YDE Conference 2010: A Shared Vision for the Future

A very successful YDE Conference took place last 23-24 September 2010 at the Mermaid Conference Centre in London, where over 300 delegates exchanged their ideas, knowledge and aspirations for the future of young people's dance.

The first Ten Year Vision for Children and Young People’s Dance was launched at the Conference where it was championed by guest speakers Ed Vaizey, Wayne McGregor and Tony Hall amongst others. The Vision identifies needs in high quality teaching and workforce development, increased opportunities for participation and performance both in and out of school settings, dance space development, and strengthening the national young people's dance network. You can now download the Ten Year Vision for free and join the Ten Year Vision page on Facebook to share your views on the next steps.

The YDE Conference also featured a number of specialist speakers in more than 30 different subjects, who talked about areas including education, careers, teaching development and disability dance for young people. Speakers from Australia, Finland, The Netherlands, Canada and Germany gave an international perspective and a comparison of youth dance in their respective countries, their aims and objectives and the challenges faced.

A new teaching qualification for practitioners and a new teaching guide were also launched at the event. The Diploma in Dance Teaching And Learning (children and young people) was presented by Linda Jasper, Director of Youth Dance England and Maggie Morris, Head of Acting and Dance Qualifications at Trinity College London. The qualification is set to change the future of dance teaching in England while the new guide, Dance In and Beyond Schools, the first resource of its kind since 1993, was well received by delegates who see the teaching guide as an essential tool in raising the standard of teaching in and out of schools across the country.

Special guests included:

• Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
• Lord Tony Hall, Chief Executive, Royal Opera House
• Wayne McGregor, Artistic Director, Wayne McGregor|Random Dance
• Dr Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England
• Julie Dyson AM, National Director, Australian Dance Council – Ausdance
• Michael Day, Executive Director, Training, Training and Development Agency for Schools
• Richard Alston Dance Company

We would like to thank all our speakers for their eloquent and inspired contributions to the Conference, as well as a special thank you to our international speakers and delegates for their insight and commitment.

Note:

Film footage of the contributors' speeches are now available on the website - watch them here.

Transcripts and presentations are also available to download from the keynote speeches and presentations page.
 

See the full Conference programme

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Last updated: 10-01-2011