Huge congratulations go to the 681 fantastic young dancers who took part in Take Art’s Spring Forward and InspirED PrimaryFest youth dance platforms as part of Spring Forward Youth Dance Festival 2016.

Over five nights a total of 42 youth dance groups – mostly Somerset based but also from across the South West – took up the exciting opportunity to perform on a professional stage at the Octagon Theatre, Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre and Merlin Theatre, in a joyous celebration of youth dance in Somerset.

The dancers aged from four to 19 years old demonstrated their creativity, talent and commitment to dance through their excellent performances in a range of styles, to 1,224 audience members.

Over the last two months, Take Art Dance and InspirED welcomed professional dance companies to the county to work with young people and offer CPD opportunities for dance practitioners and teachers in the county. This has been a great experience for dancers of all ages and abilities to connect, learn new material and be inspired by dancers from Motionhouse, Joli Vyann and local dance professionals working in the county. The workshops and CPD sessions were very well received and have left participants hungry for more opportunities like this locally.

Spring Forward Festival also highlighted an array of exciting professional dance performances in Somerset venues, including shows from Mark Bruce Company, Zoielogic Dance Theatre, Joli Vyann, Cscape and Motionhouse, which many young dancers took the opportunity to go and see.

We are already looking forward to next year’s Spring Forward Dance Festival! In the meantime keep an eye on our Take Art Dance pages for more exciting opportunities to see and participate in dance. Email kim@takeart.org to be added to our Dance Newsletter mailing list so that you don’t miss out on any of Somerset’s fantastic dance shows and workshops.