The English Folk Dance and Song Society is delighted to announce the awardees of this year's Dance Mini Grants, which aim to support folk dance activity in England.
These five recipients of the 2025/26 Dance Mini Grants will each receive £500 to help cover the costs of running a new folk dance project or to develop something new within an existing dance activity - making folk dance more accessible to a wider range of people with diverse backgrounds and needs.
Once again we received a high number of applications, with some wonderful ideas in the mix. And once again, it was a hard job selecting just five successful applications. These are:
Crank Dance – Devon
Crank is a lively, experimental folk collective inspired by English and international traditions - from English and Celtic to Balkan, Nordic, Klezmer and further afield, their focus is participatory music and dance, creating inclusive, intergenerational events. Their grant will fund an Equinox Ball in March 2026, making it more accessible and expanding its artistic scope by introducing electronic elements alongside traditional instruments, supported by lighting effects. They will also build a maypole for future events.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567035033344
The National Youth Folk Troupe of England (NYFTE)
The National Youth Folk Troupe of England (NYFTE) perform the whole range of traditional dance, and are going to be developing their garland dancing. The grant will allow them to access expert tuition from outside the team to explore the tradition, and replace their garlands. They will put together new dances for the NYFTE repertoire, and share them with the wider public at performances and festival workshops for years to come.
Magnetic North East – North East
Magnetic North East is an organisation based in the North East, seeking to promote the traditional music, song, dance and crafts of the North East of England. They will be producing online instructional videos in clog dance, specifically targeted at developing an inclusive approach for individuals with reduced mobility, chronic illness, and/or physical disabilities.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MagneticNE
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magneticnortheast/
Poppy Bastin’s Maypole Dancers – Hampshire
Poppy will be running a free after-school Maypole Dance Club for children at Wootey Infant and Junior Schools in Alton, East Hampshire. The children will learn traditional maypole dances and perform at local events. Poppy trained at the Royal Ballet School and has been running maypole sessions with Alton Maypole Dancers, after learning from Mike Ruff at Cecil Sharp House in 2019.
Folk Factory Dance – Sheffield
Based in Sheffield, Folk Factory offers a youth programme dedicated to exploring folk tunes, folk songs and folk dance from around the world in a fun, accessible and creative way. To mark their 10th anniversary they will be holding a day-long festival, celebrating Sheffield’s youth folk scene. Folk Factory 10 Youth Festival will be a weekend of workshops, ceilidhs, dance-outs and performances, all produced by their young people.
