FREE TO DANCE OVERVIEW

Since March 2008 we've been helping teenage girls in Ayrshire, Glasgow and Orkney to get fit and feel good about themselves through dance. With funding from the Scottish Government Health Department we've been running free dance sessions, offering performance opportunities and Award in Dance Leadership training courses as well as providing training for our project partners. We've also just found out that the Government is going to continue funding this project for another year so we are able to continue providing these dance experiences into 2012.

Here are some key project statistics:

- Nearly 1,000 girls get dancing with us every week

- We work with over 100 different partner organisations

- We run over 100 different sessions on a weekly basis

DANCE SESSIONS

Our Free To Dance Team delivers dance sessions in a number of different venues across Ayrshire, Glasgow and Orkney. These take place in community centres, youth clubs, school halls and dance studios and bring together girls aged 13 to 19.

Find a session near you.

'It's fun and energetic and you get to make new friends.' FTD participant

ADL COURSES

We offer girls aged 16 and over the chance to work towards a Level 1 Award in Dance Leadership in partnership with Girls on the Move. This nationally recognised qualification allows successful candidates to lead small groups in simple dance activities while they’re under the supervision of a tutor. 25 of our girls have already passed this award and are now sharing their skills with other young girls taking part in the Free To Dance project.

Find a course in your area.

MENTORING

The girls who successfully completed the Award in Dance Leadership programme are now getting the chance to use and develop these skills through our mentoring programme. Under the watchful eye of our Free To Dance Team they are leading sessions and developing choreography for a number of our groups. 3 of our FTD mentees have won an Active Award because of their great work assisting with a young mums group, a community session and a primary after school club. Our girls are also helping run the teacher training programme in Ayrshire which is a real achievement for them.

'Working with YDance is amazing - I really want to be a dance tutor like Anna.' FTD MENTEE

PARTNER TRAINING

We are committed to helping our project partners keep the dance sessions running if this project comes to an end, so are offering them the opportunity to learn some basic dance teaching skills. We have a range of partners taking part in the 3 areas - Active School Co-ordinators, Youth Workers and PE teachers - all learning how to use dance to motivate their young women and keep them active.