What a week!

What a crazy week it has been for the dance team! From Wednesday 6th to Friday 8th February, artsNK held three consecutive showcases at the Terry O’ Toole Theatre.

Primary Dance Festival
It all kicked off with our annual Primary Dance Festival on Wednesday. This saw schools from around the area perform to a sell-out crowd. These included Bassingham Primary, NK School Yr. 10’s, Swinderby All Saints Primary School, NK School Yr. 7’s, Fosse Way Academy, Ling Moor Primary School and NK School Yr. 13’s. With over one hundred children taking part and two shows that night, it was a hectic day but everything ran smoothly.

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Children of all ages and abilities took to the stage to show off a mixture of talents which impressed the audience. Each Primary group focused on the theme of moving onto Secondary School, and portrayed this in a number of different ways with help from our Community Dance Artist, Holly Arnold and our Youth Dance Artist, Emma Terzza.

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Also working on the project with us were a number of the University of Lincoln’s 3rd year Sport Development and Coaching students. Not only did they help on the day of the show, but they helped throughout the project working alongside Holly and Emma with the Primary groups.

Photo: Jane Harrison

Inspiring Young Talent
On the 7^th February, it saw the return of our Inspiring Young Talent showcase. Groups from around the area are given the chance to show off their talents and skills, whilst performing to a large crowd.

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Featuring in the showcase, were groups from around the NK and Lincoln areas and included a mixture of styles and techniques.

During the day, amidst all the preparation for the evening’s event, Holly and her group, Freefall Youth Dance, had a chat with BBC Lincolnshire about what audiences could expect from the show.

Photo: Michaela Soltys

With a large number of acts on the night, the show promised to be entertaining and something which everyone could enjoy.  We Dance- Lincoln College 1^st Years kicked off the show with their performance to Michael Jackson’s Al Capone.  This was then followed with a variety of different dance pieces, ranging from fun and quirky to Contemporary and even Flamenco!

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Due to popular demand, two IYT shows were held, which meant more groups had the opportunity to perform. On the second night, Friday the 8th, the line - up was a little smaller but still crammed with talent.

Again, the groups were from the NK and Lincoln area and featured all abilities and skills including redXco, our street dance company and LNRevolution who took part in this years Dance Factor competition.

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Photo: Michaela Soltys

Along with the help of the University of Lincoln’s 3rd year Sport Development and Coaching students, the two IYT shows were a success and we hope it inspired young people to get involved!

You can see more pictures from all three nights by visiting our Facebook page here.

Coming up in 2013!

Welcome to 2013! 2012 was a very busy but exciting year for the Dance Team and 2013 is already shaping up to be the same. We are already under way organising and planning exciting things for the upcoming year. 

At the end of January, professional break-dancers Bad Taste Cru will be coming to the Terry O’ Toole Theatre. This takes place on the 31^st January at 7:30pm. Tickets cost £5. 

Into February, we are pleased to welcome back artsNK’s Spring Primary Dance Festival on the 6^th February at 6pm and 7pm. In the same week, our Inspiring Young Talent showcase also returns. Due to popular demand, there will be TWO performances taking place on the 7^th and 8^th February, both at 7:30pm. Once again the Terry O’ Toole theatre shall be hosting the event and tickets cost £3. It is not to be missed! 
Tickets can be bought from http://www.terryotooletheatre.org.uk/

Whilst March may seem a while away yet, tickets are now available to purchase for the county U.Dance platform, True Motion. Taking place at the LPAC in Lincoln on the 9^th March, it will feature a number of groups from around the county. Tickets cost only £3 and you can book them by calling 01522 883311.

To keep updated with what is going on with the Dance Team, and how to get involved, like our Facebook page and follow our Twitter!

On With The Dance

On Friday 7th December, artsNK Dance held the On With The Dance course at Harpers Gym, Sleaford. The teacher training course designed by the artsNK Dance Development Team, is constructed to inspire participants whilst building their creative skills and confidence.

The group being introduced to the activities.

Warm up exercises in action.

The course got into full swing straight away, with a brief introduction followed by the participants being up on their feet and taking part in activities. Through the use of beanbag games and warm up exercises, the group got to know one another whilst gaining some insight into what they could use when teaching children. After the informative warm up, the course moved onto it’s main focus around performance. The attendees were then split up into groups of two and three, they were handed a picture and asked to develop a performance piece from it. Focusing on the Aztec's, the groups produced creative and well thought out pieces which impressed. Throughout the rest of the day, these pieces would be developed culminating into one big performance.

Groups looking at their picture.

Performances in action.

Working as part of a group, this allowed the participants to put forward their ideas whilst learning how to use them effectively and confidently. Using different types of music and dance techniques, participants got to experience how dance can be used for expanding children's creativity and interpreting ideas, as well as furthering their own skills.

Alongside the physical activity, there were many chances for the participants to discuss the theory aspect of the course. This was a chance for them to not only talk about what they had been doing, but to also discuss new ideas and theory which they could put into practice in the classroom or their classes.

Many of the group had only positive comments for the course with many saying it had inspired them and that it was a ‘brilliant course’ which was ‘fast moving and to the point’.

On With The Dance isn’t just for those in Education. Today the course took place at the University of Lincoln with Sport Development and Coaching Students.

The next course shall be taking place on 22nd March 2013 in Lincoln.

If you are interested in taking an On With The Dance course then please follow our Facebook page and Twitter for more updates. You can also find out more by contacting us. 

Links can be found on the contact page.

Dance Factor 6 NK Semi Final

 After nine weeks and a lot of hard work, the Dance Factor 6 Semi Final arrived. Taking place on Friday 30^th November at The Terry O’ Toole Theatre, groups from the NK area got to showcase their skills and talent. Performing to a sold out crowd of over 200 people, the audience were treated to a night of beat boxing and dance battles.

All the groups waiting backstage.

The six groups from Bracebridge, Hykeham, Sleaford, Branston, North Hykeham and Moorlands were competing for one of the four places on offer in the Grand Final. This shall take place on Sunday 16^th December at the Engine Shed in Lincoln. Tickets are available now!

With such a high scale of skill and talent on show, the judges had the difficult task of picking the finalists. Once they reached the decision, it became a nerve racking wait for all the groups to see whether they would be heading to the Engine Shed.

Finally, to many screams and cheers, the groups going through were announced. So representing NK in the Dance Factor 6 Final shall be…

Rustons- The Jokers

NK Centre- Red Streak

Branston- Fluorescent Flow

Sleaford- Electric

Here are some pictures from the day. Many more can be found at our Facebook page!

Fluorescent Flow

Electric

Fuzion

Red Streak

Neon Beatz

The Jokers

Dance Factor 6 Grand Final

The semi final for Dance Factor 6 went really well! All the groups were great! Come along to the Grand Final on the 16th December at Engine Shed and support all the groups. Get your tickets directly from the Engine Shed! See you there! :)

Dance Factor Semi Final tickets now on sale!

Tickets for the Dance Factor 6 Semi Final are now on sale! Over the past few weeks, groups across the NK and Lincoln area have been preparing and rehearsing for the event.

The event for NK will be taking place at the Terry O’ Toole Theatre in North Hykeham on Friday 30th November at 7pm.

Tickets are priced at £3 and can be collected in person, booked by visiting http://www.terryotooletheatre.org.uk/ and following the links or ringing the TOTT Box Office on 01522 883311.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the new blog of artsNK's Dance team. This page is designed to keep you up to date with all the goings on within the dance team at events and classes! From pictures and posts to video, the blog will feature a little bit of everything.

As well as keeping up to date with the blog, you can check out links to our Facebook page and Twitter in the sidebar.