Salute for grant in aid of dancers
WEST Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper has welcomed the Arts Council’s funding support for the Parbold-based ‘Swati Dance Company’.
This Arts Council has announced that £64.8m has been awarded to 7,484 creative practitioners and 2,182 independent organisations as part of its Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund.
These grants have been made possible through their existing funding from Government and the National Lottery.
In West Lancashire £2,500 has been awarded to a single creative practitioner and £18,000 has been awarded to the Swati Dance Company.
Swati is a south Asian dance company based in Parbold, which teaches and tours dance based on the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam.
Announced in March, the Arts Council’s Emergency Response Fund has been designed to help alleviate the immediate pressures faced by artists, creative practitioners, museums, and libraries over the summer – supporting them as they continue to serve their communities during the crisis and affording them the time to stabilise and plan for the future.
Ms Cooper welcomed the investment, commenting: “We are well aware of the significant impact the pandemic has had on the arts so I very much welcome the investment and support being provided by the Arts Council through the Emergency
Response Fund. I am delighted that West Lancashire’s Swati Dance Company is just one of the recipients and hope it will support them to continue teaching, training and touring their dance.”
Artistic director Swati Raut added: “Exciting times for Swati Dance Company.
We are very delighted that our Arts Council National Lottery Projects Grant for Organisational Development has been successful.
“A huge thank-you to the Arts Council and Anita Srivastava.
We have come a long way since 2010 and there is still a long way to go.
“We kept dancing through Covid-19, keeping communities especially youngsters engaged.”