This week is Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week and people across the country are celebrating all the different ways people with Down’s Syndrome are connecting with each other. Today also marks one year since DanceSyndrome took the difficult decision to close our doors due to the risk created by Coronavirus on 17th March 2020. At that time we only expected to be closed for a few weeks and return in April. Of course, that didn’t happen and none of us could have expected what followed over the next 12 months and how we would have to find completely new ways of connecting. One of the most unexpected things to have happened in the last year was the way that our small charity from Lancashire, England, adapted to become an international provider of online dance activity. In this special Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week blog we will look at some of the amazing things our dancers with and without disabilities have achieved together over the course of one of the most challenging years in our 12 year history.
This is our impact for the last 12 months, it’s very different than in previous years when we have been in face to face workshops and performing on stages around the UK, but we are still incredibly proud of what we have achieved this year and the amazing feedback we have been given about how we have adapted and how we have provided a lifeline to people in hard times.
Once the decision was taken to close our weekly sessions in March, our team immediately started working on ways to maintain the vital connections that we have with our dancers. Our Dance Leaders (many of whom are people with learning disabilities) drive everything that we do and they told us they wanted to keep dancing and, as always, we were led by them.
Dance Leader Becky Rich got the ball rolling with a routine people could practice at home:
We started off by offering daily YouTube sessions and we are still offering a weekly YouTube session one year on:
In April 2020 we started offering one Zoom session per week. We now have 16 weekly sessions with participants joining us from as far as China, South Africa, Europe and the USA! (Click here to sign up for the latest sessions!)
We then introduced an infant session led by Max, our youngest Dance Leader who was just 3 years old at the time! Max’s session is still running now, every Saturday at 10:45am. Find out more here.
Infant Dance is on Saturday at 10:45am to make it easy for busy parents. 4 year old Max takes the lead, choosing his favourite songs & showing his moves. Your infants can copy or do their own thing & #dance together in a relaxed way. FREE sign up: https://t.co/NacXWaJ0ZO pic.twitter.com/phvbKyEtog
— DanceSyndrome (@DanceSyndrome) February 12, 2021
Our team have stayed in regular contact with each other outside of their dance sessions and have inspired each other with photos and videos of what they have been doing, in much the same way they would face-to-face before the pandemic! Here are just a few of their fab pics and videos:
As well as inspiring and celebrating each other, they have still been working on dance projects from home to inspire and celebrate others. Everyone on the team was thrilled to be invited to celebrate our keyworkers with this great video for the #MakeitBlue campaign
We have also tried to continue to offer performance opportunites as much as possible. Our Contemporary, Street, Ballet, Rave and Musical Jazz groups have created video performances every six weeks. They have performed live to Zoom audiences too with Rave with Bex and Dave live performances and a range of Christmas performance events with partners and our own Christmas Showcase. Here is a great playlist of their performance pieces:
We are doing our best to provide a variety of dance activities and projects to give our dancers plenty of choice about how they spend their time in lockdown in the hope that this will make this difficult time easier for them. Being involved in our activities is giving individuals and their families a focus, structure to each week, taking the pressure off finding new things to do and most of all improving the ongoing, general, health and wellbeing of participants thank to having enjoyable activities to do and, most of all, staying connected with their friends. The feedback from our participants has been lovely to hear.
Dancing during the lockdown has become more of a lifeline than ever to the hundreds of adults with learning disabilities who join in every week. Please help us to keep everyone dancing, your donation will ensure that the people we support can stay connected, stay involved and stay well.
We hope our dancers have inspired you to see the positive side of life in lockdown! If you want to support us to continue to provide these life changing opportunities, there are lots of ways you can do that.
Join us in a session! The full list of upcoming sessions can be found on our Events page.
Join us on social media and share our posts to help people to find out about our work
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube
You can volunteer your time if you have skills that can help us or make a donation to support us.
You can donate or fundraise using the following methods:
By Post – You can send a cheque made payable to DanceSyndrome to:
DanceSyndrome, C/O Pathways Associates,
Suite 2, Waterside, St James Court West, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1NA
Just Giving – you can make a donation or fundraise for DanceSyndrome at: www.justgiving.com/dance-syndrome
Facebook – you can make a donation or set up a fundraiser via Facebook – www.facebook.com/dancerleddisabilityinspired
Text message donation – to donate text DANCE to 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
Paypal – you can make a donation via Paypal.
Online – donate directly using the form below.
Thank you for supporting DanceSyndrome this Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week!
Dance Leader Helen Cherry blogs about a day in the life of a person with learning disabilities during lockdown and how dance helps her.
Helen Cherry is a Dance Leader with DanceSyndrome. Helen joined us in 2017 at the age of 27. She took part in our unique Dance By Example leadership training course for people with and without disabilities. She really loved the course and when it came to a close she really wanted to continue working with DanceSyndrome, so she joined the weekly sessions in Preston with the DS Collective performance team. Helen has thrived in our inclusive dance sessions, taking the lead female role “Woman” in our 2018 Edinburgh Fringe piece “Lit aDrift”.
Helen, who also dances with DaDaFest, another inclusive arts organisation, is a confident and ambitious dancer. In 2019 she heard about an exciting opportunity to audition for a touring show called “Splash!”, a multi-sensory performance event presented by Extraordinary Bodies. Helen was keen to be involved and was thrilled to be offered the role of Flo, the young woman whose journey was being told.
Helen has been involved in performing art for a long time, having worked with Team Oasis, a dance and drama group in Liverpool for five years from 2005, completing a level 1 qualification in dance at Wirral Met College in 2008 and working as a performer and assistant peer educator at Pilgrim Street Arts Centre in Birkenhead. She has also worked as a TV extra for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, including 15 episodes on Coronation Street!
When she’s not dancing and performing, Helen loves swimming and other fitness activities, going to see live music and even playing the piano and violin. She’s a very busy lady and we feel very lucky to have her involved with DanceSyndrome!
Here she talks to us about what a day in her life looks like…
Day in the Life of what I get up to…
I do my Violin Lessons with my dad and my Music Teacher Martin Pleass every Friday afternoons 1;30 to 2:15
I go Wild Swimming with my Sister Rachel. go there 2/3 weeks with my sister
I sometimes stay at my Parents House only in weekends Fridays, Saturdays then I go back home or Saturday and Sundays then I go back home to mine so I cant stay at my parents a lot I go back home on Saturdays Sundays because I have to work and do so much Dance/Music Planning to do yep am in my office 24/7.
Work on so much paperwork admin and Planning and sorting the Dance Sessions in Dance Syndrome and in MDI Merseyside Dance Initiative with Dance Artist as well.
And coming up with so Much Dance Themes in Dance as well.
Try and do so much work doing Splash work I’m working on doing a Digital work as well so I Plan all the paperwork doing Splash as well. And I come up with good Ideas in planning as well to get organised for any Dance Sessions I’m doing for the Week days when I’m teaching as well.
I do office work everyday mornings when I get up in the morning afternoons and evenings I spend my lifetime doing office work and Dancing and my Music as well.
and so much Dance Routines I need to write down so that I can remember them as well then I do Dancing and to go away and practice as well.
I’ve got to prepare the room up try get my yoga mat out and get my curtains pulled make sure I’ve got a Drink at the side as well sometimes have water or orange Juice as well so I do keep myself hydrated as well.
Try and get my angle in the right Position for my New I Pad out on the tri pod stand get my water ready then I Make sure that I have my breakfast as well because What I eat as well I have slim fast Milkshake as well so I do Menu Planner write down what I eat and when I don’t eat as well
then I do Housework as well to tidy up my House and a Full time Job as well my Full time is my Dancing and Music and my teaching in dance syndrome and doing a Dance Project for the wonderful Splash Dance work doing Digital Work as well and I’m performing at the end of November and I get paid as well
So I Cant be at my parents Saturdays and Sundays because I have to be ready for my my teaching as well so I’m dedicated to my Job as well.
I do Zoom Planning Meetings with amazing Dance Artists as well then I teach on Mondays Tuesdays Wednesdays Fridays then I do my other Dance Project on
Mondays Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays sometimes
I work early Mornings up to 4 am in the morning to 11 at night as well. Focusing on my Dancing and my Music as well.
I sometimes relax in the Evenings and sometimes in Day as well
Sometimes do Colouring in my Colouring Book as well.
I sometimes spend time with my parents sometimes and stay with them as well.
Sometimes do Music Practice with my Dad as well.
Sometimes help my Mum with my baby Nephew as well
Sometimes Cook food for myself yep I’m Independent now
Yep I’m a Sporty Person as well I do Advanced Yoga in my house and I do Lonquag walks with my Mum I do swimming I do Tennis as well
Long walks to Beach as well before Lockdown I go to the Gym as well I do Circuit Training, Body Conditioning I do Spinning as well Booty Spinning do Gym workout as well yep I go to the Gym about 6 weeks in a day as well. Yep I do Running as well I do Dance Zumba and aqua Zumba as well I do acrobatics so I’m hard core with my Fitness as well
Got my own place now I’m now a House owner near my parents
I use to have a Flat when I was 22 until 29 have my own Place now and it’s a Lot cheaper now
Yep must be hard for Disabilities UK and with Disabled People because it’s hard knowing what to in Lockdown and feeling stressed knowing what to do with them as well. Because in Dance syndrome is to help people not getting stressed out and feeling down about things we do support people is to make them happy and try get them into shape and help them as well if they are sad then in Dance syndrome is to Follow your Passion as well and help them to be Inclusive through Dance as well.
We all help one and another in dance syndrome that’s what we here to do support people and make them Inclusive as well but we all need to Keep on Keeping on through Dance as well
as well because yep some People like ourselves we do have Mental health issues not doing anything active in Lockdown and not feeling that your not doing anything for ourselves and so Putting on weight and taking the weight off is becoming an Issue for all people we do want strong healthy and getting on with life as well we are trying our hardest to be healthy as well.
All we want for Disabilities and Disabled people and for People round the country is to be Inclusive as well and the main thing is to just stay Positive and Smile because we do normally do our best in life finding something to find them things to do to keep them Occupied as well through Lockdown
If you would like to join Helen in one of our sessions, why not try our FREE Funk Out session on Tuesdays at 7pm. You can find information on all our upcoming sessions here: https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/
If you would like to support the work that we do with people like Helen, you can donate through the form below:
About Becky
Becky Rich lives in Preston. She joined DanceSyndrome in 2014 after her dad had heard about the charity through a leaflet. Becky loves DanceSyndrome! She has been dancing since a young age and has always wanted to teach dance, so the opportunities that DanceSyndrome has given her make Becky feel happy!
Becky the Ambassador
Becky wants to encourage other people with disabilities to dance so they can feel free and realise that things aren’t that bad in life. In 2018 she took on the role of DanceSyndrome Spokesperson and Ambassador and travels around the country sharing the charity’s “ability, not disability” ethos.
Becky the Award-Winning Volunteer
Becky’s hard work and dedication to her volunteering role has been recognised through a number of awards. In November 2016, Lancashire County Council awarded her the “Volunteer of the Year” award at their annual Pride Awards. In 2018 she was included on the national Learning Disability and Autism Leaders List and was also awarded the Lesley Finley Community Award by Disability Equality (NW) in recognition of the work she has done to help other people with a learning disability in the North West. Becky is a truly inspirational lady, making a real difference in her local community and beyond!
Here Becky shares an open letter to DanceSyndrome followers asking for your support…
March update: Becky is leading by example with a fundraising appeal of her own:
Dance Leader Becky Rich is celebrating Down's Syndrome Awareness Week with a fundraising challenge. As well as dancing, Becky has started boxing during lockdown & is working up to 1000 punches a day.
Becky would love it if you could support her: https://t.co/p8UFOwvMcl #WDSD21 pic.twitter.com/qltI4ga9Oi
— DanceSyndrome (@DanceSyndrome) March 15, 2021
“To all Volunteer Fundraisers”
I am Becky Rich, I am age 30, and I am a Dance Leader and Ambassador and Spokesperson for DanceSyndrome charity.
I am very honoured to write this letter to you all.
The history of DanceSyndrome. When it came about in 2009, Jen Blackwell was struggling to find opportunities of being a Dance Leader but she was unable to do this because due to the lack of opportunities. Jen Blackwell needed help and support of her Mum and Dad and they both established the DanceSyndrome charity in 2009.
DanceSyndrome charity is based in Lancashire. We deliver Leadership training for New Learners to become Dance Leaders. We deliver Dance Workshops and we perform in performances in big events and we speak at conferences right through the UK.
Our DanceSyndrome charity we need help. All of you Volunteer Fundraisers please help us to spread the word of DanceSyndrome and please work as a team and tell the people as many as you can about us. Because the impact of DanceSyndrome has on everyone had been incredible and really fantastic it has given us to lead our lives to the full and to fulfil our dreams, It has given us really amazing and very exciting opportunities that will stay with us for years. We are all on a Adventure of Opportunities it has given us alot. We are all very talented and we are all Great Leaders in our own way. This impact we have had on everyone else in connection to our charity our own volunteer fundraisers for example Rosemary Trustham and Shirley Carthy and etc.
We strongly believe in No Discrimination and only Acceptance.
Our DanceSyndrome activities are very important right now because during these difficult times of the lockdown. We need your help for us to continue our DanceSyndrome activities over the next few years 2020 – 2029. I love my Dancing family they mean alot to me. We’d love for you to like and share our social media posts on Facebook and Twitter whenever and wherever you are able to.
Yours sincerely
Becky Rich
If you are interested in becoming a fundraising volunteer for DanceSyndrome, please visit our Fundraising page here.
If you don’t have time to volunteer but would still like to support us, donations of all sizes help to support our work to continue. You can donate directly using the form below:
Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you are all safe and well and looking forward to all the exciting possibilities that 2021 has to offer.
What a journey we’ve all had during the past year last year. Who knew that we’d all turn into technical experts, Zooming away every week with our online dance activities. Imagine what else we can learn this year whilst sharing our love of dance with each other.
For me, 2021 is all about our collective well-being. Last year we all took more time to check in on our friends and family with care and compassion and you’ve been so amazing in your support for each other. Taking care of our own health and well-being is so important too and we want everyone in 2021 to keep well and feel on top of the world again.
Our DanceSyndrome family has a wonderful culture of care where everyone feels supported and experiences a strong sense of belonging. Let’s spread our love and compassion as widely as we can through our joy of dancing and infect the world with happiness, energy and optimism for a fantastic year ahead.
It’s thrilling to think that through technology we can reach out to so many more people and make new lasting friendships. If you haven’t joined us yet on Zoom and aren’t sure what to expect, we have free taster day tomorrow (Wednesday 6th January) so that you can try it for free before you book. All the information is below.
And of course we all look forward to the better weather in the Springtime so we can get back outside dancing together again.
We also have a great network of people on our social media, so if you want to reach out to our other dancers, please use our online community for support or reach out to our staff. You can email us at info@dancesyndrome.co.uk
You can stay up to date with any developments via the news page of our website, our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Linked In. We are also continuing with our weekly free dance session on YouTube.
But for now please carry on dancing, share your passion for dance and stay connected as we move into 2021 together. It’s going to be a wonderful time if you’re with us.
With love and the very best well wishes,
Dawn.
Join us for a full day of free taster activities to allow you to try out our different sessions and find which is right for you.
The booking form should display below, but if it doesn’t load please visit: https://bit.ly/ZoomTasterDay
Online Dance in 2021
In 2020, DanceSyndrome has adapted to offer a lot of online dance sessions via Zoom and we hope to continue this in 2021, starting with a Free Taster Day on Wednesday 6th January so that you can try out all our different sessions and see which you like best. If you can’t choose, join them all!
Here is a list of the online dance sessions that we have on offer in January 2021 with links to the sign up pages.
Free Zoom Taster Day
Wednesday 6th January 2021 – 10am to 2pm – FREE
Join us for a full day of FREE taster activities to allow you to try out our different sessions and find which is right for you.
A full line up for the day can be found here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/taster-day-on-zoom/
Wake N Dance
A wake up dance session every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10:00am. Start the day with an upbeat dance session guaranteed to make you smile. This 30 minute session will get you ready for the day ahead. Thanks to funding, these sessions are FREE! You don’t need to attend every day, just choose the days that suit you. You only need to sign up once, then drop in when you like!
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/WakeNDance
Zoom Contemporary Dance
Monday 11th January – 11am -12pm – £15 for 6 weeks
This block of six sessions will teach you some Contemporary Dance techniques and work them into a short routine which we will create a video performance of at the end of the six weeks.
Sign up here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/zoom-contemporary-dance/
Zoom Street Dance
Monday 11th January – 1pm -2pm – £15 for 6 weeks
This block of six sessions will teach you some Street Dance techniques and work them into a short routine which we will create a video performance of at the end of the six weeks.
Sign up here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/zoom-street-dance-2/
Everybody Dance Tuesdays at 2pm
Our inclusive community dance workshops have been adapted for Zoom. Each session is brought to you by a different pair of leaders, one with a learning disability and one without a disability. Working together they deliver a fun, accessible and inclusive dance and fitness session for anyone who wants to get moving and have a good time. The sessions include both upbeat and gentle dance, together with movement to music, that can be adapted to meet your own needs. £2.50 per week.
Find details of the next session here: https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/events/
Funk out on Zoom Tuesdays at 7pm
At the end of a busy day, Funk Out with Dave and Helen! A free 30 minute dance workout session that will help you end the day the right way! We hope to see lots of new faces at this new evening session, please join us: http://bit.ly/DSFunkOut
Relax and Unwind
Wednesday 13th January – 7pm – 7:30pm – £15 for 6 weeks
Come and Relax and Unwind in our new take-it-easy session. Soft gentle stretching, breathing work, mediations and relaxation all in one dance session. No pressures, no right or wrong. Just you, our dancers and some chilled vibes.
Sign up here
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/relax-and-unwind/
Inclusive Ballet
Thursday 14th January – 11am-12pm – £15 for 6 weeks
Learn Ballet technique in a fun, engaging and inclusive way, while working on and creating a performance piece to share at the end of the 6 weeks.
Sign up here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/inclusive-ballet/
Rave with Bex and Dave
Thursday 14th January – 7pm – 8pm – £20 for 6 weeks including a rave pack with glow sticks and accessories
This block of six sessions will teach you some upbeat dance moves and work them into a short flash mob routine. We will end the 6 weeks with a performance event in front of a live Zoom audience!
Sign up here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/rave-with-dave/
Musical Jazz Dance
Friday 15th January – 11am – 12pm – £15 for 6 weeks
Join our Jazz ladies for a Musical Jazz dance session, where you will learn and re-create dances from West-End musicals or famous musical movies, creating a performance piece to share at the end of the 6 weeks.
Sign up here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/musical-jazz-dance/
Infant Dance led by Max and Cristina
Saturday 10:45am
Max is our youngest Dance Leader at just 3 years old! Join him and his mum Cristina for this fun movement to music session. Max decides the moves and your children can join in and copy him or do their own thing. Children of all ages are welcome, but the session is aimed at pre-school aged children. The session is free thanks to funding.
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/DSinfants
We would love to see some new faces at these sessions in 2021! Everyone is welcome regardless of ability or level of dance experience. Our sessions are fully inclusive and can be adapted to meet your own needs.
Thanks for your continued support!
Zoom Contemporary Dance
Monday 11th January – 11am -12pm – £15 for 6 weeks
This block of six sessions will teach you some Contemporary Dance techniques and work them into a short routine which we will create a video performance of at the end of the six weeks.
Sign up here:
https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/event/zoom-contemporary-dance/
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Welcome to the latest DanceSyndrome newsletterIn this newsletter we want to share information about our January Zoom sessions and an exciting free taster event! We also have some performance events in December that you might want to join us for. We have been nominated for Parasports Club of the Year and you could win a prize if you vote for us to win!
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Merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone who has continued to support DanceSyndrome throughout 2020! It has been overwhelming to see such incredible support!Our team are having a well earned break over the Christmas period, from 20th December to 4th January. Please bear with us if you have enquiries during this time. All regular Zoom dance sessions will return from 11th January. See below for more information about 2021 sessions and our special Free Taster Day on 6th January. Stay safe and we hope to see you in a session soon! |
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We are planning two Christmas events that you might want to be involved in.
Christmas Rave with Bex and Dave Performance on Zoom
7:30pm on Thursday 10th December Our last Rave group performance was a huge success with an audience of 65 people! We want to try and grow this so would love it if you would join us for this free performance event. You can sign up for the Zoom link here: https://bit.ly/RavePerformance
Virtual Performance Event
Thursday 17th December at 7pmWe wanted to provide a different kind of performance event this Christmas, giving our amazing dancers the opportunity to perform and to welcome some new participants from all across the UK to the DanceSyndrome “dancing family”!Join us for a mixture of live and pre-existing dance works, all created by the wonderful team at DanceSyndrome. This is a Pay as You Feel performance. We are conscious that people’s finances might have been impacted this year by the pandemic and we don’t want that to be a barrier to participation in inclusive dance events. You can sign up for the event here: https://bit.ly/DS_ChristmasPerformance
If you would like more information about any of our events, please visit the Events page on our website. |
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Back in January we were proud to be Parasport Club of the Month. They now have a competition for Club of the Year & we need your help! Can we ask you to visit the link below & vote for us? Voters will be in with a chance to win £100 of Adidas vouchers!
You can vote for DanceSydrome on the following link:
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We are excited to be offering a full day of free online tasters in January! Join us on Wednesday 6th January from 10am to try out all of our regular sessions in free 15 minute tasters. Sign up here to get the Taster Day Zoom link and the list of sessions. All of the following sessions will be returning on Zoom from Monday 11th January. Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 10am – Zoom Wake N Dance – A FREE wake up dance session to get you moving in a morning! Sign up here! Monday 11am –Zoom Contemporary Dance – Block of 6 Contemporary Dance sessions sign up now! Monday 1pm – Zoom Street Dance – Block of 6 Street Dance sessions sign up now! Tuesday 2pm – Zoom Everybody Dance – Please visit the Events page of our website and pick the date that you want to take part. Tuesday 7pm – Funk Out on Zoom – Shake off the day with this FREE funky wind down dance session. Sign up here. Wednesday 7pm – Relax and Unwind – 6 sessions showing you how to use dance to relax at tha end of a busy day. Sign up here.
Thursday 10am – Free Everybody Dance (YouTube & Facebook) Thursday 11am – Ballet – Block of 6 Ballet sessions.
Sign up here. Thursday 7pm – Zoom Rave with Dave & Bex – Spend 6 weeks learning a flashmob style routine then perform in front of a live Zoom audience! Sign up here.
Friday 11am – Musical Jazz – 6 sessions learning dance routines to your favourite songs from the musicals.
https://bit.ly/DSZoomJazzDance Saturday 10:45am – Free infants Zoom dance session (for children only) – join here
If you would like to join in with the Zoom sessions, we would love to see some new faces. These sessions are open to everyone, you don’t need any previous experience but experienced dancers are welcome too! Our sessions are fully inclusive and can be adapted to meet your own needs.
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| If you would like to sign up to receive our newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here.
If you would like to support our work with a donation, your support would be very much appreciated. You can donate directly using the form below: |
We need your help!
Have you tried our Zoom sessions this year? We need some short video feedback to share with new followers explaining why our Zoom sessions are awesome!
What we need:
– Videos should be around 30 seconds long
– Please talk about why our dance sessions have been important to you in 2020
– Please tell us what you enjoyed most about our sessions
– Please share your video with us on our social media (links below) or send them to info@dancesyndrome.co.uk
– Please tell us in writing that you give us permission to use your video publicly, otherwise we wont be able to share it
– Please get your videos to us by Monday 7th December
Please join us on:
Your feedback is important to us, whether positive or negative, so if you prefer to send us written feedback, we would still love to hear from you. You can email us at info@dancesyndrome.co.uk
Feedback helps us to report to our funding bodies, to show why our work is valuable and to help to encourage new participants to join us, so your help with this is very much appreciated!
Thank you!
If you would like to receive our newsletter directly to your inbox, hot off the press, please sign up here!
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Welcome to the latest DanceSyndrome newsletterIn this newsletter we want to share an update about our COVID-19 situation, as well as the many different ways that you can #CarryOnDancing and join in with DanceSyndrome sessions from home, if you haven’t been already. We also have an exciting opportunity if you are a Dance Artist, we have adapted our Inclusive Approaches training to be delivered via Zoom. We have some good news about some wonderful recognition for our Founder Jen Blackwell and some further funding for our work during the pandemic. If you would like to support our work too, we have a DVD of our Express Showcase which would make a great Christmas gift for your friends and family! |
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COVID-19 Update Thank you to everyone who has continued to support DanceSyndrome over these past months during lockdown, it’s amazing to see you dancing online! We now have an extensive list of online sessions available and have added Inclusive Approaches training for professional Dance Artists too! We have successfully tested outdoor dance and this is now happening every Wednesday in Preston. We have funding to offer this in other areas too. If you know of a group who may be interested please email dance@dancesyndrome.co.uk.We are also working toward opening our indoor sessions again too. Both Preston and Clitheroe workshops are getting ready to re-open in November. If you usually attend those sessions and haven’t heard from us yet, please email info@dancesyndrome.co.uk If you attend our other sessions, we are looking at how to bring those sessions back as soon as possible and will be in touch with you as soon as we can. As the Government continues to change lockdown rules, we are having to adapt to changes as they happen, so sessions are subject to change at short notice. We really appreciate how patient everyone has been and that so many people are so eager to return to dancing! Stay safe and we hope to see you in a session soon!
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DanceSyndrome #CarryOnDancing Online!
At the moment we are offering the following online sessions each week. We really believe we have something for everybody! Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 10am – Zoom Wake N Dance – A FREE wake up dance session to get you moving in a morning! Sign up here! Monday 11am – Zoom Contemporary Dance – Block of 6 starts 2nd November so sign up now! Monday 1pm – Zoom Street Dance – Block of 6 starts 2nd November so sign up now! Tuesday 2pm – Zoom Everybody Dance – Please visit the Events page of our website and pick the date that you want to take part. Tuesday 7pm – Funk Out on Zoom – Shake off the day with this FREE funky wind down dance session. Sign up here. Thursday 10am – Free Everybody Dance (YouTube & Facebook) Thursday 7pm – Zoom Rave with Dave & Bex – Spend 6 weeks learning a flashmob style routine then perform in front of a live Zoom audience! Sign up before 5th November. Saturday 10:45am – Free infants Zoom dance session (for children only) – join here If you would like to join in with the Zoom sessions, we would love to see some new faces. These sessions are open to everyone, you don’t need any previous experience but experienced dancers are welcome too! Our sessions are fully inclusive and can be adapted to meet your own needs. |
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Inclusive Approaches is a one day professional development training course for Dance Artists and Dance Teachers that will give you all the tools you need to deliver your own inclusive dance sessions in the same way that DanceSyndrome does. The course will take place on Tuesday 17th November between 9am and 3:30pm at a cost of £90 for the full day. If you would like more information, including a break down of what happens on the day, please visit: |
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Congratulations to Jen Blackwell – Power List 100 & EVA Star DanceSyndrome Founder Jen Blackwell was thrilled to discover she had been included on the Shaw Trust Power List 100 for the third year! The Shaw Trust Disability Power List 100 is an annual publication of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK. The list is compiled by an independent judging panel.
Jen said: “Oh wow. I can’t believe I’ve won again for the third year. This is amazing! Thank you Shaw Trust and everyone for believing in me, for valuing me for the person I am. It means the world to me. I owe my life to my fellow dance leaders. I am giving them their lives in dance, and they are giving me mine. I didn’t have a life in dance before, and now I do. My dream is coming true.” Jen was also recognised in September by Pink Link Ladies, who chose Jen as one of their EVA Stars in celebration of 10 years of the EVA awards. You can read more about both of these stories on the News page of our website. |
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DanceSyndrome are thrilled to have received a donation of £2,645 from Onward to support the work of Dance Leaders with learning disabilities in Clitheroe.
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Funding totalling £9,928 from the Tackling Inequalities Fund (National Lottery funding from Sport England) will enable us to offer outdoor dance sessions to bridge the gap between online and indoor sessions for those who may not be ready to come back to indoor dance sessions just yet.
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DanceSyndrome has been awarded a £4,000 grant from the Comic Relief Community Fund (England). The funding will enable us to respond to the current situation by offering a range of indoor, outdoor and online dance workshops for people in the Preston area. Thank you to all these organisations who have helped us to get through this difficult time and help you all to #CarryOnDancing!
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Express: A Showcase of Inclusive Dance
On Sunday 1st March DanceSyndrome hosted our first ever inclusive dance showcase and it was an incredible event! The feedback from the audience was amazing and we are so proud of everyone involved! We are thrilled that the event was documented by our friends at Accrington Movie Makers and they have created a DVD for us to sell to anyone who wants to relive that wonderful day. They will make brilliant Christmas presents for relatives and friends who are missing seeing live dance performances! |
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Check out our website and social for future events – we hope to be able to get out and share our dancing with the world again very soon. Don’t forget that you can join in with our live Zoom sessions! Please visit the events page of our website for details of the next sessions.
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Jen Blackwell, Founder of DanceSyndrome, has been announced as one of the most influential people with a disability in the UK for the third year in a row!
The Shaw Trust Disability Power List 100 is an annual publication of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK. The list is compiled by an independent judging panel. Baroness Jane Campbell was the chair of the 2020 judging panel and has fought for equal rights for disabled people for as long as she can remember – from challenging special school segregation as a child, to public demonstration, and now advocates for disabled people in the House of Lords. The list is usually celebrated with a launch event in London, but this year the celebrations took place online via a livestream event on Wednesday 21 October.
DanceSyndrome is still thriving 11 years after Jen founded the charity. Despite the challenges presented in 2020 by the coronavirus, we have had a positive year. After closing face to face workshops in March, we have successfully adapted to offering online dance and are now offering outdoor dance sessions too. We have successfully secured funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, Comic Relief, Sport England, Onward and Care Housing Association to ensure that people with learning disabilities are not disproportionately isolated and disadvantaged by the lockdown.
This inclusive approach to dance has resulted in Jen, 38 from Chorley, being included on the Power List for the third consecutive year.
Jen said: “Oh wow. I can’t believe I’ve won again for the third year. This is amazing! Thank you Shaw Trust and everyone for believing in me, for valuing me for the person I am. It means the world to me. I owe my life to my fellow dance leaders. I am giving them their lives in dance, and they are giving me mine. I didn’t have a life in dance before, and now I do. My dream is coming true.”
Jen was also recognised in September by local networking group Pink Link Ladies, who host an annual awards ceremony for business women in the North West called the EVAs. This year they were forced to do things differently because of lockdown, so to celebrate their tenth year they are celebrating ten EVA Stars. These are ladies who have won EVA’s in the past and have really stood out as superstars. Jen won the Inspirational Woman of the Year Award at the 2015 EVAs and was thrilled to be recognised again as an EVA Star in 2020!
Introducing our second EVA Star – the fabulous Jen Blackwell, Founder of @DanceSyndrome
Discover more about Jen – plus all the latest news from #EVAS10 – in our latest newsletter: https://t.co/DrkcAnDQ9A#womeninbusiness #awards pic.twitter.com/VbjYlfyJaE— The EVAs (@Eva_Awards) September 6, 2020
This video shows Jen’s reaction when her mum Sue told her the exciting news:
Sue sharing the news with Jen – she’s an @Eva_Awards star! #love and #respect abound at @DanceSyndrome #inclusion is what we do every step of the way #dance is our language! Feeling so incredibly #valued #loved #welcome #wanted #abilitynotdisability #DownSyndrome pic.twitter.com/wQBcon4Os1
— DanceSyndrome (@DanceSyndrome) September 4, 2020
If you want to join Jen and her fellow Dance Leaders in their Zoom sessions, you can find out more on our Events page. If you would like to support our work with a donation, you can donate directly through the form below, or there are other donation options on our Fundraising page.
DanceSyndrome are thrilled to have received a donation of £2,645 from Onward to support the work of Dance Leaders with learning disabilities in Clitheroe.
Onward is a leading provider of quality, affordable homes for rent and sale in the North West. They own and manage over 35,000 homes right across the region. As well as providing housing, they also work to make a difference in their communities. They offer help and support to vulnerable people facing a range of challenges, and create strong and vibrant communities for their customers can be proud to be a part of. The funding that they have provided to DanceSyndrome is a part of this commitment to communities.
DanceSyndrome is a multi-award winning dance charity that delivers inclusive dance workshops and dance leadership training, as well as inspiring performances that demonstrate a focus on ability rather than disability. The charity was founded by Jen Blackwell, who happens to have Down’s syndrome, because she found it difficult to find opportunities in community dance due to her disability. DanceSyndrome’s ethos is that disability should never be a barrier to following your dreams. Dancers with and without disabilities work together to inspire people to see what can be achieved when we all become more inclusive.
DanceSyndrome supports many vulnerable adults across Lancashire who are currently shielding due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The charity is hoping be able to offer a phased return to indoor community dance sessions in community centres soon, after closing suddenly in March. The charity had to adapt quickly with a view to online sessions becoming the norm for most of 2020. The DanceSyndrome team wanted to limit the impact of isolation on participants and decided to take the workshops online using Facebook, YouTube and Zoom to bring the sessions to regular participants and anyone else who wanted to use them to stay active at home during isolation.
The funding from Onward will enable DanceSyndrome to respond to the current situation by offering indoor, outdoor and Zoom dance workshops for people in Clitheroe who have been isolated by the pandemic. The aim is to ensure that participants of all ages and abilities can still access creative, physical activity in one form or another. The sessions will be co-led by Dance Leaders with a learning disability to demonstrate the importance of providing inclusive opportunities for people with learning disabilities to be visible leaders, to have their voices heard on important issues, to follow their dreams and succeed in their ambitions.
DanceSyndrome MD Dawn Vickers said, “We are very grateful to Onward for supporting our work with this donation. At DanceSyndrome we empower adults with learning disabilities to gain skills not just for dancing and dance leadership but for living independent lives and being part of their community. Onward’s focus on community values makes for a great partnership that I’m sure will benefit many vulnerable adults at a very challenging time”.
If you would like more information about our current dance sessions, please visit the Events page of our website.
