Dance TeamQuarter 1April - June 2013
SCLschoolof
salfordcommunityleisure.co.uk/sport
Salford Community Sport is part of Salford Community Leisure (SCL), which is responsible for the provision and management of sport, leisure and cultural services in the city. SCL manage a wide variety of facilities across the 8 neighbourhood areas within the city, including sport and leisure facilities, community centres, libraries (plus 2 books @ home libraries), museums and community use high schools.
SCL’s vision is ‘Everyone Active’ and all SCL employees work towards achieving this vision.
Welcometo the 1st quarterly report for 2013 for Salford Community Leisure’s Dance Team
My name is Louise Seddon and I am responsible for the provision and delivery of dance across the city.I am responsible for the following members of staff:
• Hannah Jackson
• Faye Hollowfield
• Jade Munro
• Aimi Coote
• Rachel Edge
• Astrid Gansler
• Heather Norton
• Rosemary Hollowfield (volunteer)
• Neil Cooper (volunteer)
salfordcommunityleisure.co.uk/sport
The aim of this quarterly report is to highlight the work that has taken place during during April, May and June within the Dance Team and demonstrate how Salford Community Leisure is performing.
Dance Development Officer:
Lousie Seddon
t: 07851 423414e: [email protected]
Introduction
Quarter 1 (April - June 2013) has been a very successful quarter, some key highlights include:
• A trip to the stage in partnership with The Lowry.
• The Dance Team worked in partnership with MAPAS on a performing arts course held at
Moorside High School.
• The Freestyle competitors travelled to a number of competitions
• The Dance Team ran their first internal street dance competition.
• A Ballet and Tap presentation evening was held at Walkden Legion
• SCL’s street crews attended a street competition in Flixton.
• The Dance Team ran an Active Ability workshop for pre-school children with addition and
complex needs.
• Three new classes were launched at Guild Hall Community Centre; Freestyle,
Showstoppers and Contemporary.
• The SCL School of Dance showcase took place at The Lowry Theatre.
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General Dance sessions
Attendances at community dance
sessions: 1644
Since performing for friends and family at the
presentation evening earlier in the year,
young people attending community sessions
have been working hard to choreograph and
prepare a routine for the first annual internal
street dance competition. Each group had to
prepare one team routine to be entered in the
crew section of the competition as well as
solo/duo routines for individual dancers. The
standard of routines wowed the judge (a
professional independent adjudicator who is a
champion dancer and multiple winner of the
International Dance Teachers Association
Medallist of the year) who was impressed by
the skill, style and enthusiasm of all dancers.
The event did not focus on winning, but on
participation and having fun. Every student
received a certificate for taking part and
awards were given throughout the day for
students who showed support and team spirit.
Since the internal competition, teachers and
students have been busy perfecting a second
class routine ready for the 9th annual SCL
community showcase held at The Lowry on
the 7th July 2013. The teachers have
commented on how the students have grown
in confidence over the past few months and
are looking forward to what promises to be
the best showcase yet.
As well as perfecting two routines each of the
groups have had a big input in designing their
costumes for the showcase. The students
have each made a small contribution towards
costumes allowing the Dance Team to
provide outfits for most groups.
The Dance Team run competitive street
dance crews on Wednesday evenings. These
classes are taken to compete 3 or 4 times a
year in open street dance competitions. A
number of talented students have been
invited to be part of these crews and have
achieved some exciting results at the
competitions. The Dance Team plan to
continue to develop the skills and confidence
of its young students and hope to discover
lots more talent in the future.
SCL School of Dance
Attendances at School of Dance sessions: 3077 Attendances at School of Dance events: 799 The SCL School of Dance continues to go
from strength to strength. Once again there
has been an increase in attendances during
this quarter and as a result 3 new classes
have started at Guild Hall Community Centre.
On the 3rd of May 2013 the Ballet and Tap
students performed to a packed out audience
at the Walkden Legion. Parents were amazed
by the technique of the young performers as
they showcased what they had recently been
examined in. After the performers were
presented with their awards, students and
parents danced the night away to celebrate
all of their hard work and fantastic exam
results.
After the presentation evening all groups
began working hard on their show work as
the Dance Team held the first SCL School of
Dance showcase at The Lowry on the 23rd
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June 2013. This was the first time the dance
school performed completely independent of
any other groups and it was a huge success.
The Dance Team have been inundated with
praise and the feedback from the show was
fantastic. 4 weeks prior to the showcase all of
the young people attended 3 hour rehearsals
at the dance school to prepare for the show,
every aspect of the showcase was as
professional as possible and it showed in the
end result. Working towards the showcase
has given the young dancers an insight into
what it is like to be part of a company and the
opportunity to perform on a prestigious stage
such as The Lowry. Students have gained
knowledge, improved skills, worked on
performance technique and grown in
confidence. The show was so successful the
next show planned for July 2015 has been
brought forward to November 2014.
Students of the dance school are now
working on their exam pieces in Ballet, Tap
and Freestyle. Exams are scheduled for
November 2013 and March 2014.
The SCL School of Dance has recently
branched out in two new styles. On Thursday
13th June 2013 the dance school launched 3
new classes. The new under 10’s Freestyle
class will increase the number of students the
dance school can accommodate and also
allow those that cannot attend on a Saturday
to take part. The Showstoppers class has
been a huge success with 18 students in
attendance on the first week. The class is a
fusion of song, dance and musical theatre
and will allow SCL School of Dance to
produce a more ‘rounded’ performer in the
future. The Dance Team have also started a
Contemporary class after a number of
enquiries, with the aim to be able to explore
and expand this dance style in the future.
School programme
Attendances at schools sessions: 813
The Dance Team currently run 5 school
dance clubs either after school or during
lunch time. All of the group were invited to
take part in the SCL internal street dance
competition in April and a few of the students
received awards for their performances.
The groups have since been working very
hard on two showpieces each as they will be
taking part in the annual schools competition
at The Lowry on the 7th July 2013. Each
group will choose one routine to be entered in
the schools competition during act 1 and the
other will be showcased during act 2. This
event is usually the one all students look
forward to; in many cases it will be the young
peoples only opportunity to perform on a
stage such as The Lowry, and the parents
look forward to watching the event all year.
The courage and confidence the students
gain is invaluable and it also teaches them to
work as a team and support one another.
Year 6 students will be leaving the clubs as
they start their new adventure in high school
but in most cases they chose to attend one of
the community street dance sessions to
continue their dancing.
“My daughter thoroughly enjoys
dancing and wishes she could do
it every day”
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Competitions
Attendances at competitions: 551
As the standard of the Freestyle competitors
has improved, so has the standard of the
competitions they attend. The Freestyle
competitors now attend at least two
competitions a month and regularly gain
exceptional results. They are now at the
same level as all private schools and often
compete against the best schools in the
country.
One of the key highlights this quarter was one
of the students becoming the dance schools
first champion dancer. The champion section
is the highest level you can compete in, so
this is a huge achievement; the young person
had only been competing for 12 months so
has done fantastically well to gain that status
in such a short space of time. At each
Freestyle competition attended SCL always
have an array of finalists all achieving
fantastic results and more often than not win
some of the sections entered. The Dance
Team are extremely proud of the Freestyle
branch of the dance school and how far they
have come.
The competitive street classes have also
attended 50% more competitions this quarter.
The street crews have also been achieving
top results and winning trophies. A particular
strong point has been the Quads – in both
competitions coming first. The Dance Team
are very excited by the recent successes of
the street dance crews and are keen to
develop and expand in the future.
On 21st April 2013 the Dance Team ran its
first internal street dancing competition. The
event was held at Fit City Eccles and gave all
community groups the opportunity to take part
in a competition. The focus was not on
winning but rather taking part and supporting
one another. Over 200 people purchased
tickets with over 100 of them taking part. The
event was judged by a professional dancer
who was very impressed with all the young
people involved, saying it was hard to believe
they only danced in school clubs or
community sessions. The day was a huge
confidence booster for everyone involved and
sparked a lot of interest for the competition
street classes. Those that made the finals
were awarded medals and trophies and
everyone that took part was given a certificate
of participation. The Dance Team are looking
forward to a similar event next year.
Holiday programme
Attendances at holiday sessions: 63
The Dance Team have been involved in
some exciting holiday sessions this quarter.
During the Easter holidays the Dance Team
ran another successful trip to the stage in
partnership with The Lowry. Over 30 young
people attended workshops, received a visit
from the Director and enjoyed an amazing
performance of Sleeping Beauty on Ice in the
afternoon.
The Dance Team also ran a 3 day performing
arts course in partnership with Salford Music
and Performing Arts Service from the 3rd to
the 5th April 2013. The course gave both
novice and accomplished musicians and
performers the opportunity to learn dance
routines, try their hand at song writing and
experience a variety of musical instruments.
During the Whit holidays, the Dance Team
ran a team building day for some of the
Freestyle competitors. Young people
attended stamina and stretch followed by a
gymnastic workshop at Fit City Ordsall before
watching the latest dance film at The Lowry
Outlet.
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Case Study
Name of sessions: Ballet, Tap & Freestyle at the SCL School of Dance
This participant started dancing in one of the Dance Teams’ community sessions in Walkden.
After enjoying the sessions she came to the SCL School of Dance to further her dancing skills
and progress to the next level. She excelled in the Ballet, Tap and Freestyle sessions and was
quickly moved up into the advanced classes. After just a few months she was invited to the
Freestyle competition classes on a Friday evening. She attended her first competition in May
2012 and by May 2013 had won countless trophies and titles. She now dances in the
championship section for slow (the highest grade possible) and has recently qualified for Disco
Kid – the most prestigious competition in UK Freestyle. The Dance Team has watched her
grow in confidence as well as talent and are sure she will continue to flourish.
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Forthcoming Events / Activities in Quarter 2 2013-14
• The community dance showcase at The Lowry (7th July 2013)
• The SCL Salford schools competition at The Lowry (7th July 2013)
• DKKQ Qualifier Freestyle competition (7th July 2013)
• Active Ability workshops at Springwood (9th July 2013)
• Ballet, Tap and Freestyle workshops at the Dance School (27th July – 10th August 2013)
• Gym workshop and team building day (29th July 2013)
• Street dance camp at Boothstown Community Centre (30th July – 2nd August 2013)
• Young Dance Leader Award course at Walkden High (6th – 9th August 2013)
• Gym workshop and team building day (12th August 2013)
• Freestyle competition in Leigh (15th September 2013)
• Street dance competition at Flixton (22nd September 2013)
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