Reaching Out Through Dance

On Thursday 22^nd May Head of Dance, Beth Butler, and our Year 10 dancers, were delighted to support an exciting dance project with students from Ridgeway Primary School in Reading. The Leighton Park group visited Ridgeway to deliver a dance workshop teaching movement material and facilitating choreography of a whole-class dance. This initiative is part of our wider outreach and partnerships programme supporting pupils in local schools with fewer advantages. The programme also includes literacy support in schools, termly sports festivals and maths masterclasses using materials from the Royal Institution.

Beth commented, “It is always a pleasure to work with students from younger years in a primary setting. Primary teachers have to cover so many subjects so it is good to be able to provide specialised subject knowledge including dance technique and choreography. It can also develop a primary teacher’s confidence in delivering dance to their students. For the younger students it can be exciting to have a dance specialist visit the school and provide a dance lesson outside of their normal day to day experience. Having connection with younger students can help promote an interest in dance whilst developing their physical literacy, freedom of expression and their ability to communicate with others and an audience.

For primary students, working with secondary students provides peer inspiration. The dancers act as role models for the younger years, inspiring them to take risks and be challenged. They can experiment with movement material in a supportive and encouraging environment. For our Leighton Park students it helps to develop their leadership skills being able to communicate with confidence.”