IGNITE! Funded by Robbie Williams’ Give it Sum was our first cross-generation integrated dance project. It was supported by The Stoke-on-Trent College and Princes Trust Millennium Volunteers and Sally Rew (who at the time worked for ACE) commented that it was the best integrated project she had seen to date. An age range of 16 to 65 and of all abilities took part which culminated in a new dance work which was created & performed along-side professional dancers from FRONTLINEdance. Two paid trainee’s also joined the professional team for the project.
Author: frontline-admin
Local Network Fund Project – workshops for children and young people
This project contributed to the main focus for the year, and 340 children and young people directly benefited from it. The aim, which we achieved, was to ensure further development and consistency in delivering regular dance workshops, for a longer period of time to groups who were classed as ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘at risk’.
In total seven groups benefited from the project; Blackfriars Special School & Further Education Unit, 3 of C.E.D.A.R.S pupil referral units, which are for pupils who have been permanently or temporally excluded from school, The Play Council – Knutton & Cross Heath, and Chesterton Youth Club. This took the form of after school clubs, evening workshops and extra curriculum activity. The groups chose to perform in a number of different ways. This included performances in front of their peers, their own and at other schools and to family & friends. The project also created volunteer opportunities for disabled and non-disabled dancers and students to assist the workshop leaders in the workshops. This project was developed to create a contemporary dance film project (dance, music & film) between students from Blackfriars Special School & Cedars Pupil Referral Unit.
Black Country Dance Hub special school project
FRONTLINEdance were invited by The Black Country Dance Hub (BCDH) to deliver a dance performance project for Special Schools and SEN departments in Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton & Walsall. Our dance artists worked in 16 schools to create a short dance piece with the young dancers. We worked with a wide range of ages and disabilities, and film maker Matt Beckett from Rivera Films filmed the work: https://vimeo.com/99346497
<iframe src=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/99346497?h=60f0f13937&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allow=”autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/99346497″>Dance = Limitless Value</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/riverreafilms”>River Rea Films</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
For Schools, Colleges and Private Dance Schools
FRONTLINEdance offer training, advice and mentoring.
We can arrange bespoke training packages, to ensure the provision you deliver is right for those facilitating it and taking part in it. Please get in touch for further information.
This film below is an example of a bespoke project we did for the Black Country Dance Hub
TALENT SEARCH – We are always on the look out for dDDN children and young people who have a natural flare and love of dance! Do you know someone? Then please let them know about FRONTLINEdance and to get in touch with us.
Access Routes into Dance
Provision from the age of 5 into employment!
We run a range of different groups for JUNIOR | YOUTH | ADULT through our Breakthrou’dance Programme to ensure progression can be made and that everyone can continue dancing with us.
For those in our Breakthrou’dance programme with a natural flare and enthusiasm to progress further, and consider dance as a career, participants are encouraged to audition for our ATP.
We have many one-off performance projects, and we take our dancers to join in sessions and events with other organisations so they get a rich and diverse range of opportunities.
We provide additional support and training for those who want to become workshop creative enablers and co-leaders, administrators, event volunteers, choreographers, and more besides!
Advance Dance Training Programme- ATP
Welcoming New Participants – Register Today!
Launched in January 2024, our ATP pilot has now been developed into three cohorts. This ensures we meet the needs of both local and national d/DEAF, disabled and neurodivergent dancers.
We create individual learning plans to tailor make a programme of dance training relevant and fully accessible to each individual who is accessing it.
Therefore, if you identify as dDEAF, disabled, neurodivergent or have a long-term health condition, you can spend one to three days training with us. Training includes contemporary dance technique, choreography, improvisation, creativity, body conditioning / fitness, leadership skills, readiness for work / workplace etiquette, plus more besides! The programme’s methodology means personal development grows alongside skill and self-awareness. All students are encouraged to look through the social model of disability sense, thinking about what they need from others to ensure they can train and work with equity and enjoyment.
Some ATP dancers have learnt FRONTLINEdance performance work, and performed it to special schools, whilst others have completed their training and have been employed by us, or other companies. Two cohort members have been announced as new emerging dance performers with FRONTLINEdance, and have worked with us outside of the training programme as well as continue within it.
We work in partnership with local FE colleges, facilitating students EHCP’s who support their students to come and train with us, as well as providing in-house training for them. This is in addition to individuals attending via direct payments, self-funding and subsidies.
By providing the Advanced Training Programme we are removing barriers to:
- academic attainment
- lack of provision of weekly accessible dance technique
- health & chronic health conditions
For more information and to register for the course, please contact hello@frontlinedance.co.uk
Easy Fundraising
Sign up to Easy Fundraising – at no cost to you, and every time you shop online you will raise funds for FRONTLINEdance
Past fundraising:
Help us reach our target: A NEW ARTS FESTIVAL FOR STOKE-on-TRENT
We’re busy trying to fundraise for a new Disability Arts Festival that FRONTLINEdance will programme and lead, to take place in October 2019. It will have two strands: work made or performed by professional disabled artists, and bringing specially created art work and performances for hard to reach disabled communities (those who struggle with access, suitability, desire in attending).
We have already attracted some great partners, but would love for more to join us. If you are an organisation, venue, support group or charity who are wanting to support us, have your voice heard, or just want to take part then please get in touch rachael@frontlinedance.co.uk
Thanks to Appetite and Stoke-on-Trent City Council via their Community Arts Festival and Event Fund we’ve secured £3,000 so far. FRONTLINEdance are applying to grant giving bodies for the majority, but are looking at securing an addition £2,000 from other sources. This is to make sure our festival reaches PMLD groups: people with ‘Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties’ (PMLD) have complex learning needs. In addition to their severe learning difficulties, they may have other significant difficulties, such as physical disabilities, sensory impairment or a severe medical condition.
More info to follow, but you can make a donation to this exciting and special cause here: https://www.goldengiving.com/wall/frontlinedance
Alice
Find out what it’s like to be a member of Breakthrou’dance in a series of interviews with our Breakthrou’ community dancers and please contact us for more information. First up we hear from Alice who attends our Youth Group.
Why do you come to Breakthrou’dance?
I enjoy the dance routines and Rachael’s choreography. I love seeing my friends.
What is your favourite thing about it?
Seeing all my friends and getting together. I like learning new dance routines and like contemporary dance.
What type of things do you do?
We work as partners or in a group and do a warm up. We learn dances and sometimes do our own choreography.
How long have you been coming?
Two years
How would you describe it to others?
It’s great! It gets you going, it’s good fun and good exercise. It motivates you and you learn your style of dance.
Can you talk about how you feel when you perform?
It makes me happy. I feel comfortable performing in front of people and I find it enjoyable.
What have others said about your performances?
They say that naturally I’m a really good dancer.
Mike King
Mike King co-founded FRONTLINEdance alongside Rachael. He started dancing in the Yorkshire Dales back in the early 80’s but chose a career as an Outdoor Pursuits instructor and cave explorer. A climbing accident meant a big change. Now a wheelchair user, Mike re-evaluated his values and priorities. After a year of doing this, Mike attended a summer school with Candoco in which he loved, and shortly afterwards secured a Grant from Arts Council England for work shadowing the company. He later joined Candoco’s education team as an assistant.
During the summer residency Mike also met Rachael and shortly afterwards FRONTLINEdance began. During this time, Mike also enrolled on a PGCE at Aberystwyth to start a teaching career.
He later worked as a performer with Blue Eyed Soul on Frankenstein, directed by Liam Steel (formally DV8), Ariel projects with the Flying Piglets in New Zealand, an inclusive performance project with Scottish Dance Theatre, directed a show for Half Moon Young People’s Theatre and created a duet with Michal Popper.
Graeae Theatre in conjunction with London Metropolitan University offered Mike a place on their Missing Piece Project – an acting course with a mini- tour at the end. This led to a TIE piece with Graeae around East-End of London Schools. When that tour finished he combined working as a drama teacher in a secondary school and work with FRONTLINEdance.
Mike is currently a full time Drama teacher in a mainstream State Secondary in Kent delivering GCSE and A Level. When not working, Mike can usually be found on, in, or around water; Canoeing /Fishing / Swimming / Sailing.
Mike believes that FRONTLINEdance gave him the foundation – confidence / knowledge/ professional work ethic /artistic integrity to allow him to re-invent myself (find his true calling as a teacher).
Paul Henshall
Paul trained at Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre and works in Theatre, Radio and TV.
His TV credits include; Dr Dean West: Holby City, Paul Ball: I’m With Stupid, Michael Scant: A Thing Called Love, Ollie Beresford: Casualty, David Hobbs: Playing the Field, all for BBC. Prankster: Off Their Rockers – Blue Badge Special, ITV
Paul was the first disabled person in the country to gain a qualification in stage combat from the British Academy of Dramatic Combat, and in 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Staffordshire University for services to acting and the promotion of disabled actors.
Paul is also a trained and registered Hypnotist, specialising in confidence, stage fright and phobias, and also performs comedy stage hypnosis shows. Find out more at www.henshallhypnosis.com
Paul joined FRONTLINEdance as a trainee back in 2001 for our IGNITE! Project. He then joined the main cast for ‘A Table for One Please’ and danced for us on our INCLUSION education tours.
