DanceSyndrome Responds to Coronavirus Closures with Free Online Dance Sessions
Update: Tuesday 21st April 2020
Our online dance sessions via YouTube and Facebook have been really well received and we’re really grateful to everyone who has joined in or helped to spread the word about these sessions!
Our freelance Dance Artists have been working really hard behind the scenes to put these sessions together, but also to try and get the number and type of sessions right. The main challenge that we are facing is that we aren’t getting very much feedback and we can’t see the people who are participating, so we’re not getting that amazing feeling of seeing you all enjoying your dance sessions! We’re sure some of our participants are missing seeing their friends dancing and inspiring each other too. To try and overcome this, we have decided to offer some sessions on Zoom too.
Check out this news page for the full details.
Wednesday 18th March 2020
Everyone at DanceSyndrome was disappointed yesterday when we were forced to have to cancel our sessions until the end of April due to the coronavirus outbreak.
We engage with over 150 participants and volunteers each week and we know how valuable dance is to them for their health and wellbeing and to prevent them from becoming isolated, so this was a very difficult decision to make, but health must always come first.
Team DS always rise to a challenge though and before sessions were even cancelled we were looking at ways to ensure that our provision continues whilst protecting the health and wellbeing of our participants, families, staff and volunteers.
Our team have been busy researching, planning and creating and we are excited to be able to share our plans with you!
From Monday 23rd March our DanceSyndrome sessions will take place at their usual times on our Facebook and YouTube channels – links will be shared on all our social media and our website too to make it really easy to find the videos.
The sessions will be adapted so that people can take part safely from the comfort of their own home (even your armchair) and will be suitable for EVERYONE! People with a range of abilities and disabilities will be able to participate, including children who are off school and elderly people who are social distancing. It will be a great way to keep active, boost your mental health and take your mind off the outside world!
As with everything we do, the sessions will be disability led, driven by our Dance Leaders with learning disabilities. DanceSyndrome Founder Jen Blackwell and her fellow Dance Leaders will be delivering these sessions remotely from their own homes in collaboration with our professional Dance Artists to offer high quality online dance sessions.
Online dance sessions will be as follows:
Monday 11:15am – Ballet techniques
Monday 1:00pm – Street Dance techniques
Monday 2:15pm Jazz techniques
Tuesday 11am – Everybody Dance (usually held in Chorley) – Jen Blackwell and Donna Harrison/David Darcy
Wednesday 10:15am – Everybody Dance (usually held in Preston) – Jodie Turner and Sophie Tickle/Anna James
Wednesday 11am – Everybody Dance (usually held in Hindley) – Jonathan Rodman and Donna Harrison/David Darcy
Wednesday 12:30pm – Contemporary dance techniques
Wednesday 1:30pm – Creative dance activities
Thursday 10:30am – Everybody Dance (usually held in Accrington) – Lizi Boothby and Helen Shepherd
Saturday 10:30am – Everybody Dance (usually held in Clitheroe) – Pauline Hall and Helen Shepherd
Days and times are the times when videos will go live, but they will stay on our channels so that you can join in at any time that suits you.
We’d love you to join in with the dancing but also join in with the conversation on social media – tell us what you enjoyed about the sessions, send us photos and videos of yourself and your family joining in, talk to other people who love dance on our channels. We may need to be physically distanced but we can still be socially connected online!
We think this is a really exciting response to a really challenging situation for a small charity like DanceSyndrome and we are really proud of our team for responding so quickly and in such a creative way. Yesterday, 68 weekly sessions were cancelled in total, our Dance By Example Level 2 training has also been postponed and we have lost several major paid performance opportunities. This will amount to a significant loss of income for us as a charity.
If you join in with the sessions and enjoy them, please consider making a donation to help our small charity to survive in these difficult times. These sessions will be free online, but they typically cost between £3 – £7 to attend. We know this is a difficult time for everyone, but if you are able to support our work in any way, please use the form below or text one of the following numbers:
£1 – text DANCE to 70201
£3 – text DANCE to 70331
£5 – text DANCE to 70970
£10 – text DANCE to 70191
£20 – text DANCE20 to 70191
Every donation makes a difference to us, so we really appreciate any support you can give us.
