• Share on Facebook
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by email
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by email

Cheryl Butler offers a local perspective on what makes dance provision work for young people, whether theyre on their way to the top or are simply dancing for health and enjoyment.

The key to successful dance provision for young people lies in partnerships between the education system, the community and local authorities. In Hampshire we have wanted to create a progressive pathway for young dancers and a strong infrastructure and network in the region that sustains the development of dance and, of course, to address the question of where regional dance should go in the future. Dance development needs to be embedded in an area and grow up and out of the community. I feel this is vital to success. A bedrock of work undertaken with schools, colleges and local community creates a positive atmosphere, enabling dance performance and creativity to flourish.

There are literally thousands of young people now involved in dance here, through opportunities at schools, through classes or via youth dance groups. For many it is simply a fun activity that encourages creativity, fitness and obvious social benefits. However, this approach can also lead to a region producing many young dancers of promise who may choose to make dance a career as practitioner or performer. So how do you encourage this to come about? I believe that a number of factors are important.

Crucial in our case has been the ongoing commitment from local authorities to fund projects and dance programmes and to support a countywide regional dance agency. Such a dance agency is needed in order to give quality support and development and to provide an over-arching framework for the region. Also crucial is investment to provide such essentials as a purpose-built dance theatre and studio space for home-grown youth dance companies, for professional dance classes, plus the all important research and development time for dance artists.

For me, investment in dance and dancers should also be linked to strong audience development, residency and education programmes. This, I think, is absolutely essential. Dance thrives where it has an established place on school and college timetables, when it can be studied at GCSE, A/AS and degree level. A model of this kind will, in turn, lead to a sophisticated audience who are prepared to take risks. If you were to ask me what shape dance progression takes Id say it was like a wheel all the experience, sharing and working together builds a reputation for excellence in dance, which, in turn, provides more opportunities for artists and practitioners, and for your community.

Cheryl Butler is Head of Arts and Tourism at Eastleigh Borough Council. She will be speaking at Moving Forward, Hampshires first regional youth dance conference, to be held at The Point Centre of Excellence for Dance, Eastleigh. For more information contact www.hampshiredance.org.uk/movingforward, or contact the Dance Office at The Point:
t: 023 8062 7815; e: kim.knight@eastleigh.gov.uk