Essentially Dance Kirklees

Essentially Dance Kirklees is a highly ambitious project which will involve hundreds of school children and older people in dancing across Kirklees.

The project centres on offering Ballroom and Latin American dance training to all schools and 50 community groups in Kirklees over the next two years.

Kirklees is unique in its approach to Essentially Dance as it is the only local authority to involve all its schools and is the first to involve older people and community groups in “Shall we Essentially Dance” - an extension to the initial school’s project.

South Crosland School is one of the first schools to be involved in the programme. Head teacher Carolyn Booth said, “The introduction of Essentially Dance at our school has added a whole new dimension...the enthusiasm and motivation of the two skilled teachers has rubbed off on the children and they attend the sessions displaying an eagerness to learn new steps and refine those taught earlier.”

Teachers have taken part in the training course to learn how to introduce the children to the four different dance styles – the Cha Cha Cha, the Waltz, the Quickstep and Jive as part of National Curriculum Physical Education. So far teachers from 60 schools have been learning the steps in a series of workshops which started in July 2009. The training contributes to the teacher’s continuous professional development and they have been inspired to incorporate Ballroom and Latin American dance into the curriculum as well as in after-school clubs.

Pupil Neave Ludlow commented, “I love Essentially Dance because it is an amazing opportunity for boys and girls to learn some great steps.”

Dr Judith Hooper, Director of Public Health for NHS Kirklees and Kirklees Council said “Essentially Dance Kirklees is a fantastic opportunity to give every child in participating schools the chance to learn a new life skill and gain the benefits of taking part in regular physical activity. The pilot schemes have shown a really positive impact on self-esteem, social skills and self-confidence which we hope we will see repeated in Kirklees.”

Dr Hooper continues “It’s an exciting programme which will also have huge health benefits for older people in communities who can come together and dance on a regular basis.”

Volunteers and staff from 20 community groups and voluntary organisations have so far taken part in the training programme to enable older people to enjoy Latin American and Ballroom style dancing.

The first “Shall we Essentially Dance” tea dance for older people proved to be a huge success with over 60 people attending. Throughout the afternoon most people joined in a dance and those that could not get up and dance had a jive along to the music in their seats.

Betty Gordon, a resident from Brooklands retirement home said, “I would describe the day as magical, just being able to have a waltz...it was great to see so many people joining in.”

The culmination of this year’s Essentially Dance programme will be ‘A Showcase of Essentially Dance Kirklees’ in Huddersfield in July hosted by Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova where school children and older people will demonstrate their dance skills.