Dance Coordinator Katie Shone provides an update on the project since winning the Award in July 2016.
What did you do with the £1,000 prize?
“Winning £1,000 has really helped inspire the dancers to continue their dancing. In early October, dancers from across the Borough had the opportunity to watch a live ballet show ‘Giselle’ and attend a workshop at the Palace Theatre, Manchester. Dance Manchester were very supportive in helping us find a valuable opportunity which we could take our dancers to. They introduced us to the English National Ballet who arranged a workshop and subsidised tickets to watch the show. We were keen to offer the dancers this once in a lifetime opportunity, which for many wouldn’t have been available to them without the prize money.”
What are your plans for the year ahead?
“On Sunday 20th November, we attended the Wigan Christmas parade. Thirty-five dancers, along with dance leaders, friends and family walked in the Christmas parade watched by around 3,000 people. The dancers then got the chance to dance on stage and show off their moves! Community events are always an excellent way to offer our groups new experiences and chances to perform. Many of the dancers develop confidence during these events and develop ways of dealing with pressure, nerves and performing in front of an audience. We look forward to our dancers performing at our very own Dance Festival Spring 2017.
“In addition, we hope to put twenty children through the Bronze Arts Award and increase the number of leaders within Dance in the Community by putting them through the highly regarded ‘Dance Leaders’ leadership programme. We are also planning to increase the number of sessions we provide within the borough from 5 to 9 per week, and target younger children by reducing the starting age from 8 to 5.”
Why should people should nominate themselves this year?
“Organisations, clubs and projects should be recognised for all the hard work they do within their local communities. We’d encourage any organisation which helps improve grassroots sport and recreation in their community to enter these prestigious awards. Winning has had a huge impact on the lives of some of our young people and it might just do the same for you!”
Entries for the 2017 Community Sport and Recreation Awards are now open, and you can enter your project or initiative here.
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