Day 5 - Saturday

This morning I went to 'Saturday Superstars' to shadow their first couple of classes. As a ballet teacher myself I was very excited to see ballet taught in a community context. It was very different to what I am used to. I also watched the Parents and Tots class and a little of the street jazz class. There was such a great atmosphere the whole morning and it was great to see so many kids engaging in dance in it's many forms. Unfortunately I couldn't stay to see all of the Saturday morning classes as I had a mad dash over to Leeds Trinity.
As part of the Fresh event Sarah - a member of the Youth and Community team, has been arranging an event called re:Fresh. It was a partnerships with Radio Aire and was held at the Leeds Trinity Centre. It was promoted on the radio and groups between the age of 11-19 were invited to enter and perform on the stage area of Leeds Trinity. One group from the event would be selected to perform in the Foyer of the West Yorkshire Playhouse next Friday at the main Fresh event. There were also workshops taking place throughout the day with members of the public invited to join in and get involved. 're:Fresh' was a great success and the crowds it drew were amazing. Thousands of people will have had seen the event to varying degrees and there was so much interest in both Fresh and the classes that take place at Yorkshire Dance. 

Day 4

Today I spent most of the day with 'Leaps and Bounds'. Leaps and Bounds is project consisting of regular weekly creative dance classes for adults with learning disabilities. I joined in both the morning and the afternoon classes which were very different in their approach as each class is tailored to the group, it was great to be able to see both. The aim of the class is to raise body awareness and encourage creativity. The classes are so much fun and you can see some of them thriving on being able to express themselves through movement, it was amazing to see.
I also spent time in the office helping to prepare for the event at Leeds Trinity tomorrow. Finally before I went home I went to watch the Yorkshire Dance Youth Juniors class. It is more street dance based than the senior group, but they are very sweet and so enthusiastic and energetic. They were working on their piece they are performing in the Loft as part of Fresh, I was so impressed with how well they picked up corrections and retained choreography, they are a real credit to Yorkshire Dance. 

Day 3

Today was not quite as eventful as yesterday. I was based in the office all day but kept very busy in preparation for FRESH. I worked with Gail, who shares the role of Youth and Community Director with Hannah, on getting everything ready and organised for next week. I spent the day sorting out running orders and fire evacuation plans etc. for the show and workshops happening in the loft. It was a productive day and insightful to see how much planning and organisation has gone into the event, starting 6 + months ago.

Day 2

Today was a busy day! It started bright and early with a trip to Sheffield. I went with Hannah, who is one of the Youth and Community Dance Directors at Yorkshire Dance, to the South Yorkshire Hub meeting. It was really nice to see different people from the community, not just practitioners, come together and talk about community dance in their area and take active steps towards projects, objectives and goals.
From there it was somewhat of a mad dash to make it back to Leeds in time for the launch of; Leeds City of Dance. It was a great event showcasing all of the dance, in it's many forms, that goes on in Leeds. There really is so much going on and it was great to see people that are not aware of all that is happening in the dance world in Leeds being exposed to all that they do. The purpose of the launch was to show councillors what everyone is up to and to launch the website. http://cityofdance.co.uk/
After a rather busy but inspiring morning it was back to the office where we had a meeting about the upcoming event FRESH 2014. It was a meeting to sort out the logistics of the day and who will be doing what, where and when. There is the main show in the evening but there are also 2 other smaller showcases going on throughout the day, as well as workshops so there is lots to organise. It's a really exciting event and a great opportunity for 11-19 year olds in the region with 2 groups being selected on the night to represent the region at the National U.Dance Festival in June. I'm grateful that I can be here for the run up and be able to see all that is going into the event.
To finish off the day I went to watch the Yorkshire Dance Youth Seniors group. The group have been together for a couple years now and are a confident set that clearly love their dancing. I watched them rehearse their piece for FRESH, they have made it into the main show on the West Yorkshire Playhouse stage. It was great to see their energy and enthusiasm. 

First day

Hi I'm Eloise and over the next 2 weeks I will be on placement at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds.

I thought I would give a little background on myself first. I am currently training at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, studying for a Post-graduate Diploma in Community Dance. Alongside studying I also teach ballet at a private dance school.

During the two weeks I will be shadowing classes, attending different regional events around the county and getting an idea of the general workings and nuts and bolts of the organisation.

Today I was introduced to all staff and had my induction and tour of the building. I got to chat to a few different members of staff about their roles within the organisation which was really interesting and made me realise quite how much goes into making sure all the projects, from planning to evaluation, run smoothly and successfully. I was also able to sit in on a meeting discussing funding and future projects, it was fascinating listening to the brain storming and conception of a potential project. I was then set the task of researching published work about the topic of the potential project, something that was not as easy as it sounds as there is not a lot of published work on the subject.