We are delighted to present Through Our Eyes, the result of a three-year project with groups of young carers across Northern Ireland, in partnership with Barnardo’s NI as part of Young At Art’s 2021 Belfast Children’s Festival. This series of five short films, shot at stunning locations, recognise and give voice and emotional expression to young carers, raising awareness of some of the issues they face
U. DANCE 2021applications OPEN NOW for the national youth dance festival which will take place online 16-18 July 2021.
U.Dance is the national programme of events offering high quality dance opportunities to young people. Each year, our nation’s young dancers can experience the thrill of creating, learning and performing dance.
DU Dance (NI) as a regional partner organisation are inviting applications from across the island of Ireland with a submission deadline of 31st March 2021. Film a creative dance piece observing the current restrictions, or send in a recording of a piece created in the last 12 months.
How do I apply?
To be eligible for a place at U.Dance 2021 groups will need to:
Include dancers aged 11 to 19 years on 31 July 2021 (disabled dancers aged up to and including 25 can apply)
Work within Covid-19 guidance that is appropriate for your setting
Be based in the UK/ Ireland and involve dancers who live in the UK / Ireland
Submit a dance piece, on film, of 2 to 7 minutes in duration, to your Regional Platform organizer – DU Dance (NI) via email info@dudanceni.com
Not sure of what to enter? Some examples of acceptable entries include:
A dance film featuring dancers recording sections remotely and edited together
A piece created and filmed pre-lockdown in a studio or theatre which has not been widely showcased
A solo entry
We welcome entries filmed on mobile phone, tablet, or professional equipment. See below for some helpful webinars which may assist your entry.
One Dance UK and all U.Dance Regional Partners are committed to helping you and your young dancers make the most of U.Dance during this difficult period. We want applications to best reflect the commitment and creativity of your work. It can be daunting creating, recording and editing a piece for film, and we want groups from a variety of settings to take part:
School groups
Youth dance companies
Private dance schools
Individuals
All are welcome, and you may find working towards a performance opportunity like U.Dance will provide a welcome sense of achievement for your dancers.
To support groups with their digital applications, we encourage you to watch the below Upskilling Webinars with dance film experts free of charge. These were filmed in December 2020 with a particular focus on dance for children and young people:
Filming Dance for Stage with Craig Bush (previously worked with Birmingham Royal Ballet, New Adventures and Rambert School)
Filming Dance for Screen with Jo Cork (The Place, Studio Wayne McGregor, ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company)
The festival will focus on screendance on Saturday the 6th Feb, with works from DU Dance (NI), Oona Doherty, Mary Wycherly & Liz Roche and Off The Rails.
DU Dance (NI) Tides (2012) was produced as part of the company’s three-year inter-generational programme engaging people aged between 9 and 92 years across communities in Ahoghill, Ballymena, Ballymoney and Belfast. The programme involved the delivery of two large-scale performance projects and the creation of three short, arts-based films. The films have been screened at a number of festivals and events across Ireland, as well as in England, Scotland, Germany and France.
This week our youth dance classes look a little different.
To celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week we are offering five exciting dance workshops all with a different theme to help lift our moods, ease anxiety and have some fun.
All workshops are available for free and online. To register your child send us an email at info@dudanceni.com.
Our youth dance classes are back after a well deserved Christmas break with 4 weeks online. If you know a young person who loves to dance or wants to try something new in 2021 then look no further.
Dungannon Classes– Every Wednesday starting 20th January 2021 || Suteminis Ages 7-11 years 4pm to 5pm || Sutemos Ages 12+ 7pm-8pm
Ballymoney Classes-Every Friday starting 22nd January 2021 || Alternatives Ages 7-11 4pm-5pm || Alternative Energies Ages 12-19 5.15pm-6.15pm
Belfast Class– Every Saturday starting 23rd January 2021 || Belfast Boys Ages 10-14 3pm-4pm (please note this is a boys-only class)
DU Dance (NI) were delighted to bring young people together for Unanimous 2020 at Crawfordsburn Scout Activity Centre with groups from Ballymoney, Belfast, Dungannon and Enniskillen. The Gary Clarke Dance Company provided a fabulous zoom masterclass, each group performed a piece they had worked on reflecting the year which helped raise our spirits and keep us warm at this outdoor socially distanced event. We hope to release footage in the new year.
Our YEP groups took dance into the community this term.
Sutemos and Suteminis filmed a performance which was shared online as part of Culture Night celebrations in Dungannon while Alternatives and Alternative Energies took the opportunity to perform outside for the residents of St James Care Home in Ballymoney and finally the Belfast Boys lit up the streets of Belfast as part of the Christmas Light switch on.
