PoPMoves was founded in 2008 by a small group of dance scholar-practitioners committed to exploring the interrelationships between popular music, dance, and culture. From its beginnings, PoPMoves positioned popular dance as a vital site of cultural knowledge, social exchange, and creative innovation rather than a peripheral or informal practice. By 2010, the organisation’s focus sharpened towards popular dance research, and by 2015 PoPMoves developed into a recognised grassroots, scholarly network with interconnected, globally affiliated groups.
PoPMoves operates through a node-based structure that enables local specificity alongside international exchange. This structure allows the organisation to grow organically while maintaining strong relational ties across regions and disciplines. The UK node sits at the heart of this ecology, engaging directly with particular challenges and opportunities of the UK arts and research landscape while remaining connected to a global community of practitioners and scholars. This application relates specifically to a UK-led initiative, designed to strengthen the popular dance ecosystem within the UK through collaboration, mentorship, and knowledge exchange that is informed—but not constrained—by international perspectives.
Across its history, PoPMoves has been guided by 2 core questions that shape its vision and activity: How can popular dance histories, practices, and research reflect and transform society, ourselves, and the future? How does popular dance build community, and what do popular dance communities need in order to thrive? These queries underpin PoPMoves’ commitment to dance forms that are often produced by marginalised communities and largely understood as social, vernacular, street, folk, or commercialised practices—forms that are widely visible in mass culture yet frequently undervalued within formal funding, research, and institutional frameworks. Our structural evolution reflects our guiding values of working collaboratively, embracing a DIY ethos of creative resourcefulness, learning by doing, and embracing community knowledge-sharing. Because we are intentionally non-hierarchical, our node structure enables mentorship and leadership to emerge in multiple directions rather than through fixed top-down models. Finally, we are committed to inclusivity, accessibility, and equity. The organisation foregrounds anti-racist, decolonial, anti-elitist, and service-oriented practices, actively honouring cultural lineages and those who have shaped popular dance histories and futures.
In response to both internal reflection and external pressures, particularly COVID precarity, PoPMoves evolved in scale and organisational approach. The organisation established a peer mentoring committee that launched an online global salon series, creating space for practitioners and researchers to share emerging ideas, creative work, and methodological questions. These salons revealed both the appetite for and the absence of structured support systems for popular dance practitioners navigating the overlapping worlds of research, practice, and professional sustainability.
In 2024, PoPMoves incorporated as a UK-registered Community Interest Company (CIC), further formalising its governance and capacity in response to a growing membership and expanding programme of activity. This moment also represented a shift towards more sustained, funded initiatives. In 2026, our group underwent a review of our mission, vision, values, ethical commitments and organizational structure.
Our Vision: To advocate for popular dance as a force for connection, cultural exchange, and social transformation.
Our Mission: PoP Moves amplifies the cultural and social significance of popular dance and dancers by fostering connections across communities, researchers, and movement practitioners. Through grassroots networks and inclusive initiatives, we create spaces for dialogue, collaboration, and transformative action. We challenge exclusionary systems to promote equity, accessibility, and sustainability while honoring the diverse legacies and future possibilities of popular dance.
PoP Moves is grounded in a set of guiding themes and ethical commitments. These principles inform our decision-making and shape how we operate, build relationships, and grow sustainably:
- Localization & Community Building: We aim to strengthen local and regional engagement through tailored events and partnerships that reflect the unique contexts of each community.
- Action Rooted in Care: We prioritize sustainable workloads, mutual support, and meaningful participation. Our organizational model emphasizes collective care over productivity for its own sake.
- Integration & Efficiency: We are committed to coordinating across committees and regional nodes to maximize impact, reduce redundancy, and increase transparency.
- Rolling Blackout Model for Sustainable Service: To prevent burnout while maintaining organizational momentum, we alternate cycles of active service and rest, distributing responsibilities equitably over time.
- Ethical and Inclusive Practices: We uphold ethical financial practices that prioritize accessibility and respect cultural and regional differences in communication, scheduling, and expectations. Our events and models are shaped by anti-capitalist and non-hierarchical values, including mutual aid, pay-it-forward options, and collective resource-sharing.
PoP Moves is committed to sustainable, equitable service practices that honor collective capacity and promote long-term participation. This structure is designed to distribute labor more evenly, prevent burnout, and center collective care.
- Flexible Pod Structure: Rather than rigid, continual committees, PoP Moves organizes its
operations into four “Action Pods”—small, rotating teams focused on key areas of organizational
activity. These pods emphasize flexibility, collaboration, and shared leadership. - Rolling Blackout Model: To avoid over extension, action pods operate on a rotating quarterly cycle, with designated rest periods to maintain overall organizational momentum.
- Coordinated Meeting Rhythm: To support transparency, reflection, and long-term planning, PoP Moves maintains a quarterly meeting schedule aligned with action pod activity and strategic planning goals.