Conclusion

I thought about summing up my experience at Yorkshire Dance in 3 words but I don’t think I can, though reading back through this blog I have used the word ‘inspiring’ a lot so maybe that would be a good place to start!

My placement has been inspiring though, and it has confirmed that community dance is something I’m passionate about and that I am so ready to graduate and get on with it! Yorkshire Dance as an organisation has also inspired me with how it spans across all sectors of dance and every aspect holds equal weighting. Everyone in the office was just so friendly and made me feel so welcome, probably a big reason why I don’t want to leave, I’m sure placements aren’t meant to be that fun! I am grateful to and owe a great big thank you to Yorkshire Dance for having me, especially Hannah for making my placement possible and for letting me follow her around Yorkshire! I also need to thank Laban for putting me in contact with Yorkshire Dance in the first place. I am leaving this placement so fired up and ‘inspired’ and ready to do my final assessments at Laban and get out there and get stuck into the dance community. Thank you Yorkshire Dance!

My last day

So today was my last day at Yorkshire Dance and I can’t believe how quickly it has gone! It’s been quite a whirlwind but I have loved every single minute of it. I don’t want to leave!

Today in the youth and community team it was all systems go for the set-up of Fresh. Unfortunately due to other commitments I cannot make the Fresh event itself, which I’m so upset about as it is sure to be an amazing day.  There will be such an array of youth groups coming together and performing for Fresh it is very exciting. There are groups from lots of different areas and backgrounds with different styles and it so great that there is an event like Fresh to facilitate the sharing of their practices – a bit like Sunday’s performance in Rotherham but on a larger more established scale I suppose. I'm sure it will inspire them all and hopefully also inspire the audience!

This evening was “Friday First – Going solo”. ‘Friday First’ is a performance that Yorkshire Dance's projects team put on the first Friday of the month. This month was a collection of solos from emerging artists. It was great, and I think Friday Firsts are somewhat of a hidden gem in Leeds big arts scene. It is so important for dance artists to have the opportunity to develop work and perform it to an audience and receive feedback and I think it’s wonderful that Yorkshire Dance provides the platform for them. Unfortunately it will be a while before I can make another Friday First but I will be there for the next one I can make without a doubt! 

Day 9

Today was just a quiet calm day in the office, which after the busy day yesterday was welcomed. There were lots more preparations to do for Fresh. Tomorrow we are spending the day in the theatre and setting up all the different spaces; both at West Yorkshire Playhouse and at Yorkshire Dance.

In the afternoon I was lucky enough to be asked by Wieke, the Artistic Director and CEO of Yorkshire Dance, to sit in on a meeting and take notes. The meeting is for a project looking into health and dance and it was so interesting to hear the planning for the project and the view points of the different people involved, having the artistic view and the academic view. I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to sit in on the meeting. 

Day 8

Today I went down to Sheffield with Hannah for the first 'The Dance Network, Sheffield' meeting. Sheffield as a city has pockets of dance happening in different areas and sectors but none of them link up regularly at the moment. 'The Dance Network, Sheffield' has come out of a professional dancer moving to the area and struggling to establish what dance is happening in the city and is passionate to connect all the dance practitioners. It was so great to see people coming together all wanting this to work and recognising the need for a dance network in their city. There were people from all different sectors represented, including people from theatres and the council. Coming from an area myself that has very little dance outside of the private sector and the theatre, I am really pleased to see people taking active steps in their community to solve this issue. It was inspiring to see.

After the meeting we went back to the office to continue work for Fresh. Only 3 days to go!
This week is the last week of term for Yorkshire Dance classes, which means all the classes have a 'sharing' where friends and family can come and watch to see what they have been doing that term. Tonight was the sharing of the 'Mind the Step' group, which is a weekly creative session for independent adults with learning disabilities. It was quite different to the classes I watched last Friday and they had learnt a dance for their sharing which was a collaboration of their creative work and the practitioners setting. It was a such a good class and the atmosphere was great, all the participants clearly love the class and it was such a lovely way to end the term. 

Day 7 - Tuesday

Today was an office based day. There was lots to do towards the set up of Fresh. It is so interesting to see all that goes into putting on an event like Fresh and how much planning it takes. I'm enjoying it so much. In the evening I went along to the adult contemporary classes at Yorkshire Dance. The first class was level D which is 'Dancer Level - for professionals, dance students and those with advanced ability'. It was such a good class, I enjoyed it so much and will definitely be attending regularly if I move up to Leeds. It was a class that really pushed the dancers technically but there were also creative elements in the class which was a nice balance. I then went to the class which is directly after it which was level B/C which means 'Beginner Level and Continuation Level - for people with a good basic level ability wanting to try a higher level'. It was a fun class again with creative elements and things broken down so people can pitch it at whichever level suits them best. I think Leeds is so lucky to have access to such high quality classes locally! 

Day 6 - Rotherham

Today I went to Rotherham with members of the Youth and Community team for the event 'Making Men'. It was a showcase event where different boys groups from Yorkshire came together. Yorkshire Dance currently has a boy's project running in Rotherham and today was an event that drew to a close  part of the project. There were 4 satellite groups that all performed as well as the Rotherham boys group that is a product of the project called ReBuzz. DAZL Diamonds and the CAT scheme boys were also invited down from Leeds to perform. It was a great evening and so inspiring. It is the first all male show that I have been involved with and it was such a huge success. Some men that work in the dance profession were also invited to speak about their experiences. The audience was mainly made up of family from the boys plus all the boys also watched each other, the audience was so supportive and the atmosphere by the end of the evening was amazing. During the day, after the tech rehearsals, all the boys came to have a workshop with De-Napoli Clarke. They all learnt a sequence which was then performed as the Finale for the show. It was lovely to see all the boys work together and was such a strong end to the show. It was an amazing day and such a successful event which really helped raise the profile of boys dance in Rotherham. Before the show I don't think all the parents had realised what the boys had been up to, but afterwards there were lots of very proud parents excited to sign them up for the Easter course. It was such an amazing and inspiring event and I was so happy that I could be there to help out and be part of it. 

Day 5 - Saturday

This morning I went to 'Saturday Superstars' to shadow their first couple of classes. As a ballet teacher myself I was very excited to see ballet taught in a community context. It was very different to what I am used to. I also watched the Parents and Tots class and a little of the street jazz class. There was such a great atmosphere the whole morning and it was great to see so many kids engaging in dance in it's many forms. Unfortunately I couldn't stay to see all of the Saturday morning classes as I had a mad dash over to Leeds Trinity.
As part of the Fresh event Sarah - a member of the Youth and Community team, has been arranging an event called re:Fresh. It was a partnerships with Radio Aire and was held at the Leeds Trinity Centre. It was promoted on the radio and groups between the age of 11-19 were invited to enter and perform on the stage area of Leeds Trinity. One group from the event would be selected to perform in the Foyer of the West Yorkshire Playhouse next Friday at the main Fresh event. There were also workshops taking place throughout the day with members of the public invited to join in and get involved. 're:Fresh' was a great success and the crowds it drew were amazing. Thousands of people will have had seen the event to varying degrees and there was so much interest in both Fresh and the classes that take place at Yorkshire Dance. 

Day 4

Today I spent most of the day with 'Leaps and Bounds'. Leaps and Bounds is project consisting of regular weekly creative dance classes for adults with learning disabilities. I joined in both the morning and the afternoon classes which were very different in their approach as each class is tailored to the group, it was great to be able to see both. The aim of the class is to raise body awareness and encourage creativity. The classes are so much fun and you can see some of them thriving on being able to express themselves through movement, it was amazing to see.
I also spent time in the office helping to prepare for the event at Leeds Trinity tomorrow. Finally before I went home I went to watch the Yorkshire Dance Youth Juniors class. It is more street dance based than the senior group, but they are very sweet and so enthusiastic and energetic. They were working on their piece they are performing in the Loft as part of Fresh, I was so impressed with how well they picked up corrections and retained choreography, they are a real credit to Yorkshire Dance. 

Day 3

Today was not quite as eventful as yesterday. I was based in the office all day but kept very busy in preparation for FRESH. I worked with Gail, who shares the role of Youth and Community Director with Hannah, on getting everything ready and organised for next week. I spent the day sorting out running orders and fire evacuation plans etc. for the show and workshops happening in the loft. It was a productive day and insightful to see how much planning and organisation has gone into the event, starting 6 + months ago.

Day 2

Today was a busy day! It started bright and early with a trip to Sheffield. I went with Hannah, who is one of the Youth and Community Dance Directors at Yorkshire Dance, to the South Yorkshire Hub meeting. It was really nice to see different people from the community, not just practitioners, come together and talk about community dance in their area and take active steps towards projects, objectives and goals.
From there it was somewhat of a mad dash to make it back to Leeds in time for the launch of; Leeds City of Dance. It was a great event showcasing all of the dance, in it's many forms, that goes on in Leeds. There really is so much going on and it was great to see people that are not aware of all that is happening in the dance world in Leeds being exposed to all that they do. The purpose of the launch was to show councillors what everyone is up to and to launch the website. http://cityofdance.co.uk/
After a rather busy but inspiring morning it was back to the office where we had a meeting about the upcoming event FRESH 2014. It was a meeting to sort out the logistics of the day and who will be doing what, where and when. There is the main show in the evening but there are also 2 other smaller showcases going on throughout the day, as well as workshops so there is lots to organise. It's a really exciting event and a great opportunity for 11-19 year olds in the region with 2 groups being selected on the night to represent the region at the National U.Dance Festival in June. I'm grateful that I can be here for the run up and be able to see all that is going into the event.
To finish off the day I went to watch the Yorkshire Dance Youth Seniors group. The group have been together for a couple years now and are a confident set that clearly love their dancing. I watched them rehearse their piece for FRESH, they have made it into the main show on the West Yorkshire Playhouse stage. It was great to see their energy and enthusiasm. 

First day

Hi I'm Eloise and over the next 2 weeks I will be on placement at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds.

I thought I would give a little background on myself first. I am currently training at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, studying for a Post-graduate Diploma in Community Dance. Alongside studying I also teach ballet at a private dance school.

During the two weeks I will be shadowing classes, attending different regional events around the county and getting an idea of the general workings and nuts and bolts of the organisation.

Today I was introduced to all staff and had my induction and tour of the building. I got to chat to a few different members of staff about their roles within the organisation which was really interesting and made me realise quite how much goes into making sure all the projects, from planning to evaluation, run smoothly and successfully. I was also able to sit in on a meeting discussing funding and future projects, it was fascinating listening to the brain storming and conception of a potential project. I was then set the task of researching published work about the topic of the potential project, something that was not as easy as it sounds as there is not a lot of published work on the subject.