Diversity's Ashley Banjo backing bursary for dancers
Diversity dance troupe member Ashley Banjo is supporting a new bursary program to help 20 aspiring dancers overcome rising living costs. Banjo notes that the current economic climate makes it significantly harder for new talent to enter the industry compared to when his group started.
Why it matters
Addresses the impact of economic inflation on the arts and the necessity of financial support for emerging creative talent.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Henry Godfrey-Evans Essex BBC The Diversity star is supporting a bursary programme for 20 individuals in professional dancing Ashley Banjo MBE said it could have been more difficult if his dance group Diversity were starting out today due to the way the world had changed.
In 2007, the street dance troupe was formed with 11 members from London and Essex, before winning ITV's Britain's Got Talent two years later.
The 37-year-old, who worries that the next big dance group could be missed due to rising living costs and reduced opportunities, has backed a programme to support 20 individuals in professional dancing.
It came as the number of working dancers and choreographers has been cut by a third since 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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