Following an exciting FRESH 2019 showcase, which saw over 300 young dancers take to the professional stage, Yorkshire Dance has been working behind the scenes with youth dance leaders to explore the impact of youth dance through a series of regional workshops.

The ‘Impact of Youth Dance’ workshops encouraged 2-way practical exchange and discussion amongst the attending youth dance practioners and culminated with a final presentation of the findings from the ‘Dance for health, well-being and empowerment of young people’ ¬– research undertaken in 2017 with Yorkshire Dance’s Youth Company. This research, conducted in partnership with the University of Leeds, investigated the impact of participation in creative dance sessions on young people living in deprived communities in Leeds. The aim of the workshops was to share the learnings taken from this research with youth dance leaders and practitioners throughout the region.

‘The Impact of Youth Dance’ workshops took place in 4 locations across Yorkshire and the Humber; in Leeds at Yorkshire Dance, Barnsley at The Civic, York in partnership with York Dance Space and Scunthorpe as part of a youth dance showcase at Baths Hall. In total the 4 workshops were attended by over 35 youth dance artists. The presentation itself, including its findings, references, statistics and quotes, will be available for wider dissemination.

Participants described the workshop as “an enriching experience to be a part of” and “a really great day that made [them] think about how [they] could approach planning and delivery in the future”. Participants were able to share practice and expertise with each other and these discussions were described by many practitioners as being the most useful or enjoyable aspect of the workshop.
Participants said it was “encouraging to see more statistical data on dance projects and its benefits” as data-based evidence is a really valuable dance advocacy tool for practitioners.

Thanks to the Arts Council England funding used for the research project itself, Yorkshire Dance was able to run the workshops free of charge and provide a small number of travel bursaries, making the workshops more accessible for practitioners across the region.