Pupils from Dundee Secondary Schools performed at the Dundee Secondary School's Dance Festival (26th March), which was led by Active School coordinators and Physical Education teachers.
The Dance Festival is part of Dundee's Schools Sports Association, which aims to get as many Secondary pupils involved in Dance clubs and events as possible and create ways to promote pathways to participate, choreograph, organise events, volunteer and Lead in Dance.
This exciting event had over 200 secondary school pupils from across Dundee showcasing their wonderful and creative talents in Street, Contemporary and Around The World categories, with choreography created by our Dance Leaders themselves, ex-pupils returning to help and assistance from teaching staff. The Dance Festival provides an opportunity for parents, guardians, friends and dance lovers to share in the dance experience.
Preparation for this event started in June 2024, with a number of 4th and 5th year pupils from Dundee Secondary Schools attending a week-long Dance Leaders Level 5 qualification (Sports Leaders UK) led by Daniel Aing (Dundee and Angus College) and Gillian Pack (Active Schools), which has given them the confidence to choreograph and lead dance in their schools.
James Fenna, Active Schools Manager at Leisure & Culture Dundee, said
"Becoming a Dance Leader is a fantastic role. Not only is it a great way to develop new skills, build confidence and meet like-minded people, but the programme helps youngsters develop as leaders by influencing and reflecting the views of other young people. We encourage our Young Leaders to motivate and inspire others to get into sport and physical activity, helping shape decisions to ensure youngsters have the best possible experience across Dundee."
Gillian Pack, Active Schools Coordinator & Freelance Dance Teacher
"The Dundee Secondary Schools Dance Festival has developed into such an amazing event over the years. It's not only a great celebration of dance and a chance for pupils to show off their dance skills and choreography, but it is also a great way to bring pupils and schools together, focusing on teamwork, creativity and engaging as much participation as possible throughout our schools. Whether this is performing, leading dance groups, choreographing, editing music, or selling programmes, everyone contributes in their own way."
"It's a great way for pupils to meet new people, step out of their comfort zone and grow in confidence. For some it is their very first time experiencing being on a stage. The teams all work so hard in the lead up to this event and the standard of dance and choreography is absolutely incredible across all three categories."
"It was wonderful to have some of our guest performances, such as St Marys RC Primary, Craigiebarns Primary, Urban Moves Performance Companies and students from the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance. We were also lucky to have Kingspark School Dance Company and Tayside 'sing it sign it' makaton choir perform together again, which was very heart warming. What a fantastic performance for all involved."
"Well done to all of the young people taking part and to all of the dance leaders, teachers, staff in schools, volunteers and to the family and friends who came along to support them all. There is always such a buzz at this event and we are all looking forward to next years festival already with hopefully lots of new faces joining us."
Invited along to judge at this years event was Giulia Montalbano, Lisa Bibby, Terri Dewar and Drew Knox, who were all extremely impressed by the talent, work and dedication that had gone into this festival.
This years show opened with a young voice, Layla (Ancrum Road Primary School) reminding us how we all learn to move from a young age by copying movement, progressing to the eagerness to try and learn new things, by being encourage to do our best, the excitement of performing on stage, always being inspired by others, with a reminder to be supportive of each others creativity as the night goes on.
The opening piece choreographed by Gillian Pack and Stage Academy Dance Leaders was 'Dancing Through Life' setting the scene for the dance festival and reminding everyone of why we dance, hearing recordings of people's thoughts throughout the piece. This was performed by our amazing host, Archie Turnbull (from Morgan Academy) and friends.
Throughout the show everyone was very supportive, a fantastic atmosphere and we watched as the secondary students on stage inspired some of the younger generations to dance in the aisles during the show.
All dance groups performed to a very high standard, and the scores were very close again with Harris Academy winning all three categories this year. Kingspark Dance Company winning our overall star performance group for their Fresh Prince of Belair dance (staring our fantastic volunteer Cameron Prophet as The Fresh Prince) and David Alli Adelegan (St Johns RC High School) selected as our individual overall star performer of the night. A huge well done to everyone who took part.
Photo by Bob Pack Photographer