East London Dance has announced a cash increase of 22.8% for the 2012-2015 period as part of Arts Council England’s national portfolio of funded organisations.

It will enable the organisation to invest in ambitious artistic development programme ahead of the 2012 games and develop our successful activity and provision in east London and beyond.

“We will be able to continue to make a dynamic contribution to a bespoke and diverse programme of dance performance and participation, including site specific and outdoor commissions and a strong dance participation programme for young and older people,” said Kiki Gale, artistic director of East London Dance in an announcement. “This decision is also a credit to the partnerships we have been able to establish in Stratford and beyond and we would like to thank all the artists, participants and partners who have worked with us to create this vibrant dancing community across east London.”

For the last five years East London Dance has run Dance Currents at Stratford Circus, a season of one-off performances and commissions, including annual shows Local International and Blueprint which have hip hop dance appearances. It is also a Big Dance hub.

However recent budget cuts meant projects such as Stylefest 2011 had to be cancelled, and Juste Debout UK 2011, orignally scheduled as part of the season, was moved to Camden Centre.

The Arts Council funding is expected to bolster the creative output and fund new projects for the next three year cycle.

She continued: “We look forward to continuing to develop these partnerships, and build new ones and as we approach 2012 we look forward to working to create a lasting legacy for culture in this unique part of London.”