The involvement of London Youth Dance in the 2006 London Youth Games was a catalyst for a growing partnership between dance and sport, explains Melanie Nix.
When London Youth Dance was invited to play a major role in the festive element of the finals weekend in the 29th year of the London Youth Games, 22 youth dance groups representing their home London Boroughs dominated the stage for nine hours each day, performing to an audience of young sporting competitors. The partnership also led to the production of a specially choreographed piece of dance for the opening ceremony. Two South London-based youth dance groups were invited to a day of workshops, and encouraged to put their usual dance vocabulary to one side and explore how new movement could be created. The participants used images of sportsmen in action as stimuli for choreographic exploration and they worked and rehearsed together to consolidate the ideas into a fully fledged piece worthy of the stage.
Buoyed by the sheer energy and creativity this new partnership brought to both the Games and the youth dance sector, the festival was expanded and 2007s 30th anniversary of the Games saw 54 youth and school dance groups performing a staggering 907 young people. The partnership has brought with it an increased incentive for young people, schools and youth groups to engage in high quality dance, and it provides a prestigious performance and networking platform on which to showcase work. Waltham Forest School Sports Partnership demonstrated this by running a competition within their family of schools, offering as the prize the opportunity to perform at the Games. In addition the application process has brought to the fore existing youth dance groups operating beneath the radar of London Youth Dance, and allowed them to be linked into a wider network of youth dance opportunities.
From a sports perspective dance has proven to be a valuable way of engaging teenage girls in regular physical activity, as well as removing their negative preconceptions about their own body image, increasing their sense of self empowerment, and challenging preconceptions about female participation in mainstream sports. The value of dance to the Games is recognised by John Hadley, working on Special Projects for the London Youth Games: London Youth Games engages 25,000 youngsters, 8,000 volunteers and over 30 sports from angling to weight lifting. We are in the business of promoting and increasing physical literacy in young people ethically. Dance is exploding as a means of expressing oneself as a young person and we are delighted to include dance within the
London Youth Games. And Charlotte Isaacs of Sport Action Zone has also endorsed the value of dance: For sports practitioners, dance has proven to be a great way to engage young people who ordinarily do not participate in main stream sports in a regular form of physical activity. However, it is recognised that dance is a creative artform, and by working in partnership with dance practitioners we are able to embrace and maintain that creative essence, as well as gain access to high quality dance instructors.
London Youth Dance is continuing to talk about ways to galvanise these relationships, and future projects with both Sport Action Zone and the London Youth Games are in the pipeline. With 2012 looming, dance wants to increase its synergy with the Cultural Olympiad and partnerships such as these provide the key to making these dreams a reality.
Melanie Nix is Project Manager for London Youth Dance.
e: melanie.nix@sadlerswells.com;
w: http://www.londondance.com/ londonyouthgames