Guest Blog: South West Dance Hub & Swift Dance Co
Published August 25, 2026
An inspirational place for dancers, movers, makers & artists to connect & collaborate.
South West Dance Hub (SWDH) was envisioned & created in September 2021, with support through Exeter Phoenix. The seed was initially sown in response to a growing need for an inspirational and nurturing space which would allow dance artists, movers & makers to share, learn, grow, support and be supported within our practices. Within this vision was the idea to create time & space for artists from other disciplines to connect & collaborate with dance & for dance makers to create with other artists. We have worked with film-makers, sound artists, musicians, visual artists, costume designers, writers & physical theatre, and we hope to continue developing these rich cross cultural collaborations.
Within two years we realised the need for an open hub space and a professional strand to support us in developing & performing works. Swift Dance Co was born as the dance company in residence at Exeter Phoenix. This has enabled us to continue creating professional work and supporting our core members whilst growing the hub, offering a creative playful space for all. Throughout each term we endeavour to open company class & invite local professionals to train with us.
Collaboration with filmmaker Jemma Cholawo
Earth Incantations, RAMM 2023 musician Ben Roberts
South West Dance Hub is now the umbrella organisation for Swift Dance Company and The Hub. If you love to move in a supportive creative space or would like to collaborate with dance, come and join us monthly on Fridays 12.30 to 2.30pm
Term dates for the monthly hub are listed here>>>
‘SWDH has totally changed my outlook on life. I feel more fulfilled in the place where I live, connecting with other artists and working towards creative projects.’ - Jane Berry, drama teacher and performer.
Community Engagement
We are passionate about community engagement. This has been a strand throughout previous works, yet we really delved deeply into this through our current project, Threads. Co-directors & Swift Co members Ruth Bell & Tamsin Evans spent two years engaging with their local working Woollen Mill at Coldharbour. Researching the heritage, recording sounds of the mill, learning the processes and filming within the mill. Connections from living within the community really allowed for engagement, through workshops within the local primary school & with the elders in Markers Housing.
Gathering stories from the elders through movement sessions created a rich tapestry inspiring the choreography and the sequences we took into the schools. Connecting the children to the elders through learning their hand gestures in relation to crafts and hearing their memories was very moving. We feel passionate about intergenerational work and the relationships which can arise from this, most importantly for people to realise their value within their own community. We were blown away when the elders agreed to join us in the performance. With the children we were able to explore heritage & textiles and bringing home the important messages of fast fashion and the global impact of choices made. This material from the community engagement was brought into the studio at Exeter Phoenix where we devised & created the choreography with Swift Dance Co. This culminated in a performance at the Mill this year.
To discover more about this project here>>>
‘What a lovely event and what a great project. I love the involvement of local people and their memories voices, the intergenerational piece with the children was very moving. Lots of original ideas and moments in the dance.’
Threads is coming to Exeter Phoenix on Mon 21 Sep at 7pm
Tickets are Pay What You Can £8 - £16 with £6 student tickets
Find out more and book your tickets here>>>