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The
Department for Education and Skills’ Music and
Dance Scheme (MDS) has been supporting young dancers
attending one of the residential schools specialising
in ballet (The Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst School
for Dance, Arts Educational School Tring, and Hammond
School) since the 1970s. More recently it has been
benefiting more exceptionally talented young people
across England through developing a national network
of Centres for Advanced Training (CATs).
The
Bigger Picture
Before focusing on what the new CATs are, what they
aim to achieve and how they might be relevant to all
teachers of dance, it is helpful to see this initiative
in a wider context. In recent years, dance has been
enjoying increased popular and political attention.
Examples of the popularity of dance include the increase
in numbers of students taking dance at GCSE, the success
of Strictly Come Dancing, Big Dance, musicals and
television adverts featuring dance, and the growth
in attendances at performances and classes.
“I
just love it. I feel privileged to be able to work
with our teachers and choreographers who really care
for us.”
Dance
City Academy student
Political
interest in dance received a huge boost from the government
Select Committee for Culture Media and Sport’s
inquiry into dance development in 2004. Since then,
the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS)
has identified its priorities for dance and established
a Dance Forum to strengthen communication between
government and the dance sector, and a parliamentary
all-party dance committee has been established with
the support of Dance UK. A partnership between Arts
Council England and the Music and Dance Scheme led
to the establishment of Youth Dance England, which
has raised the profile of young people dancing and
forged stronger links with education, sport and arts
policy-makers. Andrew Adonis, Minister for Schools,
and David Lammy, Minister for Culture, jointly commissioned
Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House
to undertake a Dance Review, which is due to be published
with the government’s response in July 2007.
Dance UK worked with the National Campaign for the
Arts to produce the Dance Manifesto, demonstrating
that dance is organised, connected and articulate
about its big ambitions. Together, these developments
give credence to it being a good time for dance.
Centres
for Advanced Training
There are many opportunities for young people to dance,
but too often they remain disparate and confusing.
Pathways for progression between different kinds of
dance activities could be clearer, and more opportunities
for exceptionally talented young dancers are needed.
Centres
for Advanced Training (CATs) aim to begin addressing
these issues. Through a range of means they identify
young people, aged 11 to 18, with exceptional talent
in a range of dance forms. Initially there was a focus
on contemporary dance, and possibilities for South
Asian dance are currently being explored. The aim
is to better prepare young dancers for professional
training, and to improve the balance of gender and
cultural diversity among young dancers.
“The
Scheme is an excellent opportunity for all involved.
Quality of teaching has been outstanding, and most
important of all the classes are good fun and enjoyable.”
Yorkshire
Young Dancers parent
Following
open auditions, successful students develop individual
learning plans and the Department for Education and
Skills (DfES) offers means-tested grants to support
their advanced dance training.
All
the Centres provide physical training in more than
one dance form. Often students continue to train with
their own teachers, although not all students have
had previous training. In contemporary dance the CATs
are initiating provision for young people that has
never previously existed, despite its strong role
in the profession. Research, such as Laban’s
work looking at the physiological factors and the
psychological issues associated with dance training
is contributing to wider debate and will have an impact
across all forms of dance.
Each
Centre structures its programme differently, most
including some weekly activity complemented by intensive
holiday projects. Content includes working with professional
artists, creative and choreographic skills, performance
skills, musicality, and professional skills including
health and fitness. The ethos is about the whole person,
the thinking dancer, fostering creativity and artistry
and creating a safe environment for taking artistic
risks. Working with professional artists provides
role models and signposts students to the range of
choices that a dance career can offer, while regular
teachers provide continuity and often mentoring to
help young people navigate their way towards the career
of their choice.
Centres
are based with dance companies, national dance agencies
and professional training institutions, to integrate
the profession with dance education. Organisations
are invited to submit proposals to develop a CAT.
This is to ensure reasonable geographical spread,
leadership, track record and good facilities.
“Since
I started the CAT scheme I have learned a lot more
about how to express movement through your body. It
has been very exciting and I really enjoy it.”
Place
student
With
great wisdom, the MDS is facilitating regular network
meetings for the new Centres to share experience,
challenges, research and progress. Helen Laws, Dance
UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme Manager was
at a meeting in September and commented that: ‘Each
centre is passionate about achieving the best possible
training and experience for young dancers. Health
and fitness assessments and individual training plans
are enabling them to really take ownership of the
learning process. I had the feeling that the CAT leaders
are positively seizing the opportunity of having a
‘clean slate’, to look at the training
of dancers with fresh eyes, backed up by experience
and sound up-to-date information.’ This sense
of shared purpose, of excitement about learning and
discovering is shared by the CAT leaders themselves.
A Scheme that inspires and invigorates in this way
is special and really worth celebrating.
Eventually
CATs might cater for up to 1,500 young people across
the country. This is a tiny proportion of the whole
population, but it provides the missing link in opportunities
for the most talented young dancers. Currently, professional
schools often find students from other countries are
better prepared for full-time training, with too many
British students becoming injured in their first months
of training due to their lack of preparation and experience.
As
yet, only a small number of Centres are established,
although their leaders can already identify benefits.
Assis Carriero, DanceEast, talks about joining a partnership
of some of the finest training establishments across
the country and the fantastic generosity of the group;
a view echoed by other Centre leaders. Assis highlights
the scope for individuality, while Marie McCluskey,
Swindon Dance, values the emphasis on going out to
seek young talent, and in particular targeting boys,
a view also expressed by Pete Huggins from Dance City
in Newcastle. Lucy Field at The Place sees young people
flourish in an environment where their peers are exceptionally
talented, dedicated and enthused by their learning.
Selina McGonagle, form Yorkshire Young Dancers, sees
the CATs as providing the missing link between local
dance schools, youth dance and professional organisations,
enabling students to experience choreographic and
artistic projects.
“A
special mention must go to all the teachers who work
so hard with all the children, nurturing and developing
them individually to bring out the very best in them
– thank you.”
Yorkshire
Young Dancers parent
The
involvement of the Department of Education and Skills
brings benefits beyond funding, through raising the
profile of dance within local schools, education authorities
and Gifted and Talented initiatives. While the numbers
joining the Centres are small, many more young people
are involved in outreach projects and, by providing
a beacon of aspiration, Centres are raising sights
and ambitions across their areas.
As
a new initiative, the scheme is not without its challenges.
All of the CATs are questioning how to identify talent,
and increasingly recognising that personal qualities
are as important as physical aptitude or technical
proficiency. Students are often drawn from a wide
geographical area, making the logistics of time-tabling
and planning complex. Finding enough good dance space
adds to the complexity of the logistics. Even funding
is a challenge. While it is exciting to plan with
the expectation of funding, there is always more that
could be done. The costs of organising, researching
and developing programmes have to be met, and the
individual approach is both labour intensive and time
consuming. As grants are means tested, some talented
young people fall just beyond the limit but not far
enough for their families to be able to pay the full
cost of their training.
Relationship
with other dance teachers
CATs offer a challenge to dance teachers less used
to working with groups of highly talented young dancers,
and to the professional schools that their students
aspire to attend. As Viv Slayford of the Swindon Youth
Dance Academy asks: How do we nurture creative, thinking
dancers and still equip them with the tools to gain
entry to professional schools, and how do we equip
students to cope with full-time training and still
retain the creative, autonomous person within? These
challenges are good for dance, ones that many professional
schools relish and with which they are already grappling.
“Being
part of the Academy has given me the opportunity to
develop technically, mentally and individually as
a dancer. For me it has built up my confidence and
made me feel I can believe in myself. The experience
has been amazing and opened my eyes to the beginnings
of the dance world.”
Swindon
Youth Dance Academy student
A
further challenge is working with dance teachers in
the locality. Where students continue to train with
their own, home teachers, that may have to juggle
different demands on their time and commitment and,
on occasion, conflicting teaching styles. Sadly, a
few local dance teachers have seen CATs as a threat,
as ‘poaching’ their students rather than
signalling the excellence of their teaching and an
achievement to be celebrated.
Centres
are starting to work with their local dance teachers
to improve mutual understanding. A recent meeting
of Centres involved the Directors of the ISTD, BBO
and RAD, and identified a range of possible benefits
such as:
•
Offering an opportunity to which those rare exceptionally
talented young people can be directed
• Endorsement of the excellence and achievement
that young people can gain through dance
• Raised awareness of dance in the local area
• Employment opportunities for local dance teachers
• Professional development opportunities, for
example through sharing research, seeing performances
by, or observing the teaching of, talented young people
In
the longer term, the Centres want to be better understood
within their locality, and among local teachers and
professional schools. Several already need more space,
and would like more opportunities to develop talent
spotting programmes and to work more frequently with
professional artists and companies. Some CATs are
considering programmes specifically for disabled students,
others dream of bringing students from different Centres
together for national summer schools or performances.
Some see the value in developing optimum training
programmes or in students gaining some kind of qualification
from their involvement. Several are turning to international
models, to look at the structures and curricula that
appear to work effectively elsewhere.
CATs
have developed quietly over the last three years,
but they are already demonstrating their value and
their impact will benefit the future of dance and
dancers for years to come. For this, and for their
generosity in providing material for this article,
thanks are due to the leaders of the first pioneering
Centres for Advanced Training. On behalf of future
generations of young dancers, we wish them all possible
success.
“It
was inspirational to work with a group of such imaginative
and energetic young people.”
Head
of Graduate Programmes, The Place
Contacts
For
further information on the Music and Dance Scheme
visit www.dfes.gov.uk/mds
Jeanette
Siddall – jeanette_siddall@yahoo.co.uk
Yorkshire
Young Dancers
A partnership between Northern Ballet Theatre and
Northern School of Contemporary Dance, it has worked
with over 1,000 young people so far and has around
76 young dancers on its programme.
Contact
- Annemarie Donoghue at yyd@northernballettheatre.co.uk
or Selina McGonagle at yyd@nscd.ac.uk
London
Contemporary Dance School at The Place
Having auditioned 121 young people for this year it
currently has 43 on its programme, compared to 19
in its pilot year, 2004/05. Students have gone on
the School, and to Laban, Roehampton and Lewisham
College.
Contact
- Lucy Field at lucy.field@theplace.org.uk
Dance
City Academy
Hosted by Dance City, it has worked with almost 2,500
young people and currently has 78 young dancers on
its programme.
Contact
- Pete Huggins at pete.huggins@dancecity.co.uk
Swindon
Dance Academy
Hosted by Swindon Dance, it has worked with over 500
young people and has 55 on its programmes. Some students
from the first year have gone onto Laban, HND and
Swindon’s Foundation Dance Course.
Contact
-Viv Slayford at viv.slayford@btinternet.com
Laban
Laban has recruited its first cohort of 36 young people
for the launch of its programme in January 2007.
Contact
– Jessica Hemming at j.hemming@laban.org
DanceEast
Academy
Launching its programme when its new building opens
in Ipswich in September 2008.
Contact
- Lucy Hegarty at lucy.hegarty@danceeast.co.uk
Other
possibilities are in discussion currently in the East
and West Midlands, and in the longer term it is hoped
to extend the geographical reach of the Scheme.
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