Kids get in step for Dance Day

Liberties kids prepare for open-air dance celebration, part of International Dance Day

By Danielle Byrne

Liberties kids are busy getting in step for a large open-air dance celebration on International Dance Day, next April.

Young people aged 10-15 years are taking part in creative dance workshops hosted by the South West Inner City Network (SWICN) Youth Services, as part of the Dance Day.

The workshops are taking place for a ten-week period and will culminate in a large open-air dance celebration on at Dublin Corporation’s Civic Offices on April 29.

There are approximately 80 young people in eight Youth Groups taking part in the dance workshops. The groups are Fatima Youth Group, Whitefriar Street Youth Group, Small Club, Charlemount Street, Michael Mallin House Youth Group, Oliver Bond, School Street and Meath Street.

On International Dance Day all the groups taking part will have the opportunity to make a presentation of the dances they have created through the workshops.

SWICN Youth Services Officer, Fidelma Twomey, who has organised the event hopes the workshops will work to encourage young people from different areas of the south inner city to share resources. The youth groups are sharing workshop venues and have the same dance artist, Mary O’Donnell, supervising them.

"The aim of the dance project is to link youth groups together and to introduce the young people to creative dance" says Fidelma. "The focus is not the final event but to use dances as a medium to develop a set of community organisations working with young people in the south west inner city."

Young people and leaders were brought together on January 19 and introduced to the idea by SWICN Youth Services. Creative dance is something that most of these young people have not done before.

According to Fidelma, "People have ideas of fixed styles of dance and come along out of curiosity to see what this is." Since organising the workshops, SWICN have had a number of enquiries from other interested dance groups from the Inner City and they will also be invited to participate in the events on April 29.