Foreword

(The following text is reproduced from the Summertime performance programme)

It’s official – dance is back in our schools! Nationally the Government is investing in dance as it recognises the benefits that it can bring participants, whatever their age and ability. In schools, dance has always been an option but not one that is taken up by many pupils.

With the re-emergence of dance on television and within popular culture, schools are also keen to extend its reach. Summertime has offered the schools involved the chance to give dance a high profile within their schools and to underscore the opportunities it can bring of exercise, team-work and creativity.

Royal Albert Hall Education’s remit includes creating projects that are linked to the calendar of events taking place at the Hall. Once the plans for Strictly Gershwin were finalised with English National Ballet, it became clear that this was a fantastic opportunity for us to create a major schools’ dance project that would grow from the performance to be created by Derek Deane.

We felt that one area we would like to explore was to take classic Gershwin music, remix it into a diverse range of genres and then ask our participating schools, with the help of our professional Dance Artists, to create an original piece of choreography within these genres.

With our partner organisations, English National Ballet and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, we have spent over 18 months planning, organising, choreographing and rehearsing for today’s performances.

We are delighted that, with the support of each partner organisation, we have involved 12 schools and over 200 dancers, who range in age from 14–19, from all over London. They and their Dance Artists have worked exceptionally hard to be ready to take to the stage in the Royal Albert Hall. Please give them all the encouragement and support you can as they will be nervous, with butterflies in more than just a few stomachs!

What this project demonstrates is that if we give the young people in our schools the opportunity they will, as Ira Gershwin so aptly put it in the words to Summertime, “spread their wings” and fly.

Alastair Tallon
Head of Education, Royal Albert Hall