The power of dance to motivate and teach young people has been the subject of the two-year "Youth Moves To Dance" project in Cork. The project is targeted at youngsters between the ages of 15 and 25 who are deemed at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.
It is run by the Firkin Crane dance development agency, which is based in the building formerly converted for use by the Irish National Ballet, but never used in that capacity.
The social benefits of theatre and literature in terms of building self-esteem and confidence have already been widely recognised, and project co-ordinator Mowbray Bates hopes that dance will soon be viewed in the same way.
He says that there are a number of transferable skills that young people involved in the project can learn which will be useful to them in their later lives. Among these he lists communication, teamwork, working with numbers, learning skills and problem-solving. Development of these areas through dance classes help to give the young people involved confidence and self-esteem which will stand them in good stead when seeking jobs.
One young Cork northsider participating in the project said: "I'd never even been to a dance class before this - there's not much chance where I come from. It's given me more confidence and I feel better about myself."
There are three strands to the work Bates and his team are carrying out. The first involves outreach work, in which they have developed partnerships with more than 20 agencies in Cork that are involved in youth work, including the prison education service and the drugs task force. The Firkin team provides workshops and taster sessions for youth groups and, if it works out, develops a programme of dance classes.
THE FIRKIN team is also involved in training youth leaders in how they might use the medium of dance in their work. Some graduates of the dance PLC course run at Firkin Crane have joined up with youth group leaders to help them with the dance classes.
The third strand has been the development of a core group of young people with an interest in dance who attend a more intensive program run at Firkin Crane. The group is run on an invitation-only basis, so that "Youth Moves To Dance" leaders can be sure they are targeting the right people. In future Bates hopes that this group may develops into a youth dance performance company.
There is already a strong emphasis on performance within the project, which has included visits from some well-known British dance companies. This year dance director Wayne McGregor brought over his Random Dance Company for a four-week residency. They worked with the outreach group, and put on a performance at Cork Opera House in which the young dancers participated with the professionals.
The project is funded as part of the EU Youthstart programme, which targets money at projects that will help young people to move into the job market. It also receives matching funding from FAS and the Arts Council.
On November 12th the successes and future plans for the project will be presented in a seminar, which will be attended by Micheal Martin, Minister for Education and Science, and Professor Aine Hyland, vice-president of UCC.
Bates hopes that the seminar will be an opportunity to explore progression routes for the scheme, and encourage mangers of groups like FAS and Youthreach to see the value of incorporating dance-based projects into training schemes in other parts of the State.
