Taking part in dance builds physical fitness, improves coordination, strength and flexibility. Dance exercises, creative games and thematic work build teamwork skills. Lifting, contact, partner work and unison dance help young people to practice vital life skills such as cooperation, trust and empathy. It can help in developing confidence and a sense of self-worth.
Dance sits between two sectors, sports and the arts, and can allow providers to make a real difference to their participants’ lives, through participation, performance and by allowing engagement as an audience member.
Dance residences aim to inspire children to be happy, healthy and socially engaged through dance providing fun, engaging and physically challenging dance sessions for all. At SMB Dance we firmly believe in the importance of using dance and creative movement as a form of exercise and creative expression.
We value the importance of delivery that is sustained over a longer period of time. Working with schools over a full term or school year allows meaningful engagement with school pupils and staff, building trust and relationships that ensure delivery is successful and high quality. Schools who commission us to work in this way, can benefit from having an additional member of staff for a full day a week who can deliver sessions across the school day.
As part of the residency, we value consulting with teaching staff at the start of the year or term to create a plan that is aligned with class topics, school aims and pupil needs.
Bring your curriculum to life through engaging dance sessions that can be devised and developed based on your school’s curriculum. From Literacy to Geography to Science the possibilities are endless.
Many schools now offer themed weeks within their curriculum, once you have chosen your theme, I can work with you to create a variety of workshops across Key Stages One and Two.
During half term, holiday camps can be provided to help schools support their community engagement. Camps can be open to both key stages offering fun dance workshops, engaging skills development and exciting games. Some schools may choose to hold a short performance at the end of the day for parents/guardians.
A popular curriculum topic for Years 1 & 2 has been Animals including humans/Living things and their habitats exploring animals characteristics and their habitats. Over the term pupils explore safari animals, polar animals, sea animals and humans (our bodies).
Key Stage 2 curriculum sessions have been aligned with a school’s Geography curriculum, to explore various countries traditional dance. Children learnt dance movements but also had to locate the country on a map, learn about it’s culture, it’s people and it’s traditional music.
After School clubs held for Key Stages 1 & 2 have explored various styles with Cheerleading, Contemporary Dance and Street Dance being the most popular choices. Schools have either booked a term or a full year with each term focusing on a different dance style.
As part of a school’s Health and Wellbeing Week a series of creative movement sessions, Moving from Head to Toes, were devised and delivered to Key Stage One children, their mission was to explore and describe the ways in which their bodies were able to move.
Key Stage Two children experienced many different dance styles, from Street to Contemporary to Ballroom over numerous weeks as part of Arts Award Discover- ‘Discovering Dance’. They watched and learnt dance movement from local dance artists as well as learning rep from professional performances. They created a research poster, designed a performance t-shirt and created a dance performance which they shared with parents/guardians. Every child successfully achieved Arts Award Discover.
Schools have had the opportunity to enter pupils into our IDTA Dance examination sessions. We have choreographed many Dance performances for School assemblies, School fairs, School competitions and festivals.
SMB have run extra-curricular dance clubs at Bexton for a number of years. During that time our pupils have had the opportunity to learn different dance styles including freestyle jazz, ballet and cheerleading.
Lauren is a very encouraging teacher and gets on well with all her pupils. The classes are popular with children returning each half term.
We have been using SMB Dance since 2017 to provide extra-curricular Ballet and Tap dancing sessions for children aged from five to eleven. All of the pupils have really enjoyed learning the various routines and the lessons have been very effective in raising the confidence levels of pupils.
The tutor, Lauren, has been very encouraging and has built up a strong rapport with the children who love being in her classes. Each lesson builds towards the various dance exams where children get the opportunity to demonstrate their level of understanding. We love being able to celebrate their success in assemblies by presenting them with certificates and rosettes gained through their dance exams.
Mobberley C of E Primary School
Damien Stenson
Headteacher
