6 minute read
Preparing to Perform
Laura Nicholson, Head of Children and Young People’s Dance, on successfully developing a measured return to performance in secondary education.
Laura Nicholson
Photo: Dani Bower for One Dance UK
At One Dance UK we are lucky enough to regularly witness the magic and energy of children and young people taking part in dance performances. Our flagship U.Dance National Festival, which brings together young people from across the UK to perform, celebrate and learn about dance in a vibrant weekend each year, is nothing short of electric. We hear from participants about the ‘buzz’ and sense of euphoria they achieve from performing. There is something about the energy, creativity, and sheer passion in young people’s dance work that - for me – elevates it even beyond professional work!
During this most turbulent of years, we have heard repeatedly from our dance teacher colleagues working in secondary education about how much they miss working towards dance shows, festivals and productions – highlights on the academic calendar for the whole school community. For those teachers with students enrolled on a dance qualification at Key Stage 4 or 5 or who aspire to study dance at the next stage of their education, there may be a worry that they are not meeting the criteria or reaching their potential.
As we look towards a return to the studio and face-to-face learning, the desire to work towards shows and events and to help students to ‘catch up’ on performance skills will understandably be strong. Effective planning and taking our time, however, are critical tools for a gradual and safe return to performance for our students.
Physical or technical skills
A notable impact of the turbulence of the last year is the reduction in fitness levels and physical activity across society. Data from Sport England’s Active Lives Children Survey Coronavirus Report [1] tells us that during summer 2020, when compared to the year before, there was a 2.3% drop in the number of students taking part in the recommended daily hour of physical activity each day and a 1.9% increase in the number of children considered to be the ‘least active’, taking part in less than 30 minutes of daily physical activity.
When working towards a return to the studio and (eventually) the stage, it is likely that students will not have the same levels of stamina they had prepandemic. In some young dancers, this may cause frustration. Coupled with the excitement of returning to classes and rehearsals there may be a temptation to go “full out” and do too much too soon.
Drishti Dance perform at U.Dance National Festival 2018, Ipswich
Photo: Brian Slater
Lesson and rehearsal planning should include effective sequencing of activities to respect students’ stamina levels and to include training that goes beyond the often ‘stop/start’ nature of dance classes. Longer periods of inactivity may also have impacted students’ posture. Use of imagery – such as imagining a piece of string gently pulling the top of the head towards the ceiling - is a simple and powerful tool to help students focus on improving their posture. If learning remotely, with cameras on, students can easily check a partner’s posture and when returning to the studio, mirrors (if you are lucky enough to have them) will help students to monitor their own.
Lesson planning should also focus on safe development of flexibility. Time away from training, coupled with the fact that flexibility fluctuates anyway in pubescent young people as their bodies develop, may lead to frustration for students. Further resources on developing fitness in dancers can be found on One Dance UK’s website [2] .
Even when a gradual return to face-to-face teaching is possible, a hybrid model with some remote learning taking place may be around for a while yet. This provides an opportunity to set specific exercises at home that focus on physical skills or to signpost students to the wealth of online technique classes led by professional artists and companies. Suggestions can be found in One Dance UK’s Remote Learning Pack [3] .
Expressive or interpretive skills
A well-rounded young performer also requires effective expressive or interpretive dance skills, such as projection, musicality, and sensitivity to other dancers in order to effectively communicate the mood and meaning of the dance to an audience.
These key skills are assessed in Key Stage 4 and 5 dance qualifications.
Working remotely in dance significantly diminishes the opportunity to make human connections directly between dancer and audience member. Dancers are tasked with communicating choreographic intent and drawing the audience into the dance, connecting with them, and making dance more than just a series of movements. This is certainly a challenge when your ‘audience’ is the other side of a screen – and even more so in some cases, when students do not have cameras on.
Using verbal cues and imagery can support our young learners to capture the mood, meaning and expression of a dance movement, transcending beyond the simple mechanics. “Lift your arm” may produce a very different response, for example, to “Float your arm up gently as though it is weightless”. Students might benefit from opportunities to rehearse those expressive qualities as discrete skills. Choreographing the use of focus explicitly into taught routines and gradually increasing the size of the performance space and changes of direction/orientation are both ways of helping students return to form.
The difficulties of using music for dance classes delivered via Zoom and other platforms are well documented! The gradual return to the studio provides opportunity for students to engage with a wide range of pieces of music, including those they may not ordinarily choose to listen or dance to, exploring their musicality through distinctive styles, cultures, moods and tempos.
Dope Male Performance Company perform at U.Dance National Festival 2019, London
Photo: Brian Slater
Rehearsing and performing
Dance is an inherently sociable activity, requiring physical, emotional, and creative connections with other people. Socialising is a skill that needs practice. Dancing in a group will take time to readjust to, as will the feeling of being exposed that can come with performing to an audience. As our students reacclimatise, remember that ‘performance’ can be low-key, through activities like sharing work-in-progress with a classmate.
A supportive performance environment can be established by giving clear parameters on what is expected of the audience and how feedback to performers is provided. Students may take longer to retain movement material accurately and this should be factored into lesson planning and the pace of delivery, allowing additional time for consolidation. Teaching students to use strategies like mental rehearsal can avoid the fatigue of physically repeating movements.
To motivate your students, consider opportunities for public performance - as a presentation to another class, in a school assembly or in the wider community. This should be a high-quality, positive, and enriching experience. They should feel proud to perform and have a sense of ‘ownership’ over the piece, perhaps contributing to the choreographic process or at least having a sense of investment in the dance content. One Dance UK’s U.Dance network [4] provides opportunities to perform at local, regional and national level.
With its many documented positive benefits for physical and mental wellbeing, and the sheer sense of joy it can bring, there has never been a better time to get the UK’s young people experiencing the power of dance!
1 Sport England’s Active Lives Children Survey Coronavirus Report: bit.ly/ActiveLivesReport
2 One Dance UK Fitness and Strength Resources: bit.ly/FitnessResources
3 One Dance UK Remote Learning Pack: bit.ly/ODUKRemoteLearning
4 U.Dance network: udancedigital.org/about
