Dame Darcey Bussell HEADER (FUTURA PT LIGHT 10PT / 90% K)
HAS A NEW WAY TO GET KIDS ACTIVE
I
t’s true, I basically want everyone to experience dance. The nice thing is that it does not have to be done at a high standard to get all the attributes and improve your wellbeing. Dance around the kitchen table, at a Silver Swans ballet class, socially, it doesn’t matter. Since returning from living in Sydney in 2012, I have been fortunate to have worked with the amazing team on Strictly, which was an extraordinary seven years, and I have also been involved with some wonderful dance charities and I enjoy that a lot. Amongst them is the Royal Academy of Dance and I am honoured to be president. 8
The RAD is the leading ballet syllabus in the world. This is something we should all be really proud of as young people receive about 20 million hours of ballet coaching from RAD teachers every year, worldwide. The RAD is something us in the South West are going to hear more about as they are just about to move into their brand-new headquarters in Wandsworth with seven beautiful studios. With the RAD celebrating its centenary this year, there is also going to be a exciting exhibition celebrating British dance at the V&A museum opening in May. One project that I spend a lot of my time on is Diverse Dance Mix (DDMIX) which
read more at darlingmagazine.co.uk spring 20
is a social enterprise that I founded. DDMIX’s aim is to have dance fitness as part of regular PE in as many schools as possible. We are up to 42, there are 24,000 schools in the UK so we have a lot of work to do! Dance fitness is the most wonderfully concentrated package of wellbeing for students of the 21st century. With current low levels of participation in physical activity, we clearly need more ways to engage and inspire our children to move. I‘m not saying we should replace team sports and athletics but it’s time to add other elements. As you know just as well as Photography Alexander Rhind
