Q&A

The Dance Champions Group (www.dancechampions.org), is an alliance of experts from the world of dance and physical exercise who share a common goal of inspiring 100,000 people of all abilities to take up dance by 2012.

The main aim is to improve public health especially among the less active. However, the benefits to social cohesion in terms of interaction between people of different ages, cultures, abilities etc is also something the DCG is keen to highlight.

The Dance Champions Group is growing and includes TV presenters Arlene Phillips and Angela Rippon, Capital Radio presenter Lisa Snowdon, professional dancers Darren Bennett , Lilia Kopylova and Camilla Dallerup, Olympic gold medal swimmer Mark Foster, Choreographers Wayne McGregor, Miguel Doforo, Janet Archer Director of Dance Strategy at the Arts Council England. It is chaired by Rod Aldridge, Chair of the Aldridge Foundation, which piloted the Essentially Dance scheme in schools, with the Physical Activity Alliance leading on delivery of the Dance Champions initiatives

The DCG is funded by the Department of Health but is an independent non-political group of individuals who are giving their time for free.

The campaign’s overall aim is to reach out to all adults.  Howvere in particular there is specific remit to engage less active adults and those who would like to try dance, but are prevented by practical barriers such as location, availability and cost of classes and opportunities. However, we view dance as an activity that should be available to all no matter what your social backgrounds, ability, culture or age.

The results from the YouGov survey conducted for the Dance Champions Group reveals that as people get older they are less likely to dance, men are less likely to dance than women and people, mainly young adults, are most likely to dance in clubs.

Social embarrassment seems to play a part in deterring people from dancing with some saying they only dance in the privacy of their own home – partly because it’s convenient and partly because they don’t have a dance partner to go out with. However, one of the biggest barriers seems to be lack of time and availability of classes.

Therefore the locally-based dance initiatives need to be scheduled at times that are convenient for all, in venues that are accessible and offering opportunities to dance that are affordable for all.

89% of adults in UK don’t dance

Of the 11 % who do dance, younger people dance more than older (79% of 18-24s as compared to 91% of people aged over 35+)

They mainly dance in clubs (39%) but 25% dance in classes - and 21% dance only at home!

Those who dance at home do so mainly because it’s convenient (50%) but also because they feel too embarrassed to dance in public (28%). 16% said there were no other suitable locations near them.

Why? Barriers to participation:

The main reasons for not dancing are because they don’t have enough time (25%), have two left feet (23%), feel self-conscious and embarrassed (21%). Cost, availability and health were also secondary barriers (11%).

How to overcome barriers:

They would dance if they had a friend or dance partner to go with (24%), if they were less worried about making a fool of themselves (16%) but practical help such as if they could fit it around other time commitments (17%), there were more classes near their homes (16%) and the classes were less expensive (13%) were also factors..

The Olympics and sport:

While 30% agree or strongly agree that dance should be treated as a sport, 31% disagree.

21% agree or strongly agree that competitive dance should be included in the Olympics (as does Olympian Mark Foster) but 45% disagree.

Regional variations:

Adults in London dance more than any other area of the country (17%) followed by Wales (13%), the North (12%) and Scotland (11%). Generally the regional variations were not radically different. People in the East of England dance the least (6%), Midlands and the South (both 9%).

Social Cohesion:

68% strongly agreed or agreed that dance is a good way to bring people from different social backgrounds, cultures, age groups, abilities together.

64% said they would dance with someone from a different age group, ability, culture, religions or social group.

Other stats:

Taking Part Government DCMS survey 2008 shows that dance is the only growing area of participation in the arts. It has risen from 8.4% in 2005/06 to 9.7% in 2007/08

BBC TV programmes Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance have up to nine million viewers per episode.