Teenagers dancing with stars in their eyes

CHILDREN'S SUMMER CAMPS:Students get to build confidence and ability at the Dance Theatre of Ireland

A GROUP OF parents and children sit expectantly in a row of seats placed at one end of the Dance Theatre of Ireland’s dance studio in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. A bunch of teenagers, mainly girls but a few boys, are preparing to perform the dance pieces they have learned or created here during a one-week Dance All Day summer camp.

In drama and dance camps, the show is the moment of truth. That’s the time when everyone gets to see how engaged the participants are in the activity, how much fun they have had and what they have to show for it.

The dancers perform five pieces, ranging from an abstract expressive piece using large colourful blocks as props, to a free-style flowing contemporary piece, a faster jazz number, an even faster hip-hop dance and an original group-choreographed piece that includes solo performances and group sequences.

There are a few out-of-kilter moments but, considering that this is the first dance camp for almost a third of the teenagers, that’s pretty impressive.

“There is no formal syllabus. There is a lot of improvisation and there is a huge amount of progression in a week,” explains Robert Connor, artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Ireland, which runs the camp with Cayisha Graham.

“On day one and day two, you could feel some of the dancers experiencing information overload. I even heard one of them say, ‘I can’t get my body to do that yet’, but they all got through that wall of frustration.”

This is a slightly shy group, according to Graham, who taught the hip hop and jazz classes at the summer camp. “Many of them hadn’t the experience of being in a performing orientated set-up before,” she says.

The emotional aspect is as important as the physical, according to Loretta Yurick, the artistic director and co-founder of the Dance Theatre of Ireland. “What’s important about the course is to give them a chance to learn a range of movements – to give them the tools and vocabulary of dance, but the priority is to build confidence and creative expression,” she says.

It has proved a positive experience for the participants. Ellie Palmer (14) says that it was her first dance camp in a while. “There was a good range of styles and it helped me with my technique. I really enjoyed the week and it encouraged me to get back into dance.”

Tim Murphy (16) is one of the more experienced dancers on the course. “Dance is one of my favourite things to do. The only hard thing about this week was that I had to get up at 8am to get here every day,” he says.

“I find that I’m eating better once I’m at camp and it improves my physique.”

Other participants say that the camp offers good opportunities for making friends while keeping fit and exercising.

Jordan Devine (17) is one of the first-timers at the dance camp.

“I break dance in the streets of Derry. And then I was dancing at a wedding and a friend put a video of it on YouTube and I heard about this camp,” he says. “I’ve never had this experience before. I had a really good time. It’s something I could get used to.”

The Dance Theatre of Ireland summer camps are finished for this summer but the company runs a variety of classes throughout the year.

For enquiries about other dance classes and next year’s summer camps, contact the Dance Theatre of Ireland, Bloomfield Centre, Lower George’s St, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Tel: 01 2803455 or e-mail: danceire@iol.ie