Keep Dancing: The Imagination Museum in Blackpool

Keep Dancing

Dynamic ways of sustaining and celebrating Blackpool’s social dancing heritage

At our third Advocacy Event we invite you to imagine the role of the museum outside the museum building and the ways that working with dance with communities can capture intangible heritage, with a focus on the world-renowned dance heritage of Blackpool.

Join us at Showtown only 3 months after its official opening in March 2024, to hear about the ways in which the Showtown team have been developing links with communities through the ‘Get Dancing’ project, an ongoing initiative delivered in partnership with House of Wingz and LeftCoast. Hear about the impact of this work on participants, and the ways that developing their connection with the place where they live can also develop their sense of identity and pride.

Our programme will also integrate other Case Studies, a curator tour of part of the new museum, and a chance to network and explore new opportunities for working with the performing arts/dance collection in Blackpool and building a legacy for this work in the town.

Our event on the 20th June is taking place as part of the resort’s Capital of Dance Festival (14th June - 14th July 2024).

Attendees will also be given free access to explore Showtown directly after the event from 4-5pm.

We will add more information about the agenda for the day and confirmed speakers in due course.

Tickets: £30 (for those representing organisations); £20 (for freelance practitioners or those representing smaller/volunteer-led organisations)

There are also a limited number of 10 x £5 Bursary tickets available to freelance practitioners and those representing smaller/volunteer-led organisations on a first-come-first-served basis.

We do not want cost to be a barrier to anyone attending our events so please get in touch, in confidence, with our Project Manager Alice on [email protected] should you wish to discuss any alternative arrangements. We also have an access fund available if you require assistance with any of the additional costs (such as travel) that you may incur by attending the event.

Please note, the day on the 20th June will be followed by an optional practical session on the 21st June (10-1pm), venue TBC. This free session will be aimed primarily at dance artists interested in working in response to heritage (but all are welcome), facilitated by The Imagination Museum’s current Strategic Lead, Katie Green.

Who is the Blackpool Imagination Museum event for?

Our online and in-person Advocacy Events will be open to anyone from dance, arts, heritage, community contexts with an interest in collaboration and finding creative ways of interpreting local sites, collections and stories through dance and movement.

You may have some experience of working with dance in response to heritage, museums, archives, galleries, or you may be completely new to this way of working.

We want everyone to feel welcome, and we are working with Access and EDI consultants to support us to make the events as inclusive as we can (and to learn about how to do this better in the future). Please get in touch if there is anything that we can put in place to support you to access this event.

We also plan to record any key presentations (where it is possible to do so) and will make these recordings available on our website after the events to enable more people to access the content on demand.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact our Project Manager Alice Odin on [email protected] .

The Imagination Museum is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and is currently being managed by Made By Katie Green. In 2024 it is being delivered in partnership with Colchester and Ipswich Museums, DanceEast, Wheal Martyn, Showtown, the Horniman Museum and Gardens and Trinity Laban, with additional support from an Executive Committee, and Advisory Organisations including the Association for Suffolk Museums and Arts & Heritage.

Photo credit: Showtown (the 'Get Dancing' project)

Host or Publisher The Imagination Museum