Memorandum submitted by the Council for
Dance Education and Training
The Council for Dance Education and Training
is happy to respond to the Culture Media and Sport Committee Inquiry
into Arts Development: Dance.
The Council understands other organisations
to be commenting on aspects of current dance provision in areas
within which they are most expert and will, consequently, address
question 3 of the Terms of Reference—Young People and Dance.
YOUNG PEOPLE
AND DANCE
Opportunities and Support currently existing to
promote the inclusion and progression of young people in dance
There are four routes available to young people
wishing to follow dance as a vocational or leisure pursuit in
the United Kingdom. They may:
— follow dance as a school-based subject
(currently taught within the Physical Education syllabus) and
take it as a GCSE and A level examination subject;
— follow the examination syllabuses
of one (or more) of the Dance Teaching Societies;
— follow it as a leisure pursuit at
a class led by one of the National or Regional Dance Agencies;
— encounter the influence of the National
Youth Dance Agency; and
— follow it as a course of professional
training at a vocational dance or musical-theatre institution.
Dance in schools
Dance is currently taught as an element of the
Physical Education syllabus at Key Stages 1-4 of the National
Curriculum. It is also available as a subject in its own right
at BTEC, HND, GCSE and AS/A level.
Although dance teaching in schools may well
be appropriate in a number of cases there are many circumstances
in which teachers unqualified in dance will be working in the
medium. All dance teachers will need to hold appropriate qualifications
for the teaching of PE but there is no current requirement for
them to have undergone dance teacher-training, consequently, there
is no further guarantee that they will be able to lead and guide
on the aesthetic and artistic aspects of the discipline. It is
a significant omission.
The Dance Teaching Societies
The Dance Teaching Societies offers syllabuses
in a wide range of dance genre and style—from Classical
Ballet to Tap, from National Dance to Modern Dance. It is possible
for students to enrol upon an examination programme from a pre-school
age and to follow a syllabus through to its conclusion. Most syllabuses
conclude with qualifications that will enable the student to become
a teacher of the programme s/he has followed and will confirm
the status of Qualified Teacher in accordance with the regulations
of that Society. The qualifications of many of the Teaching Societies
are now placed on the National Qualifications Framework, this
gives them currency as qualifications for entering Further or
Higher Education.
The National and Regional Dance Associations
There are currently nine National Dance Agencies
and 22 Regional Dance Agencies offering a wide range of dance
programmes throughout the United Kingdom. Staffed, in the main,
by professional dancers and teachers, the dance agencies run classes
and courses designed to stimulate and promote dance within the
local community. High quality amateur dance companies often emerge
from these local programmes.
In some cases, the agencies maintain professional
performance companies to work in local centres and schools.
The National Youth Dance Agency
In October 2003, Arts Council England announced
the formation of the first National Youth Dance Agency. An initiative
that will have significant impact upon the profile and status
of youth dance at a national level.
Vocational Training
In many cases, students who have followed a
dance course via one of the routes described above will choose
to dance professionally. In these cases they are likely to apply
to a programme of training at one of the Vocational Dance or Musical
Theatre Schools. The Council for Dance Education and Training
accredits 16 programmes of training at vocational schools throughout
the UK on behalf of the professional dance industry.
The DfES makes 525 Dance and Drama Awards (DaDAs)
available annually to particularly talented students to help meet
the cost of training and attendant expenses. A vocational school
receives an allocation of awards which it may then distribute
to its most gifted students. In order to receive a vocational
school must receive a favourable Ofsted assessment.
The role of Dance within Education at present
and in the future
Currently, dance occupies a place within formal
education ill-suited to its central role as a major art activity
and cultural pursuit. That dance should appear on the National
Curriculum as an element of Physical Education reflects a prevalent
educational perception that it is "part of something else"
rather than an articulate and persuasive language in its own right.
Dance, is a universal artistic and communicative
form that transcends cultural and social barriers; it has the
power to change lives and to give voice to those whose cultural
values are main-stream. It can also, however, powerfully serve
those whose cultural needs are less conventional, whose history
lies in cultural difference and whose future demands new, immediate
forms more suited to their needs.
It is imperative, therefore, that role of dance
in future educational planning changes. It is essential that its
unique cultural position is recognised and that its potential
is exploited.
A first step is for National Curriculum revision
to acknowledge the potential of dance as a core activity at Key
Stages 1-2 and to signify its importance in its review of Initial
Teacher Training and PGCE provision.
3 May 2004
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