Dance United Northern Ireland conference `Reach.In Out` in the Ulster Hall in Belfast, shared the evaluation of their three year `Reaching Out program`. This program involved Mags Byrne of DUNI working with two Belfast schools over a three year period with a focus on dance development. 45 children took part in the program, being eight years old at the beginning of the project and eleven by the end. Along the way artists from other disciplines were asked to participate. The project had both an evaluator and an academic psychologist to help with the development of the project and to gauge the impact of dance on the lives of the children involved. The program was flexible to meet the needs of the school and of the children, but with a focus on dance performance
For more information on the project visit the Dance United Northern Ireland website
The ongoing evaluation each year involved discussion with the teachers and school principles, vox-pops with the children, feedback from parents at performances, questionnaires and observation by the evaluator during workshops.
One child responded that they "learned to interact with other people and to take responsibility for my actions".
One teacher responded that she felt the children "now know that they can go into any area they want to and make a go of it".
Some of the aims of the program were to; develop the personal skills and capabilities of the children, their personal and social growth, their ability to understand and express emotion, a sense of their place in the wider community through cross-community and inter-school`s work.
The clinical psychologist involved stated that participation in a project of this kind, offers a child a `level of protection` by given them a focus and a purpose that they are interested in. She also found that the typical decrease in self-image that children undergo around the age of 8-11yrs was less apparent in the schools that participated.
A panel of some of the children, their teachers, parents and school principles were in attendance for questions during the day. One child answered that the project was of benefit to him in his life outside of school rather than with his school work. One principle described a shift in thinking from `traditional` performances such as annual Christmas concerts toward a more experimental expression.
Royston Muldoon, a long-standing choreographer who has worked internationally with many groups of varying ages, gave an inspirational talk on the benefits of working through dance for personal and social development. He stated that what makes a project work for him is: taking risks, being flexible, being open to new ways, trusting in the process, being actively involved and incorporating the whole group. The value underlying his work is "to leave [individuals] with [the notion that] the whole world is open to them"
For an information pack on the conference email: info@danceunitedni.com
