Standards in community dance

I was recently invited to observe a dance lesson taking place as part of a community education programme. Although the artists knew I was coming, the dance tutor turned up to the session 20 minutes late, unprepared and without the correct music. The exercise changed three times in rapid succession before the tutor settled on the movement phrase to be taught; this was then shown to the class without any verbal cueing or description of the movement, and students were given no corrections (even of basic errors, such as starting the phrase on the wrong foot) or performance tips.

Much good work has been carried out in the past two decades in the area of community dance education. Organisations such as the Foundation for Community Dance and Dance UK are working to improve standards in community dance through professional development and knowledge-sharing, and the Professional Diploma in Community Dance offered by Laban provides training in the skills required to deliver high-quality dance education projects. Many venue and touring company education departments offer excellent work, with professional dance artists becoming ever-more aware of the needs of community participants. Sadly, however, the session I witnessed earlier this year was not unique in its weaknesses.

A particular problem seems to have arisen from the increasing popularity of urban dance forms, which many education departments now offer as part of their outreach programmes. Dance artists who have undergone no formal training themselves – typical in the case of hip-hop and street dancers – may be talented performers, but lack a model of dance training on which to draw when delivering their own sessions. It’s not uncommon to see an untrained dance teacher fail to “mirror” students when facing the class, leaving students confused as to which side of the body a movement is performed on; or asking students to simply copy a movement sequence without further explanation of the techniques involved.

The majority of dance artists working in the community do follow good practice and deliver well-planned, creative dance sessions that are not only fun but give the participants the satisfaction of learning and improving from one week to the next. It’s also clear that community participants of all ages enjoy and can benefit from recreational sessions in modern urban dance forms. But for students to benefit physically and personally from the work, participants need to be treated with respect and taught well. Even when sessions are free, recreational and community students deserve a teacher that turns up on time, with a clear lesson plan and structured tasks.

It’s common for community dance projects to work towards a performance or public sharing, which can be an enormous boost to participants’ confidence and self-esteem. But I’d argue that this is only really possible when the work has been delivered well and the participants have created something they can truly be proud of. I’ve been fortunate to witness a great many dance projects that are genuinely transformative, helping young people learn skills and feel better about their life chances. But a haphazard and confusing session, with no corrections and no advice on performing the work, is unlikely to achieve any of these positive outcomes. Community dance deserves better, and practitioners need to take the challenge of improving delivery on themselves.