Young Ignite at the NDTA conference

Our Education Associate, Louise Brown is set to speak at the National Dance Teachers Association, Annual conference this weekend (22 November).

Louise will be talking about our Young Ignite training programme and how we are developing a model for disabled young dancer education through partnership.

This programme is aligned with a key priority of the National Inclusive Dance Network - a national network of over 170 individuals and organisations working to create positive change for disabled people within the dance sector.

The model for Young Ignite includes: 

• A residential aspect through which emerging choreographers and / or leaders from throughout the UK (who are often relatively isolated) can feed each other’s creativity and confidence
• The opportunity for participants to work alongside their non-disabled peers
• Supporting participants with a longer-term development plan, pre and post-course mentoring; and ongoing support from partner organisations at participants’ home base.

This presentation of the findings from the Young Ignite external evaluation identifies practical approaches to tailored dance education pedagogy for young disabled dancers to ensure that they have the same access to opportunity as their non-disabled peers. 

Case studies will be presented to NDTA delegates identifying the key role of partnerships developed with participating organisations from across the UK, including Candoco Dance Company (London), Diverse City (Dorset), Paragon Music (Glasgow) and Braena (Sunderland).