Aspire update Feb 2021

This year’s Aspire programme tested our ability to be flexible and adaptable at all times. The project started in the Autumn of 2020, with third year Rambert School students working from the studio and via Microsoft Teams, delivering technique and creative dance workshops to GCSE Dance students at Hampton High and Twickenham School. After just a few weeks, we could already see a difference in the confidence of the dancers. The expansiveness of their movement had grown and their willingness to rise to a challenge was fantastic.

After a month of workshops before Christmas, we came back in 2021 with news that schools would be closed for the foreseeable future. Everyone would be dancing from home. This provided us with new challenges. Rules that schools had in place to keep their students safe online meant that we continued to teach but without being able to see the participants. Exams were cancelled and the focus had to change quickly. Rambert School students had to think creatively to deliver meaningful workshops, setting tasks for dancers and giving movement guidance so they were developing skills that could be taken back to the studio. Their communication skills were given the ultimate test.

Despite the challenges faced by working from home online, the project still proved to be a success, with much of the work created by the participants planned to be used as evidence for their GCSE grading by their teachers. This year has demonstrated with great reason, that the Aspire project and moreover the collaboration and celebration of dance has the capacity to both uplift and bring communities of people together.

‘Aspire is one of Rambert School’s favourite projects of the year. It gives us the opportunity to meet young dance students who are on the cusp of discovering the joys of studying dance. Through this project, we hope to harness the raw talent, potential and creativity of the participants, giving them a foundation for their GCSE course’

– Citi Cheshire, Head of Participation, Outreach & WP

Find out more about Aspire.

Image from Pre-COVID-19.