A few years ago we were lucky enough to work with John Nicholson of Peepolykus theatre company: John directed our musical theatre production of Hercules.

John is currently working with composer Alex Rudd to create a song in response to and to help draw attention to the crisis facing our industry. The finished product will be shared on social media - and the demo sounds great!

World Book Day is nearly upon us and we are looking forward to visiting schools across the country to help celebrate with our dance and drama workshops.

For World Book Day 2020 we are launching a photo competition giving schools the chance to win a free pantomime for their children in December 2020!*

Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a good start to the new school term - mince pies and wrapping gifts already feels like a distant memory doesn’t it? But as one good thing comes to an end an equally exciting one steps into its place. There’s plenty to be looking forward to this spring. For example… 

Anti-Bullying Week takes place on 11th November to 15th November this year, and 2019’s theme is ‘change starts with us’. At West End in Schools we have been running Anti-bullying drama workshops for the past two years, but we are constantly developing and improving the workshops based on feedback from teachers. 

The new school year is upon us! And we are excited about what this year holds.

From the dancing our way through Roald Dahl Day to taking pause to reflect with poetry on Armistice Day - there’s plenty to get involved with.

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…

This year we have developed a series of complimentary CPD sessions for primary school teachers. Each workshop guides teachers through a series of tools and techniques they can apply in their own classrooms. Throughout the sessions we invite teachers to ask questions, to share their practise and experience. There are a few common questions that teachers ask about running their own performing arts lessons in their class.

How can we teach climate change to children in a way that feels productive, and not terrifying? Back in March our Creative Director Abi began working with a group of primary school teachers, environment experts and some of our most experienced drama facilitators to answer this exact question…

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.

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! 

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.