“From 2005 to 2014, Dance Manchester held a biennial festival, Urban Moves International Dance Festival, that presented professional dance performances outdoors and in unusual spaces … However, funding changes over the past six years have disrupted that vision and trajectory and … the subsequent loss of [Arts Council England] funding announced in 2017, though devastating at first, has liberated us to pursue our own path. The future may remain insecure, but it allows excitement to build as we return to our vision to develop home-grown artists and audiences through a dance for placemaking approach.”