Sadler’s Wells, The Lowry and Birmingham Hippodrome have formed a collaborative producing partnership, supported by funding from Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence fund, to develop and deliver an ambitious programme of high-quality large-scale dance.

The Movement is a dynamic partnership between three of the country’s leading dance venues. Through a two-year pilot initiative that has been awarded a grant of £749,948, the partners will aim to nurture dance talent and reach and develop new audiences for dance through a programme of work that will be co-produced by the three venues.

The Movement launches at Birmingham Hippodrome on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 May with Dance: Sampled, the first production to be presented under the auspices of the partnership, as part of the International Dance Festival Birmingham 2016. Dance: Sampled is inspired by the popular Sampled format first pioneered by Sadler’s Wells, which offers audiences a taster selection of different dance styles all in one programme. The production will then run for two nights at The Lowry in February 2017.

The line-up includes Company Wayne McGregor, Birmingham Royal Ballet, BBC Young Dancer finalist Vidya Patel, world tango champions German Cornejo and Gisela Galeassi from Buenos Aires, French hip hop companyPockemon Crew, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Faun.

Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells,said:We have been working with The Lowry and Birmingham Hippodrome for a number of years. I am delighted that we now have a great opportunity with The Movement to build on this relationship and work more closely to commission and stage ambitious dance together, helping to support talent and inspiring large audiences across the UK.”

Julia Fawcett OBE, Chief Executive of The Lowry, said: “We are delighted to have joined forces with Sadler’s Wells and Birmingham Hippodrome – whose passion and commitment to presenting the very best in contemporary dance mirrors that of The Lowry. We look forward to working closely with these prestigious institutions to encourage and commission exciting new productions for our audiences to enjoy.”

Fiona Allan, Artistic Director and Chief Executive at Birmingham Hippodrome, added: “Our investment in dance has always been very important to us, and our long-standing associations with Birmingham Royal Ballet, DanceXchange, Matthew Bourne and our award-winning International Dance Festival will be further enhanced through The Movement, an exciting new initiative. In Sadler’s Wells and The Lowry we have like-minded partners who share our commitment to growing new audiences together.”