‘It’s OK to be me’

Since 2013, the engagement team at Scottish Ballet has been dancing with young people who have faced adversity in childhood, and families who live with neurological conditions. The ethos behind our pioneering dance health programmes is to place the individual and their lived experience at the heart of collaborative design, tackling societal challenges in health and community wellbeing through dance. 

We encourage participants to be creative and ambitious for themselves and their community. We involve families and focus groups in our programme and evaluation designs, and we use ongoing feedback to refine our programme models. In this way, every iteration of our programmes is unique to the community dancing with us.

A broader health initiative

Safe to Be Me® was developed with primary schools and is now widening its scope to include secondaries as well. Since launching in 2019, it has engaged with over 5,400 young people across Scotland. It is an integral part of Scottish Ballet’s health initiative, SB Health.  through our SB Health programmes, we have developed a unique approach to working with communities. 

We have grown a team of highly skilled artists who can respond to challenging situations - this was instrumental in the development of our Safe to Be Me® performance and workshop programme that celebrates diversity and confronts themes of racism, gender identity, family diversity and differently abled bodies. 

Crucially, Safe to Be Me® came about as a very personal response from members of the engagement team to challenge racism, homophobia, ablism and transphobia. We shared a desire to create a space for young people to feel safe in their own skin, to explore identity topics together and to know “it’s ok to be me”, as one pupil so beautifully put it. 

Why is it needed?

At the beginning, an important driver was the lack of visible support from the national performing companies for LGBTQ+ children in remote areas across Scotland. We had the space to shine a light. 

Back then, I thought our work on anti-racism was well underway. I now know we were only at the beginning - not just in terms of Safe to Be Me® but across Scottish Ballet and the wider dance sector. 
   
At the same time, we were becoming aware of findings on bullying in Scotland. Research conducted by respectme revealed that ‘30% of children and young people surveyed reported that they have experienced some sort of bullying between the start of school in August 2013 and June 2014’. 

A separate survey completed by 1,281 pupils across 31 local authorities in Scotland (commissioned by Equality and Human Rights Commission research) indicated that ‘almost one in four pupils were aware of other pupils experiencing specifically prejudice-based bullying’. 

A later report by LGBT Youth Scotland suggested ‘71% of LGBT young people experienced bullying in school on the grounds of being LGBT. This is a rise from 69% in 2012 and 60% in 2007’.

How does it work?

Each participating Safe to Be Me® primary class receives a half-day dance skill-up session followed by a full-day workshop and performance. The full-day workshop starts with a trio performed by Scottish Ballet’s engagement team dance artists. 

This is usually the first time many Primary 6 pupils (aged 9/10) have interacted with dance as a form of expression. They might have taken part in dance as a form of physical exercise, but they probably haven’t been asked to look for meaning in movement. 

We created the Safe to Be Me® performance especially for this age group. There are clear moments in the performance to get them thinking about relationships, power dynamics, gender, inclusive behaviour and the labels we accept and reject. 

After exploring the themes contained in the dance, pupils create their own performance to share with peers and family. 

“You can be who you want to be without hiding it”

We want Safe to Be Me® to be a catalyst for further conversation in the classroom. And teachers repeatedly tell us it is very valuable to their practice. Some primary schools have gone on to create their own anti-bullying campaigns, inclusive events and pupil voice groups to keep conversations going. 

As one teacher commented: “Primary 6 was a great stage to take part in this workshop as they are exploring these issues in class, so it has brought all this together.” And another: “I think the pupils will be more open to discussions that may affect them, be more open to being able to fully express themselves in our setting and the wider community.”

Scottish Ballet’s commitment to safeguarding 

Underpinning the programme, Scottish Ballet engages with a range of specialist trainers and advisors who provide up to date guidance on language and content suitable for young people. One is example is training with the Proud Trust on transgender awareness.

It reviews its safeguarding policies annually which involves providing training to all staff and dancers from an in-house team, who themselves meet monthly. And the engagement team receive self-care and wellness support before the programme starts and throughout the tour, provided by specialists including those with lived experience of racism. All Scottish Ballet staff are encouraged to access the company’s free one-to-one counselling services.

Catherine Cassidy is Director of Engagement at Scottish Ballet.
 www.scottishballet.co.uk
@scottishballet | @cecassidy

View Scottish Ballet’s Safe to Be Me® film.

Safe to Be Me@ has been generously supported by abrdn for three years. 
The Gannochy Trust is supporting a pilot programme for secondary schools in Perth.