Kids can step ahead with jiving lessons

28 April 2009

Publication: The Sun

By ELLIE WHITE

The sports hall at St Pius X Catholic High School in Rotherham is packed with kids dancing the jive.  Instructed by Strictly Come Dancing professionals Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova the children are focused, enthusiastic and attentive.

Although dance is often seen as “uncool”, in this recession-hit corner of South Yorkshire the pilot scheme, called Essentially Dance, is making a real difference to kids’ lives.

Besides putting a stop to boredom and keeping teens off the streets, it is improving self-esteem, self-awareness, confidence and social skills, as well as fitness and concentration in class.

Fifteen-year-old Rhys Blessed says: “There is an after-school dance club on a Tuesday night, an extension of the classes. I like going, it stops me getting bored.

“A lot of people would probably end up roaming the streets and getting into trouble if it wasn’t for the club.”

Sixteen-year-old Bradley Peak’s confidence was low before he started the Essentially Dance classes but now he is willing to give anything a go.

He says: “Some of the boys were critical because I wasn’t very good at sports like football. I never really thought about joining any teams or clubs, I just assumed I would be rubbish and wouldn’t be able to do it.

“When the teacher told me to go and dance with a girl, I was petrified, as I’m really shy. But I did it and now I don’t think twice about it. I’ve got so much more confidence – I’m really proud of myself.”

Essentially Dance is being piloted by Darren and Lilia, with funding from the Aldridge Foundation, in 30 schools across the country.

Already, more than 2,000 children aged between five and 16 – and 50 teachers – are being taught Latin and ballroom dance.

Declan Dickinson, 12, says: “I’ve been doing ballroom dancing since I was six, but I was bullied in my old school because of it. There is still a lot of stigma attached to liking dance, especially as a boy.

“But since I came here, I haven’t been bullied at all and that’s got a lot to do with the scheme. I’ve become a completely different person. I’ve got so much more confidence – girls talk to me now.”

Amy Tindle, 15, says: “It can be really hard for girls my age to feel good about themselves and I struggled because I’m really shy. But now I’ve started the classes, I feel completely different, I feel so much better about myself.” Teachers and pupils agree that discipline and attention in class have improved since the scheme started.

Callum Millward, 15, says: “My concentration has really improved – the fact you have to try and focus on loads of things at once is really good. I’ve got my GCSEs this year, I think it’ll help me revise well.”

Darren and Lilia’s long-term aim is to get Essentially Dance into every school in the country and make their activity a part of the National Curriculum.

The outcomes of the pilot scheme for both kids and teachers will be independently evaluated by a team at Roehampton University in South London for a report due next month – but the plan is to make the final training resource available to all schools in the summer.

Darren says: “We want to see as many kids dancing as possible and we want to give every child the opportunity to learn.”