We are delighted to be expanding our work with young people with a disability or autism through our partnerships with three Yorkshire based schools.

Talent Hubs Schools is a two year programme providing high quality, inclusive, creative dance for young people with disabilities or autism across Yorkshire as well as vital CPD training for dance artists in the region.

We are working in three different areas of Yorkshire (Leeds, Sheffield and Scunthorpe) with specialist inclusive learning centres or schools. Across these three centres we are working with over 45 young people and are supporting 6 regional dance artists to enhance their dance facilitation skills in supporting young people with a disabilities, autism or both. In doing this we are providing new opportunities for young people to access quality dance provision in the region.

In September 2018 we began working with West Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre (West SILC) in Leeds with whom we already had a strong relationship. Earlier this year we also started working with Paces Sheffield and St Hugh’s in Scunthorpe who got in contact with us following a careers event for young people with disabilities which Sarah Lyon (Youth and Community Manager) attended.

In each school we are delivering weekly creative dance sessions which are run by a cohort of brilliant professional dance artists:

• Charlie Armitage
• Hayley Graham
• Charlotte Jones
• Emily Snow
• Laura Fuller
• Jo Baker

The eventual aim is to create some great new choreography that can be performed within the schools and also to the public.

The focus on CPD for the dance artists is also crucial to the project. We have been working with TC Howard and Amy Manancourt, who have delivered CDP sessions and provided time for reflection in the form of ‘artist reflective practice days’.

Charlie Armitage (participating dance artist) had this to say about the CPD element of the project:

“[Talent Hub Schools is] one of the nicest CPD’s I’ve ever done and I’ve done quite a few. TC [Howard] delivered a gorgeous session for us to move together and build the sense of team. It has brought a great bunch of creatives together. We have had real time as a team to explore and plan together and develop our experience of working with young people with learning disabilities and autism”

Talent Hub Schools is supported by the Arts Council Ambition for Excellence Fund awarded to the Talent Hub, a ground breaking project supporting people with learning disabilities and autism to progress into the dance sector, delivered in partnership with TIN Arts and Inclusion North. We hope schools will sustain some of this exciting dance activity after the funding for this programme comes to an end in July 2020, giving ongoing support to the young people and artists of the Talent Hub.