We have recently received some very exciting post, which left the whole team sporting a Cheshire Cat’s grin! The lovely Year 6 children from Clarendon Junior School have sent us handwritten letters, giving us their feedback on our workshop with them in March.

To celebrate Lunar New Year we spoke with Liz Chi Yen Liew, composer of our Chinese Zodiac Dance Workshop based on The Great Race.

Here she demonstrates how the instruments are used in the music, and speaks about her inspiration and approach when composing the piece.

The Festival of Lights is fast approaching! And we have had the joy of touring schools across the country this month to help primary school children explore one of the most important stories behind Diwali - The Ramayana. An epic tale of good triumphing over evil, it is a story that can be traced back to 500 BCE (that’s a LONG time ago!) and it’s as much loved today as it was back then.

When a child opens a poetry book and look at the pages, what do they see? Rarely do they see uniformity. They see words and letters making all different shapes across a page. Some short, some long. Some with rhyme and some without. Some poems even become the illustration of what they are describing. 

Roald Dahl Day isn’t just a time to celebrate a great author. It is a day to celebrate everything Dahl’s stories teach: creativity, perseverance and fun!

If we want children to grow up to believe they can do anything and that they are not confined to certain activities which fit within gendered stereotypes, then we need to start changing how we talk about subjects like dance. Instead of worrying about the preconceptions of dance, let's take a look at some of the incredible benefits participating in dance can have for young boys.

Each year we choose a special selection of books to focus on in dance and drama workshops during the World Book Day period, including one or two completely new workshop options. (This also means we get to spend some quality time in bookshops, which is an added bonus!)

We’re delighted to announce that our 2020 World Book Day choices are…

You’ve made it! Welcome to the final term of this academic year - we are that bit closer to the summer.
It may be the last term, but it is by no means least. There are plenty of upcoming events and occasions to celebrate. And we have put together a timeline of what there is to look forward to this term, as well as some suggestions on how to get involved!

“A smile is the universal language of kindness” - William Arthur Ward

A smile is our body’s way to communicate joy without language, much like a wave to say hello or a shake of the head to mean no thank you.

Without even thinking about it we are capable of communicating with so many people without uttering a single word.

Inspiring children to bring books to life with dance is one of our favourite things to do at West End in Schools. Just last week we gathered some of the country’s most talented dancers in one room, to work through the choreography for our Bringing Books to Life dance workshops in primary schools. We spoke to a few of our regular West End in Schools choreographers to find out more about their work with us to inspire children to dance.

For World Book Day 2019 we are launching a photo and video competition giving schools to win a free pantomime for their school this December!

We are visiting schools across the country to celebrate Chinese New Year with a dance workshops based on “The Great Race”, the story behind the Chinese Zodiac. Not planned a dance workshop with us this year? Well fear not, there’s still plenty of ways you can get your class involved in celebrating!

Watching a narrative dance piece introduces to children what it means to communicate with their bodies, faces and gestures. It demonstrates how ‘dialogues’ can be shared without any spoken word, and how that itself may bring about whole new dynamics to ‘conversation’.

So last term you read our Guide to Teaching Dance series and you’ve found your groove? Thought so! Well, to help you along this year we’ve put together a 2019 Dance Calendar! Providing a year round excuse for getting the whole class up and jiving! 

Books provide young people a window into a new world, they unshackle the imagination and promote the thought that anything is possible. World Book Day, is on a mission to give every child or young person a book of their own. It is a celebration of books, authors, illustrators and imagination!

新年快乐 Xin Nian Kuai Le! Or Happy New Year!

Perhaps a little premature, but I can’t help it I’m just too excited! This week at West End in Schools we announced the launch of our latest dance workshop for 2019 - The Great Race: Chinese Zodiac Dance Workshop.

Welcome to Part 5 of the West End in Schools Guide to Teaching Dance. So far we’ve covered why we should teach dance at all, the 5 simple steps for how to teach dance, the process for creating choreography with your students, and lastly the choreographic devices that will help you and your students create. This final piece is all about tips for actually delivering a session.

After going through the process of creating dance in Part 3 it’s time to talk about choreographic devices. Choreographic devices are the tools we use to manipulate movement in order to enhance, exaggerate and embody actions. They’re a great way to give a class or a group of children ownership over their dance. Here we have 11 devices, some which are more suitable for EYFS and KS1, and some for KS2.

Been teaching pre-set dances for a while now? Rinsed your repertoire? Is your class itching to create something of their own? Are you?! Then let’s do it. Let’s create. Let’s choreograph. (It’s easier than you might think.)

Welcome to Part 2 of our Guide to Teaching Dance! In Part 1 we discussed the benefits of teaching dance in the first place. Here in Part 2 I’m going to talk all about how to teach dance. A good way to approach this is through 5 simple steps…