Alternative Energies starts back next week

13th September 2022

Alternative Energies – our intergenerational dance project – starts back this autumn on Tuesday 20th September and is welcoming new participants from the Ballycastle area.

Meeting once a week on a Tuesday from 4pm to 5:30pm, the group is led by Dr Philip Johnson and meets at the Ramoan Centre, 3 Station Street, Ballycastle.

This project brings young people aged 15 to 18 years together with the elders of the Ballycastle area to meet, move, share ideas and create dance performances and events that resonate with people of different ages. Of course, there is always time to chat over a cup of tea too!

For young people, the experience of being involved in this unique project supports personal development and a range of youth leadership programmes.   As one young person already involved in the project, said:

“Throughout my time dancing and performing with the group, it really helped us all get back interacting with people after covid. It helped to develop my confidence and self-esteem as well as helping others with their own. The impact of working with older people helped me to grow my teamwork and the ability to help others that were in difficulty. I enjoyed interacting with the older group and looked forward to being in their company. The impact of having a mixed-age group allowed me to develop my communication skills also. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Phillip and DU Dance!“

At DU Dance (NI) we firmly believe that age is no barrier to dance and if this project is of interest to you, or someone you know, please email Debs to find out more and get involved: deborah@dudanceni.com

This project is supported by The Arts & Older People Programme, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and The Baring Foundation.