally via a Digital Pass, serving London audiences, international online viewers, families, and arts professionals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Dance Umbrella industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts Festival
- NAICS
- Dance Companies (711120)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Dance Festivals & Dance Series (MPAGADAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Contemporary & Modern Dance (MPAGADAB)
Keywords
Where Dance Umbrella is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Dance Umbrella business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Ticket Sales: Revenue from in-person performances at partner venues across London, including standard tickets and £10 discounted tickets for accessibility.
- Digital Pass Sales: Online access to digital festival programme including dance films, talks, and panel discussions. Standard price £15, concession £7.
- Donations and Fundraising: Individual giving campaigns and donations from supporters, with merchandise incentives for higher donations (£50+ tote bag, £125+ umbrella, £150+ both).
- Public Funding: Major funding from Arts Council England (supported by National Lottery) and British Council for festival operations and Diversifying Curatorial Stewardship programme.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Digital Pass for online festival access |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Concession Digital Pass for online festival access |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | In-person show tickets with accessibility pricing |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Barbican Cinema screening tickets |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Dance Umbrella product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Dance Umbrella produces London's annual international contemporary dance festival, presenting live performances across partner venues in London alongside a digital streaming programme (Digital Pass) of dance films, documentaries, talks and panel discussions available globally. The festival commissions new work, hosts artist encounters and panel discussions, runs free outdoor performances and family activities, and operates the multi-year Diversifying Curatorial Stewardship programme to develop curatorial leadership in dance.
Product overview
Dance Umbrella operates as a single unified festival offering centered around its annual international dance festival. The core offering comprises live in-person performances across London venues alongside a Digital Pass programme providing online access to dance films, documentaries, talks, and panel discussions. Additional offerings include the Artist Encounters talk series, the Dance Umbrella Film Series: Sunday Shorts, the Diversifying Curatorial Stewardship (DCS) Programme for sector development, the Emma Gladstone Award for emerging artists, the Visiting Artist Programme facilitating international artist exchange, and the Creative Learning Programme engaging communities with dance. The festival runs annually from 7-27 October across London and online.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Dance Umbrella Festival London's annual international contemporary dance festival presenting live performances and digital content across London venues and online, curated by Artistic Director & Co-CEO Freddie Opoku-Addaie. The festival commissions new work and presents international choreographers across 50+ London venues.
- Digital Pass Online access pass giving audiences worldwide access to the festival's digital programme including dance films, documentaries, talks, and panel discussions available from 7 October to 30 November each year, priced at £15 standard (£7 concession).
- Artist Encounters
Quantifiable outcome
- Reached 17 London Boroughs and 50+ locations
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Dance Umbrella
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Dance Umbrella technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
Dance Umbrella partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- British CouncilcorePartnership supporting international strand of DCS programme with ODA-focused curatorial track. Includes international research visits and visiting artist delegations.
- FABRICcoreNational & International Steering Group partner for DCS programme. Co-invests in and shapes new models of curatorial leadership.
- DanceEastcoreSteering Group partner and host of 2027 residency for DCS programme. Partnership in curatorial development pipeline.
- The LowryminorSteering Group partner in DCS programme network of partners.
- AerowavescoreSteering Group partner and host of international research visits (Startup Forum and Spring Forward in Ireland/Netherlands) for emerging curators.
- Visiting Artist Programme Partnerscore23 partners in 22 countries across Europe through Big Pulse Dance Alliance. Collaborative project stimulating artistic development, creative exchange, and networking.
- Producer Farm PartnersminorJoint initiative with Fuel, Bristol Old Vic Ferment, In Between Time, and Coombe Farm Studios for week-long creative producer residency programme.
- Big Pulse Dance Alliancecore4-year partnership of 12 European dance festivals and institutions co-funded by Creative Europe. Includes co-commissions, visiting artist programme, winter intensives, and mentoring programme. Partners: Tanz im August/HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Germany), Dance Umbrella (UK), Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), Julidans (Netherlands), New Baltic Dance (Lithuania), ONE Dance Week (Bulgaria), Torinodanza Festival (Italy), Zodiak (Finland), Sismògraf Dance Festival (Spain), TANEC PRAHA (Czech Republic), CODA Oslo (Norway), Danscentrum Sverige (Sweden).
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Dance Umbrella competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Royal Opera House: London's major performing arts venue and producer of the Royal Ballet; a broader incumbent that competes for the same Arts Council England funding pool and family/young-audience ticket demand as Dance Umbrella.
- The Place: London's dedicated contemporary dance venue and a recurring Dance Umbrella partner venue; operates a year-round producing/presenting programme in the same contemporary dance niche, making it both a partner and a structural competitor for audiences and artists.
- Edinburgh International Festival: Scotland's flagship multi-disciplinary summer arts festival; broader incumbent in the UK festival landscape that includes dance within a wider performing-arts programme, competing for the same public funders and audiences as Dance Umbrella.
- Sadler's Wells: London's premier dance venue and a long-time Dance Umbrella programming partner (Sadler's Wells East hosts DU shows); broader incumbent that both produces its own year-round dance season and hosts the Dance Umbrella festival performances.
Direct peers
- Julidans: Amsterdam's annual international contemporary dance festival and Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-founding partner; presents a curated international programme across multiple venues, sharing co-commission and visiting artist mechanics with Dance Umbrella.
- ONE Dance Week: Bulgaria's international contemporary dance festival and Big Pulse Dance Alliance partner; presents a multi-venue international programme with co-commissions, mentoring and visiting artist strands paralleling Dance Umbrella's model.
- Tanz im August: Berlin's flagship international contemporary dance festival and Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-founding partner; runs a comparable month-long curated programme of international contemporary dance with co-commissions and visiting artist exchanges alongside Dance Umbrella.
- Dublin Dance Festival: Ireland's leading international contemporary dance festival and Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-founding partner; operates an annual curated multi-venue festival model with a comparable mix of UK/international premieres and artist development work.
- CODA Oslo International Dance Festival: Norway's international contemporary dance festival and Big Pulse Dance Alliance partner; comparable curated multi-venue festival with co-commissions and artist development programmes that overlap with Dance Umbrella's brief.
- Torinodanza Festival: Turin's contemporary dance festival and Big Pulse Dance Alliance partner; runs a comparable autumn international contemporary dance programme in partnership with Dance Umbrella under Creative Europe co-funding.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Dance Umbrella social profiles
Digital presenceDance Umbrella financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Dance Umbrella leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Dance Umbrella funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Dance Umbrella 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 Dance Umbrella
What does Dance Umbrella do?
Dance Umbrella produces London's annual international contemporary dance festival, presenting live performances across partner venues in London alongside a digital streaming programme (Digital Pass) of dance films, documentaries, talks and panel discussions available globally. The festival commissions new work, hosts artist encounters and panel discussions, runs free outdoor performances and family activities, and operates the multi-year Diversifying Curatorial Stewardship programme to develop curatorial leadership in dance.
Is Dance Umbrella a public or private company?
Dance Umbrella is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Dance Umbrella founded?
Dance Umbrella was founded in 1978. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Dance Umbrella based?
Dance Umbrella is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Dance Umbrella make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are digital Pass Sales, donations and Fundraising and public Funding.
Who are Dance Umbrella's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Royal Opera House, The Place, Edinburgh International Festival and Sadler's Wells. Direct peers are Julidans, ONE Dance Week, Tanz im August, Dublin Dance Festival, CODA Oslo International Dance Festival and Torinodanza Festival.
Does Dance Umbrella have an API?
No public API is recorded for Dance Umbrella.
What industry is Dance Umbrella in?
Dance Umbrella's product category is Performing Arts Festival. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGADAJ, Dance Festivals & Dance Series, with a secondary code of MPAGADAB, Contemporary & Modern Dance. Its NAICS code is 711120 and its SIC code is 7900.