Ashley Banjo Launches Dance Bursary to Boost Next Gen Movers and Shakers

Ashley Banjo, a well-known dancer and member of the group Diversity, is supporting a new bursary program designed to help 20 people pursue careers in professional dance. Ashley believes that starting out as a dancer is much harder now than when he began his journey. He says the world has changed a lot, and it is more difficult for new dance groups to get noticed because of higher costs and fewer opportunities. Diversity, the street dance group Ashley leads, was formed in 2007 with 11 members from London and Essex. They became famous after winning Britain's Got Talent in 2009, beating singer Susan Boyle in the final. Ashley, who is now 37, worries that the next big dance group might not get discovered because it is more expensive to train and perform. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of working dancers and choreographers has dropped by a third since 2019. Ashley grew up in Wickford, Essex, and says he was lucky because his parents owned a dance school in Dagenham, East London. This gave him a place to practice and learn, and his parents always supported him. He says he was not thinking about being a pioneer or doing something new; he just enjoyed dancing and having fun. Ashley believes that Diversity's success was partly because they were in the right place at the right time. Back then, people would wait for music videos to be released, but now there is so much content online that it is harder to stand out. He says that today, creating special moments is more difficult because people's attention spans are shorter and there is so much competition. Ashley also points out that building a presence on social media can be expensive. If you have the money and time to keep making content and funding projects, you can become more popular. But not everyone has those resources. He says that when Diversity started, they could focus all their energy on their ideas and take their time to be creative. Now, dancers might have to do many things at once and work faster, which could affect their creativity.

Other performers are also struggling because of the rising cost of living. Hannah Kiss, a singer from Stanford-le-Hope, says she has had to get a regular job in addition to performing. In the industry, these are called 'muggle jobs. ' Hannah has been singing in bars, clubs, and pubs since she was 18, but she says her pay has not increased since then. Now in her 30s, she still earns the same amount as when she started. Some of her colleagues cannot afford to go to rehearsals because travel costs, like petrol and train fares, are too high. Ashley says that getting funding is a big barrier for people who want to work in the arts, especially those from certain backgrounds or areas. He feels sad that some talented people might not get a chance because they cannot afford to follow their dreams.

This week, Ashley became an ambassador for The Julia Rausing Sky Arts Bursaries, a program that will support 20 dance-makers with funding, mentoring, and professional development. He hopes the program will help these dancers be more creative and maybe even start the next big dance group like Diversity. People over 18 whose creative work is based in dance and movement can apply for the program until September 9. Ashley wants to give more people the chance to dance and succeed, no matter where they come from. If you have a story about dance in Essex, the news team wants to hear from you. You can also follow Essex news on social media for more updates about dance and other local stories.