Making sure young people get what they deserve!
Image by Ros Chesher
This week some of the young people who attend TIN Arts programmes will be in London performing at Sadler’s Wells East as part of YFX, a two-week festival celebrating young dancers, makers and movers from across the UK.
TINeke, a talent development programme for disabled and non-disabled dancers aged 17-25yrs, will take part inMaking Moves, a choreography and performance project for schools and youth groups taking place across England, run by Sadler’s Wells.
Frantic, an open contemporary class for young people aged 11+, will feature as part of the U.Dance National Festival, which draws together groups from across the UK to share work created and to connect through an extensive workshop programme.
Both groups created pieces to present in the North East rounds of regional qualifying for the two opportunities and were both equally delighted to be selected to present their work in London. Their selection is a great testament to the talent and ability of all of the young people involved.
Supporting and enabling young people of all ages to be ambitious and create great art is extremely important to TIN Arts. The future of dance is in the hands of young people and we feel it is crucial that all young people are equally supported to express themselves freely and be given the platform to celebrate their abilities.
And it doesn’t happen by accident. As a team at TIN Arts, we dedicate time and energy to ensure all of our activities are inclusive and accessible to all. This is a multi-layered approach with a lot of planning and consulting with our participants and their families and at the heart of this work is the key mission of identifying, reducing and removing barriers to enable participation.
Whether this is through the inclusive practice we have worked hard to develop and apply in the studio space or how young people can access free classes as part of our Young People’s Support Fund, a large amount of the responsibility is on us at TIN Arts to put in the hard graft and break down the barriers to make it as easy as possible for all young people to take part and excel in dance.
Recently, TIN Arts worked with national partners to support a critical piece of research looking at the barriers to progression and employment in dance for disabled people. You can find out more our partners and the research here: https://www.beyondbarriersindance.info/
The findings identified seven important themes that will help support disabled people to have sustainable, long-lasting dance careers. In the research, these are called the 7Cs. Whilst the research is focused on progression in dance for older dance artists, the findings echo key themes and principles that we often consider when thinking about making dance inclusive with young people.
For us, one of the 7C’s – CARE, reflects the approach required to ensure any dance engagement offer is flexible, adaptable and informed by the young people themselves. As an organisation we are willing to listen and be open to new ideas as young people can offer so much learning as experts and help us to embed the access required and meet their needs.
The research also describes how dance often operates within ableist working practices which do not support disabled people’s needs. At TIN Arts, our CULTURE (another C in the research) is one that values the talents of disabled and non-disabled people equally.
There is no separation for us. All who attend our programmes are supported as talented dance artists with a right to express and communicate through dance and all are offered the same platform to present their work regionally, nationally and internationally.
And all this enables CONFIDENCE, which is also highlighted as one of the 7 Cs in the research. Young people can develop confidence and resilience when they can be their authentic selves and when others show belief in them and their work. Arguably Confidence then leads to greater creative risk and the creation of high-quality dance that is engaging, dynamic, enthralling and empowering.
The selection of two different pieces to feature at the same venue within days of each other is an amazing accomplishment by dancers from TINeke and Frantic. Of course, there are dance practitioners and choreographers involved in the process who also deserve much credit but it is the young people who put their heart and soul into everything they do and are getting exactly what they deserve – their time in the spotlight on a national stage! Bravo!
