Celebrating a year of Creative Dance for Early Years

As an organisation dedicated to the advancement of dance education, Rambert Grades proudly reminisces on the first year of our Creative Dance for Early Years syllabus.

In April 2023, we facilitated our first cohort of members, training them to deliver the 3-grade syllabus for ages 3+. Over the past 12 months, over 150 educators from across the globe have trained, spanning the UK, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, Europe and Canada, and are now delivering the grades to their students.

Chief Executive Officer Abigail Reeve said, “As we celebrate the one-year milestone of our teachers implementing this syllabus worldwide, we’re taking a moment to acknowledge their achievements and look to the bright future of our youngest dancers.”

Developing Essential Skills

The Creative Movers, Pre-Primary, and Primary grades in Creative Contemporary Dance equip teachers with a structured approach to immerse young children in the exploration of movement and dance, fostering essential physical development, musicality, and confidence. Practitioners are provided with a dynamic, skills-based structure to deliver a different class each week to keep children engaged, with opportunities to tailor themes to align with student’s interests and curricular subjects.

Recent studies within the UK have underscored the pressing need for interventions to support early childhood development. A significant proportion of children aged 2-2.5 years are failing to meet expected developmental benchmarks across multiple domains in relation to gross motor skills. Rambert Grades champions a pedagogy centred on learning through play, harnessing the power of dance and movement to cultivate essential skills during these critical formative years.

Chief Executive Offer Abigail Reeve said, “We are dedicated to supporting practitioners with the confidence and tools they need to utilise dance and movement effectively to lay the groundwork for basic dance skills, and nurture creative imaginations.”

Member Stories

In Hungary, member Liz Sweales shared “This is the first curriculum I have seen for younger people that not only lays the foundations for contemporary dance, but encourages creativity and celebrates individuality. The creativity woven through each lesson is just magical and really captures the movers’ imaginations.”

Discussing the impact on her students’ development, she explains that “this has given them confidence to explore a wider range of movement as well as linking together their ideas in a more meaningful way. They are developing a thought process behind their dance choices and that is wonderful to see.”

Member Liz Swales class at Love Dance in Budapest. Image courtesy of Liz Swales.

UK-based Member Jennifer Dunnell also contributed her experiences, sharing that her favourite aspect of teaching the syllabus was “how unrestricted and free the movement is”, elaborating that her students “have learned to be more confident and daring and have discovered dance can be even more fun.” Considering her overarching experience with Rambert Grades as an organisation, she said, “From day one, I have been impressed by how human Rambert Grades are. Super friendly and normal, with fantastic and easily accessible resources.”

Caroline Bowditch delivering a Creative Movers class at Victorian Dance Festival 2023, launching the syllabus in Australia. Image by Belinda Strodder.

Dance for all: Inclusive Practice

The promotion of inclusivity within dance education is central across all Rambert Grades syllabi. Artists Maiya Leeke and Caroline Bowditch were central to the conception of all material to create a framework in which children of all backgrounds, abilities, and identities can develop dance and movement skills to set up them up for future success.

Head of Education and Examinations, Hannah Kidd said, "We strive to provide every child with the tools to explore movement, ensuring accessibility for all. It’s vital that inclusivity in dance begins from the first encounter and it’s a privilege to support our teachers to create a learning environment in which all students thrive.”

“Inclusivity in dance begins from the first encounter”

Empowering early years practitioners

The syllabus material also serves as a valuable resource for practitioners working in early years environments. In a recent collaboration, we partnered with Rambert dance company and the Greater Manchester Authority to empower local early years practitioners working in playgroups and nurseries to incorporate creative dance into their daily routines. This group received comprehensive training and support, enabling them to seamlessly integrate creative dance into their daily interactions with preschool children to enrich early education.

Moments of Celebration: About the Exams

Head of Education and Examinations, Hannah Kidd reflects on the positive impact of examinations for young children, emphasising their significance as milestones in their dance journey.

"Recorded examinations provide young students with their first experience of a dance exam, laying a foundation of positivity as they achieve their first milestones. We are proud to witness the dedication of Rambert Grades members nurturing their students' growth, evident in the exemplary quality demonstrated in the first year of submitted examinations.”

All children who complete a Creative Movers, Pre-Primary or Primary examination receive a bright fabric ‘you are brilliant’ badge. Image by Jack Thomson.

Training

Creative Dance for Early years Training is delivered online over two half-days. The training is suitable for dance teachers, primary school teachers and early years providers.

Upcoming training:

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