Tag Archives: Education

Winter dance faktry festival 2016

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winter dance faktry festival 2016

winter dance faktry festival 2016

Our twice yearly festival for dance will be held at The Met in Abertillery on November 12th 2016 at 7.30pm.  It’s an opportunity for children, young people and emerging professional dancers to perform and share their work to a packed audience which is supportive and full of enthusiastic friends and parents.

It’s a most special event which aims to promote dance in the community and provide dancers with a professionally produced showcase, giving the festival participants a taste for performance and choreography

 

Summer outreach activity

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_DPT3376Last night saw the beginning of an extensive summer education and outreach programme.  Our company dancers Catrin, Julian and Sarah worked with over 60 children in Blaenau Gwent linking in with our new work from t e n Tour 2016 with partner organisations Toppers Dance and Aneurin Leisure Trust.   Later this week we will be working with another 50 children and young people at The Beaufort Theatre in Ebbw Vale.

Next month, we will be working with children in Brynmawr as part of a partnership programme with Tai Calon Community Housing, bringing professional dance to young people over a period of 2 free weekend courses. We will also be working with the Music Department at Tredegar Comprehensive: using music composed by the pupils themselves, we will be choreographing a new piece of work to be performed in the Aneurin Leisure annual dance showcase.
July sees the company delivering a number of Summer Dance Schools in Blaenau Gwent in partnership with the Arts Development team at Aneurin Leisure.

If you’d like any information about dates, venues and how to enrol, please text 07854 910926 or e mail info@ffindance.co.uk

sue lewis

Easter Intensives 2016

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Image Paul Trask

Image Paul Trask

We’d like to invite you to apply for our professional development Easter Intensives 2016

The intensive will run on April 4th/5th and 6th 2016 at our home base, The Met in Abertillery,
Wales UK

The course is aimed at professional dancers, or those in professional dance training at undergraduate level, and will concentrate on dance technique and performance skills.

You will be taking professional class each morning, and learning a piece of the company’s current repertoire. This extract will be performed to a public audience in the theatre on the Wednesday evening.

How to apply
Please send your current CV and video link to:
info@ffindance.co.uk
by Friday February 26th 2016

The course fee is £50

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like more information 07854 910926

Packed lunches and applause

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_PRT7504Well, the last week of the New Ground summer holiday dance clubs is about to commence – probably to be the most challenging week for all involved, as the duration of the workshops will be at least doubled. With this increase in time we are looking to combine all of the skills and techniques learned and practised over the past few weeks with the children’s creativity, and arrange this so that it can be presented and shared with the onlooking proud parents/carers/friends/family.

And so they should be proud! These children have achieved so much, through being so responsive and willing to give things a go – rising to every challenge.
I hope that further opportunities like this will be available in the community soon. I believe there is a dancer inside each and everyone of us – some big, some small, some confident, some shy – but having the opportunities and freedom to exercise and nurture those dancers is so important because of the positive effects it brings to mental, physical, social and emotional well-being. You only need to look at the smiling, wide-eyed faces of those children involved to see this.

Good luck for the week ahead all! Last leg… Lots of energy, lots of creativity, lots of packed lunches and lots of applause!

Krystal Campbell
Dance Teacher for the ffin dance faktry

Gallery Images

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winter dance faktry festival 2013

winter dance faktry festival 2013

Happy New Year everyone, welcome back to our site.

We have recently put up lovely images of all of our outreach groups from the recent winter dance faktry festival, held at The Met in Abertillery in December 2013.  Please have a browse, and keep visiting the gallery as it’s updated regularly.  Please follow this link

Infectious

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IMG_3218It’s that time of year again when I seriously question the reason behind staging a showcase late in December.  It’s crazy spending almost every night for weeks going over and over material that you begin to wonder if it’s the right thing for that particular group.  Scratching time at 5.30am to make mince pies, racking home made elderflower gin at midnight and writing Christmas cards in batches of 20 or so in a rare coffee break, you seem to be caught up in a muddle.

Will things get done?  Why aren’t I out socialising?  Why aren’t I shoppping?
And then when you see the delight on the children and young peoples’ faces when you mention they are performing in just a week, you begin to realise that you are playing a part in that delight, that’s the reasoning behind it all.  It’s not about the taking at this time of year, it’s about the giving.
I know I say it a lot, but I really mean it; I feel most privileged to have a small part to play in the developing and maturing of our outreach groups in the ffin dance faktry.

The winter dance faktry performance will take place at our home theatre, The Met in Abertillery next Saturday at 7.30pm.  We will be showcasing work from primary level right the way through to professionals, who will be spending 3 days in the studio with us next week learning a new piece of work to perform at the festival.

Those of you who know me well, will know that I love Advent – the expectancy and anticipation of the coming Christmas is wonderful.
Likewise, the happy rehearsal period of our groups leading to the festival is highly infectious.
We hope you can join us next Saturday at 7.30pm, the box office number is 01495 322510 with tickets priced at £8 and £6.  Pre-booking is essential.

sue lewis

New A Level Course Gets Under Way

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IMG_2616It’s been about 7 years since I last taught A Level Dance, and how I’ve missed it!

I introduced the course into Ebbw Vale Senior Comprehensive School back in the 80’s where I was Head of the Dance Dept.  It was a successful course back then and has continued to grow and develop, becoming the fastest growing A Level in the UK in recent years.  It covers all aspects of dance from choreography, healthy eating for dancers, anatomy, dance performance, and lots more.
Sadly when I left the school, Dance was no longer included in the curriculum at any level.

For the past 2 years, I have been researching the demand for the course and attempting to persuade the post 16 education providers in Blaenau Gwent to partner FFIN DANCE to facilitate the course for young people in the Borough.  This has proved to be an exceptionally negative past time.  However, all things come to those who wait!
We have joined with Abertillery Comprehensive School who is our registered centre, and have made this course possible to young and adult learners on their own doorstep.  We are delivering the course from our home studio in The Met, Abertillery and our first session took place last evening.

The moral of the story?  Be brave – leap in faith and make your own destiny ..

Sue Lewis