The vision of Alpha Dance is to bring together people of all ages and abilities within the local community, through high quality teaching of Latin American and Ballroom Dance. We aim to create excitement and passion within participants, by teaching the skills necessary to either learn or improve technique and discipline through the art of dance. We also aim to provide a GCSE qualification in contemporary dance to 15 and 16 year old school students, through the exam board AQA. We aim to accomplish this by setting achievable mid and long term goals, which are set out below.
Mid Term Goals:
- The initial goal is to find appropriate premises, such as a community centre or village hall, which must have a suitable floor space
- To obtain appropriate insurance and licences, to cover all aspects of the company in the services it provides
- To encourage local people to come together and learn a new skill – by putting on demonstrations, leaflet drops, posters, advertising in the local paper, social media, website
- To provide classes that are accessible to all members of the community – in terms of both class times and ability levels
- To teach varying levels of technique, including GCSE level dance qualifications
- Promote fitness, health and wellbeing
- Engage with the local community and build relationships with community groups, companies and potential sponsors
Long Term Goals:
- To asses the popularity of classes and amend staffing accordingly, increasing staff if necessary
- To set up connections with local youth groups, to run after school dance classes
- Expand into more specialised classes such as wedding dances, private lessons and senior citizen social dances
- To expand the reach of the company into other surrounding villages
- To increase involvement within local society, including more public shows, workshops, school visits and medal test opportunities
The vision of Alpha Dance is to provide opportunities for as many people in the local community as possible, irrespective of their age, class or cultural background. The vision of Alpha Dance has been influenced by a number of organisations. One of the main influences on Alpha Dance is The Foundation for Community Dance, community dance quality outlines. The six qualities outlined are: 1, engage directly with people as they define themselves, valuing and respecting who they are, their differences and what they bring individually and collectively to that engagement; 2, providing experiences that contribute positively to self worth, self confidence, and sense of wellbeing; 3, connecting people to experiences that are achievable, yet testing, over which they have a sense of ownership, control and belonging; 4, providing a framework for learning and making effective use of art form skills; 5, engaging people creatively in solving problems, seeking solutions, and finding a form of dance that expresses their concerns, cultures and aspirations; and 6, providing opportunities for people to develop more positive and active relationships with their wider communities (Amans, 2008). These have influenced the vision of Alpha Dance as as an organisation there is a focus on bettering people’s lives through classes which challenge and reward people as well as having a social aspect. Alpha Dance also tries to portray these values in the style’s provided. Although Latin American and Ballroom dance have specific techniques, there are many different dances, from many different cultures, which differ considerably, meaning there will be a dance everyone can enjoy. Additionally when teaching GCSE dance the course is very open to students being creative with their own movement, having no boundaries on what they can do. Alpha Dance was also influenced by Full Bloom’s work with elders. One of Alpha Dance’s goals is to offer senior citizen social dances, this is because as people grow older they may feel like they lose their identity within society, by providing a social dance it gives them the opportunity to stay active within society and meet new people. However, the style of dance provided by Alpha Dance, unlike Full Bloom, will still be in the ballroom style. This is because many older people danced this in their youth and will happily dance without tuition, although tuition will be available throughout on request. Like the classes provided by Full Bloom, the social dance also has health benefits, it will help keep elders physically active without putting high levels of stress on their bodies. Additionally with it being a social dance it gives the opportunity to sit out and socialise during dances that are unknown or un-liked without the fear of being judged by other participants.
Bibliography
Amans, D. (2008) An Introduction to Community Dance Practice, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.