YOUNG DANCERS
“My son came to one of your dance sessions and before he came he was really complaining about having to go, saying he didn’t like dancing – that it wasn’t his thing, so I had to try and convince him to give it a go. And then when he came back home after the session he was buzzing – he’d had a great time – absolutely loved it”
Claudette Roberts – local resident
Waingate Dances have been working with Old Town Primary School since 2018.
Dance is a great thing for young people because it’s all about cooperation, problem solving, and developing confidence in your own body, and about coordination and observation and listening, and so many things that are useful and important in a child’s development.
It’s also healthy, great fun and engages with the energy and imagination of children in multiple ways.
We have spent time with the children creating something together which their parents come to see when they pick them up, and so it’s also a great way to bring new people into the building.
And the children begin to develop a relationship with Wainsgate, and to see it as somewhere that they belong.
The work we do with children at Wainsgate is an essential part of the long term sustainability of the whole project. We want local children to grow up, and see Wainsgate as theirs, and as an important part of their community.
The children have benefited from visiting artists like Katy Hewison who has worked with children from the school in her wonderful Improplay project and from George Fellows and the equally excellent FourHands Dance Company who have also worked with the children and performed their work to them
We will continue to develop and grow our work with the school over the coming years helping to nurture and encourage creativity and inclusion from an early age.