Tag: Step into Dance

Step LIVE!

Step Into Dance LogoEighteen youth dance groups from mainstream and SEN secondary schools across London have been selected to perform at Sadler’s Wells in London’s biggest celebration of youth dance, taking place on 5 July.

Step LIVE! is the end of year showcase from Step into Dance, the UK’s largest inclusive secondary school dance programme. The event will feature over 350 young performers, who all receive specialist dance education thanks to the Step into Dance programme – a partnership between the Royal Academy of Dance and The Jack Petchey Foundation. The event is the culmination of a year of hard work and a fantastic opportunity for young dancers on such a large stage.

From a pilot of 28 schools, the Step programme is now a fully inclusive programme delivered in 200 schools and available in 32 London boroughs and Essex, including Special Educational Needs schools and Pupil Referral Units. Step into Dance is unique in offering sustained training (of up to 2 hours per week) and performance opportunities throughout the academic year.

Following a series of nine London-wide Borough Events, groups who showed the most promise and talent were invited to auditions across the capital. Lambeth Academy were one of the groups to impress with an energetic street piece choreographed by their Step into Dance teacher, Kevin Young. The group from Lambeth, who performed outside a local supermarket to raise money for costumes, will join seventeen other school groups from the Step into Dance programme performing at Step LIVE! 2014. Also performing will be the three Step into Dance Youth Companies, showcasing the very best of the programme’s promising young talent.

Tickets to Step LIVE! 2014 are now on sale at www.sadlerswells.com or via the Box Office on 0844 412 4300.

Step LIVE! 2013

Step Into Dance 2013Step into Dance, a partnership between the Jack Petchey Foundation and the Royal Academy of Dance, will be hosting Step LIVE! 2013 on Sunday 14 July, marking the return of the unmissable annual flagship event of Step’s school community dance programme.

Step LIVE! 2013 will transform the foyer of Sadler’s Wells into a hive of activity from 4.30pm, with free events with something for everybody to enjoy including dance battles, pop up dances, videos and films. Whether you are a budding breaker or a popping pro, the afternoon looks set to be bursting with energy and phenomenal dancing. The show on the main stage will follow at 6.30pm, with over 400 talented young dancers from schools in 32 London Boroughs and Essex coming together to celebrate their love of dance in this diverse and inclusive evening.

Step into Dance is the biggest ongoing inclusive dance initiative in London and Essex, with 200 participating State Secondary Schools. With Step LIVE! as Step’s annual flagship celebration of youth dance just one of the many events and workshops Step initiates, it is a celebration of all the Step into Dance team do for young dancers across the capital,

Tickets: £8 (some with restricted view) £10, or £15 with 20% discount for groups (8 or more) in the stalls, making the event perfect for schools who are interested in taking part in the Step into Dance scheme.

School groups of 5+ can book tickets in the second circle for £8 per person. For this offer, please book over the phone or in person (not online). For school groups of over 10 students you will receive one free ticket for the accompanying staff member.

The Next Step Into Dance Courses

Step Into Dance LogoStep into Dance, the partnership between the Royal Academy of Dance and The Jack Petchey Foundation has revealed its next set of teacher training courses for budding teachers eager to build on their existing jazz pant range and step out in their urban dancewear. The Step into Dance programme is running a number of different courses, all of which are suitable for dance teachers, Special Educational Needs professionals, arts practitioners, support and youth workers and PE teachers.

The first, an Introduction to Inclusive Dance Practice, is a practical day full of ideas and advice for leading and assisting inclusive dance in school and community settings on Monday 7 January 2013 at the RAD Headquarters. A course of this type provides teachers with a wealth of dance knowledge, be they from ballet, tap or jazz shoe discipline.

Next up, an Inclusive Dance Course is four practical days full of ideas and advice for leading and assisting inclusive dance in school and community settings on numerous dates: 18 November will incorporate teaching technique and differentiation, 20 January 2013 for developing groups as young leaders, working with support staff and safe practice, 10 March 2013 for groups with specific needs and 16 June 2013 as an inclusive session with young people, developing the group as dance-makers.  The dates can be completed individually or as a block of four.

In addition to the above is a one day course entitled ‘Banish the fear! Unravelling the choreographic process’ on 18 November as a teacher training course to help teachers get to grips with choreography, top up their knowledge and gain fresh ideas for the year ahead in areas such as choosing music, choreographic tasks, developing structures and creating pieces. Another course available is ‘Street Dance – get your head around the styles’ as a one day intensive workshop that will take teachers through the world of street dance in breaking down common misconceptions, the history and context of each style, foundation techniques and future training opportunities.

Image courtesy of Step into Dance.

Step into Dance’s Musical Theatre Company

Step into Dance, a partnership programme between the Royal Academy of Dance and The Jack Petchey Foundation, are holding auditions on Sunday 7 October to recruit students into their exciting new Musical Theatre Company. Students in the company will be able to meet other like-minded, talented young people and also perform at prestigious venues across London.

Step into Dance is a fully inclusive community dance which currently runs in 187 secondary schools over 32 London Boroughs and Essex. The programme offers weekly extra-curricular dance lessons to students who would not otherwise have access to quality dance, jazz shoes, or flared dance trousers.  From a pilot of 28 schools, it is now a fully inclusive programme delivered in 187 schools, including Special Educational Needs schools and Pupil Referral Units. Step into Dance is the biggest secondary school dance programme in the UK, unique in offering and performance opportunities throughout the academic year. Each of the 187 schools engaged in the programme pay an annual fee, contributing to the running costs of the programme.

Step into Dance, through its extended programme such as Watch this Step, Step into Battle, the Step Borough Events and its showcase end of the year event, Step LIVE! Step into Dance is responsible for creating over 20 unique, inclusive performance opportunities each year. The events develop the participants’ creative experience, showcasing Step into Dance to a wider audience.

The new Musical Theatre Company, complete with top hats and New Yorkers, will be lead by Sonny Ward as teacher and choreographer. Ward trained at Millennium Performing Arts and with the National Youth Theatre, with his choreography credits including West Ham FC Dancers at Upton Park, Dance Expressions at Sadler’s Wells, Christmas Cabaret for MD2000, Flashmobs for Walkers Crisps and Littlewoods Christmas TV Adverts 2011. Ward also teaches at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and is Co-Director of Eaton Ward Agency, having trained young students that have gone on to perform in Matilda, Billy Elliot and The Lion King.

Image courtesy of Step into Dance.