Bringing museums and heritage sites to life through dance

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The Imagination Museum announces co-commission for dance artists in the East of England

We are thrilled to announce that applications for our second co-commission for dance artists based in the East of England are now open. Delivered in partnership with Ipswich…

Performers at Waterfront Dance Day Ipswich with DanceEast

The Imagination Museum Co-Commissions: East of England Callout 2026

Supported with funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Ipswich Museum and DanceEast, The Imagination Museum network is pleased to announce a £6,000 co-commission for a…

Latest case studies

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21st August 2021

JACK DEFROST – Traceworks Dance

JACK DEFROST is an enchanting dance performance, unravelling the traditional character of Jack Frost and his journey through changing seasons and new environments. In this engaging and original…

2nd October 2025

Dancing through history at Bath Assembly Rooms

Over the past two years, the National Trust has been carefully planning the future of Bath’s iconic Assembly Rooms. Through consultation, creative events and conservation work, a bold…

Challacombe Chronicled by Richard Chappell Dance, photographer Steven Haywood

Challacombe Chronicled – Richard Chappell Dance

Experience Dartmoor’s rich history and landscapes with the latest film from Richard Chappell Dance – Challacombe Chronicled. Combining dance, poetry and film, Challacombe Chronicled sees Devon’s award-winning company…

Five dancers dressed in black perform in a library space

5th September 2025

Dancin On Extreme – Keneish Dance

Dancin On Extreme is the latest dance work from Keneish Dance, choreographed by Artistic Director Keisha Grant. This powerful, raw and bold family friendly work is inspired by…

Flight of the Falcon at Norwich Castle Keep, photographer Malachy Luckie

Flight of the Falcon – Norwich Castle

in February 2025, Norwich Castle published a call-out for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together to dance, with workshops building up to a performance. There…

Images of 4 dancers around a central figure - a young person wearing a VR headset

Gathering Place 360

With support from Arts Partnership Surrey in 2024 and 2025, Made By Katie Green developed Gathering Place 360, a VR360 version of their Gathering Place project, through which they respond choreographically…

A picture of a performance called Ghost Ships, by Icon Theatre

25th September 2024

Ghost Ships – Icon Theatre

Ghost Ships was an Icon Theatre, ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company and Amina Khayyam Dance Company Co-Production, supported by The Historic Dockyard Chatham. This major community theatre production recharted…

In this film still from the Look Imagine Move project from University of Cambridge Museums Dance with the Museum project, a dancer appears with her arm bent up in front of her, mingling with the impression of a painting from an art gallery

9th December 2024

Dance with the Museum – University of Cambridge Museums

Dance with the Museum is a series of health and wellbeing initiatives for and with adults in the Cambridgeshire area. The project has been developed through collaboration between the…

3 dancers move with arms outstretched in a garden, with lush green flowers and trees all around.

Roots to Rise

This outdoor work by Nandita Shankardass explores ancestry, agriculture, ecological activism and the inherent wisdom of women. Nandita’s research has been inspired and motivated by events throughout India’s…

Two dancers stand back to back, their arms clasped gently in front of their hearts. They stand in front of a series of wooden posts standing tall at the centre of a Bronze Age pond barrow.

21st August 2024

A Gathering Place

National South East South West

A Gathering Place is a new project in progress from dance company Made By Katie Green, exploring ways of responding choreographically to archaeology and engaging with the question of what…

Black Victorians – choreographed by Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE

Black Victorians is a dance performance inspired by the discovery of hundreds of portraits of black people in England during the Victorian era. These images were deliberately airbrushed from…

A lady in a long white dress made from a thin, shiny fabric leans against the crumbling stone wall of what looks like an old church, her arms extended above her head and her face concealed from the camera. She wears large metallic medieval gloves. The picture is black and white which emphasises the range of different textures, of the crumbling wall, its cracks, her heavy metallic gloves, the softness of her dress.

And In The Soil, There Be Mirrors

‘And In The Soil, There Be Mirrors’ is a site-responsive dance film by Hollie Miller and Sam Williams set across a selection of historical locations in the English…

Disgo Distaw Owain Glyndwr Silent Disco

South West Wales

In 1400, Owain Glyndŵr, the legendary rebel Prince of Wales, rallied his supporters in an uprising against the English king, Edward I. By 1409 he had disappeared without…

A group of 5 dancers perform on a catwalk set up in the grand opening hall of the Bristol Museum. They wear long transparent white unitards with black markings underneath and the tips of their hands are painted red. Their arms are stretched over their heads and some of the transparent white fabric is pulled up to cover their faces.

Trying it on – Lea Anderson

A performed exhibition from Lea Anderson that delves deep into The Cholmondeleys & The Featherstonehaughs costume archives (designers Sandy Powell, Simon Vincenzi & Emma Fryer) to dust off…

A solo dancer, performing seated in his wheelchair, his fore arms close together and reaching upwards. The gallery in which he performs is painted a deep red, and filled with pictures in golden frames.

Beyond The Waves by Chris Pavia

Chris Pavia is an international touring dance artist and choreographer. He is a member of Stopgap Dance Company and works in his own right as an independent artist.…

Image by Alice Underwood; image description: a person wearing a blue cap and blue and red jacket holds up an iPad in front of their face, which displays more information about the Leytonstone street through which he's walking.

Leytonstone TrailblazARs – Move and Code

A creative digital adventure that brings to life the history of Leytonstone High Road, through the eyes of young local residents. Participants could get to know this corner of…

3 dancers twist, reach and check the space around them nervously, their images overlaid over an impression of a historic house in darkness

It begins in darkness – Seke Chimutengwende

London Midlands

It begins in darkness is a dance full of ghosts. In this stark, stripped back performance, five dancers move through a series of mysterious and experimental rites of passage,…

A series of 3 imaginary tarot cards, each depicting a historic image linked to the ballet Giselle.

Glitch / Giselle by Glitch Projects

Glitch/Giselle by Glitch Projects is an experiment – a prototype for a new kind of project that: Shines a light on the future by digging into the past; Draws…

A group of different dancers, using different dance styles, all wearing bright blues, pinks, black and white dance under the blue arches of a historical building.

Get Dancing Project, Showtown

From 2020-2022, Showtown created a brand new social dance, inspired by a long tradition of novelty dances in Blackpool. Together with community arts organisation, LeftCoast and local dance collective, House of Wingz, they…

4 wet plate collodion images aligned alongside each other, with 2 contemporary images of performers from Freewheelers interspersed with 2 archive photographs from Surrey History Centre.

27th November 2024

Us & Them

Us & Them is a series of specially commissioned wet plate collodion portraits co-created with some of the disabled Actors and Artists from Freewheelers Media & Theatre Company.…

1st September 2018

Longways / Crosswise

Longways / Crosswise was an immersive, site-specific dance performance by About Time Dance Company. Taking place on the coastline of Morecambe Bay, the performance was inspired by David…

Events

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Online, via Zoom – 22nd June 2026

Lunchtime Q&A with Ipswich Museum/DanceEast

Join us on June 22nd from 12-1pm for an online Q&A session to learn more about The Imagination Museum’s co-commission with Ipswich Museum and DanceEast. Supported with funding from the National…

A solo dancer, performing seated in his wheelchair, his fore arms close together and reaching upwards. The gallery in which he performs is painted a deep red, and filled with pictures in golden frames.

Welcome to our national network for dance and heritage professionals interested in collaboration.