Own Your Seat in the South East’s new home for dance!

As Strictly Fever grips the nation, now’s your chance to impress the judges by sponsoring a seat at Brighton & Hove’s new dance house.

Whoever you’re rooting for this Saturday, South East Dance is offering you the chance to become a Strictly South East Dance star by sponsoring a seat in its £6.6 million dance house, The Dance Space.

Elena and Fiona of MyCharleston. Image: Jessica Milberg.

Launched last week – with the help of dancers representing all styles from Charleston to Street to Hula – South East Dance’s #OwnYourSeat campaign invites individuals and businesses to sponsor one of the 108 auditorium seats in its state-of-the-art performance space.

For a donation of £450 – which can be spread over six instalments - sponsors can name the seat, gift or dedicate it to a loved one, and even embellish it with their favourite quote.

Amongst the first to pledge is Dick Knight, Life President of Brighton & Hove Albion, who led the epic campaign for the Seagulls’ iconic new home, The Amex Stadium, who says: ‘Every great cityneeds a stadium, and every great city needs a place to dance – that’s why I’m putting my name to a seat at The Dance Space.’

Andrew Whitlaw, Head of Development at South East Dance says: ‘The Dance Space will be the place to get closer to dance in the south east, a place for everyone to have a go at a class or workshop, and to watch world class professional performances.

‘Our performance space sits at the heart of The Dance Space, and although we can’t promise yousequins, fake tans or even a glitterball trophy, by sponsoring one our seats you’ll become a part ofthe fabric of this amazing building.’

The Dance Space is on course to open in Summer 2020, when it will be the first new publicly funded arts building to open in Sussex in over a decade.

The seat sponsorship campaign is part of South East Dance’s ongoing fundraising push which has to date raised over 90% of the total £6.6 million needed to create The Dance Space to the highest possible specifications.

‘We truly hope that this exciting initiative will allow us to achieve that goal,’ says Whitlaw.

Located in the heart of Brighton’s new Circus Street development, next door to the University of Brighton’s Grand Parade campus, The Dance Space will feature three state-of-the-art studios, one of which converts into the double height performance space, and an entire floor of rentable office space for the creative industries.

A year-round programme of classes, community projects, performances and micro festivals will offer the city a space to have a go at dance. Professional dance companies, choreographers and artists will create and perform there too.

To find out more about sponsoring a seat in The Dance Space, contact Andrew Whitlaw at

hello@southeastdance.org.uk or call 01273 696844