Professor Dominic Shellard MA PhD was commissioned by the Arts Council England to study the economic and social impacts of theatre in the UK. He has published two reports, which can be downloaded from the Arts Council website, one published in 2004 which analyses the economic impact of theatre and one published in 2006 which examines the social impacts.

The economic study includes some dance, as the study was conducted by collecting financial imformation from as many performing arts venues as possible. Many venues include dance in their programme, especially regional venues. However, dance specific, London-based venues such as Sadler's Wells were not included.

The economic study shows that the contribution of theatre to the UK economic in the year 2003/04 was £2.6 billion, with the west end contributing over £1 billion.

Although this study is not dance focussed, the model that Professor Shellard uses is elegant and straightforward. As such, both the model and technique potentially could be replicated for a study examining the economic impacts of dance specifically.

You can download reports made by ACE on their website www.artscouncil.org.uk