Our street crew TEMPO will take to the stage this April at the Riley Theatre as part of Making Moves, a new choreography and performance project run by Sadler’s Wells. 

Making Moves is a unique opportunity for young people from schools and youth groups across the UK to build their skills in creating, developing and showcasing their choreography. Each year in July, 48 school and youth dance groups are selected to take part in the project, for participants aged 11 – 18 (up to 24 years for d/Deaf or disabled young dancers). The selected groups work collaboratively with their group leaders and are also paired with an external artist, who creates a digital choreographic ‘toolkit’, to support the development of their piece.  

TEMPO’s paired artist is Kloé Dean, who specialises in hip hop, funk and street dance styles, creating work for theatre, film, TV, fashion and music artists such as Little Simz. Using Kloé’s toolkit and feedback, TEMPO’s brilliant lead artists Jemma Mae and Chris Banks have encouraged the dancers to delve into their own creative ideas; discussing themes, developing phrases and exploring new movement vocabulary. Their piece, ‘Silhouettes’, is about stepping out of the shadows, being bold and having the courage to take up space. 

TEMPO will showcase their finished piece at the regional platform on the 8th of April alongside other Leeds and Yorkshire-based groups who are part of Making Moves. The young people will take part in workshops, watch each other’s work and perform on a professional stage. Following the regional platforms, 8 groups will be invited to perform on Sadler’s Wells stage in July.  

“TEMPO are an incredibly talented and hard-working group of young people, and being part of Making Moves has given them the chance to challenge themselves, creatively and as a team, to try out new ideas and concepts. TEMPO are lucky to be supported by an incredible team of dance professionals, including lead artists Jemma Mae and Chris Banks, and we can’t wait to see the finished piece!”

– Ione Barton, Youth and Community Producer 

Image: TEMPO performing at Children & Their Grown Ups Encounters Festival, Oct 2023 © David Lindsay