Dance UK is organising a seminar for dance managers and self-managed artists, part of its training programme The Business of Dance. The seminar will be held on Friday, April 5 from 7pm to 10pm.

Twenty dancers have been chosen to take part in Dance UK’s leadership mentoring scheme. The programme offers workforce development for mid-career dancers who have been nominated by their peers as future leaders. It is organised by by Dance UK in partnership with Dancers’ Career Development, with the support of Arts Council England. Over eight months, each dancer will be provided with a paid mentor who is a high-profile leader from the arts world or beyond.

The Theatre Information Group (TIG), which was founded in 1980, has changed its name to the Association of Performing Arts Collections (APAC). This will now be the new title for the Subject Specialist Network of performing arts collections in the UK and Ireland, and the association hopes the change in name will emphasise its “commitment to providing a forum for discussing issues in performing arts heritage” by reflecting the widening range of individual members and member institutions. Associated institutions include a number of prominent dance collections, such as the Theatre and Performance Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Resource Centre for Dance, and the Royal Opera House Collections.

Northern Ballet has launched a search for a new chair to lead the company. David Forbes, who chaired the company’s board for the last two years, is stepping down to commit more time to his other business interests.

In an extraordinary letter sent to Dancing Times, a group of ballet lovers and supporters of English National Ballet, who have asked to remain anonymous, wonder about the reasons behind the resignation of ENB’s artistic director, Wayne Eagling. Titled “Why Waste Wayne?”, the group also questions the judgement of ENB’s Board of Directors. We publish the letter here in full…

The purpose-build headquarters of Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre has won the National Lottery Award for Best Arts Project 2011. The award comes as the two companies celebrate a year in their new home.

Arts Council England (ACE) has announced its funding decisions for the next four years. Following the 29.6 per cent cut to ACE’s own budget for 2011 to 2015, there will be a 14.9 per cent cut in its budget for funded organisations. The plan was to cut strategically, dropping 206 organisations altogether and concentrating funding on others. Alan Davey, chief executive of ACE, said there had been “really hard choices as we had so many good applications – more than we were able to fund.”

Rambert Dance Company’s £19.6 million campaign to move to purpose-built headquarters on London’s South Bank has been boosted by a new award of £7 million from Arts Council England. Rambert seeks to raise the final £2.6 million, hoping to start on site in spring 2011 and to move in in spring 2013. 

The government’s spending review has brought hard news for arts companies.

Candoco Dance Company plans to reposition itself as a centre for excellence for inclusive dance practice from 2011 onwards. The company has been awarded a grant from Arts Council England (Grants for the Arts) for a nine-month period of research, partnership building and business plan development.