Dance fever hits young Cumbrians
Posted: Feb 23 09:07
Hundreds of schoolchildren from across Cumbria are set strut their stuff in a county-wide dance festival next month.The U.Dance Cumbria Festival is an annual event organised by Cumbria County Council and brings together pupils of all ages from primary, secondary and special schools in Allerdale, Carlisle, Copeland, Barrow and Eden to perform and celebrate their achievements in dance.
The festival gets underway on Thursday 4 March when pupils from Allerdale, Carlisle and Eden schools hit the boards at The Sands Centre in Carlisle. A second night there follows a day later with another eighteen schools taking the stage.
At Barrow's Forum28 on Tuesday 9 March pupils from thirteen schools will be tripping the light fantastic - alongside their teachers who for one night only will show off their dancing talents as well.
The Carlisle, Allerdale and Keswick youth dance companies will also be performing newly choreographed pieces for the U.Dance Festival shows.
Allerdale and Carlisle dance companies visit to the North West Youth Dance Festival at The Lowry in Salford on 13 and 14 March. They will both be trying for the single coveted place at the National Youth Dance England Festival, held in Birmingham in July.
The final U.Dance Festival performance is being held at Whitehaven Civic Hall on Friday 12 March where fourteen schools from Copeland performing.
In addition to this The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal will be hosting its annual schools dance platform in association with U.Dance from Monday 22 March to Thursday 25 March for pupils in South Lakeland.
Cllr Gary Strong, the county council's Cabinet member for Culture, said: "The festival is a great opportunity for schools in Cumbria to get involved and see what each other is achieving in dance.
"With the current focus on young people taking part in healthy and fulfilling activities dance is becoming an increasingly popular hobby and career aspiration for young people in Cumbria.
The county council's dance co-ordinator, Lynn Fade, added: "We are seeing a real increase in high quality dance opportunities and take-up which is fantastic.
"Dance is a growing hobby and is one of the six activity areas of the national curriculum PE and is studied at all key stages which underlines just how important it can be in a young person's life."
Tickets for all U.Dance performances are priced at £5.00 and are available from the respective venue box offices.
Photo opportunity
There will be photo opportunities during full dress rehearsals on:
Thursday 4th March at The Sands Centre - please ring Alison Horn on 07765 917855 to arrange a time
Friday 5th March at The Sands Centre - please ring Debbie Marper on 07846 689897
Tuesday 9th March at Forum 28 - please ring Amanda Mortlock on 07740 595928
Friday 12th March at Whitehaven Civic Hall - please ring Emma Rowbotham on 07792 330250
More information about the national U.Dance programme can be found at www.u-dance.org
For further details contact Lynn Fade (Cumbria dance co-ordinator) on 01931 715546.
