January 2011Issue 2

Photo: Sheila Burnett

A partnership project between the IDTA, ISTD, RAD and the Royal Albert Hall working together in celebration of dance.

Registration Opens!

Teachers have from now until May to register, pay, choreograph, teach and video an original dance piece of their students before uploading it to the Dance Proms website.

We take a virtual tour around the Royal Albert Hall to get a feel for what it will be like to perform at such an iconic venue where English National Ballet, Take That and many more have performed!

We meet WebPlay and learn how they are working with Dance Proms to celebrate dance through technology.

In this Issu

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Photos: Jack Latimer, Sheila Burnett, Marcus Ginns

Who can enter? Current teachers with IDTA, ISTD or RAD (including Step into Dance) can enter students from the age of 5 up to 21 years of age on or before 13 November 2011. Teachers can enter more than one dance piece in any one of four categories: Solo, Couple, Trio or Group. Teachers and students must be resident in the United Kingdom.

What type of dance? Any style of dance! From Ballet to Belly dancing;Rock n Roll to Hip Hop, as long as your choreography is original we want to see what moves you.

Is there a cost to enter? There is a small fee of 10.00 per dance piece submitted and a discounted fee of 8.00 per additional submission made by a single teacher.

What makes Dance Proms unique? Dance Proms is the first dance festival to integrate technology at all levels. From uploading original submissions to judging, and to the communication and collaboration between participants. Dance Proms will enable people from all over the country to take part in a virtual dance festival. Although theactivity will be happening in different dance schools and studios, the use of technology can bring everyone together online to chat, share ideas and learn from one another. And dont worry if you are not an IT pro, the technology we are using is very simple!

In forthcoming issues of the E-book we will provide a set of easy to follow guidelines on how to video and upload your original dance pieces.

Register here

Registration for Dance Proms is now open from Wednesday 26 January Wednesday 11 May 2011.

Registration for Dance Proms is now open

Photos: Sheila Burnett, E Franks, P Baldwin

As the Royal Albert Hall is most associated with the worlds largest classical music festival - the BBC Proms - there was really only one venue that would be good enough for the first ever Dance Proms - the Royal Albert Hall!

However, the Proms are just one of a wide range of events that take place in this iconic building each year, including the RBL Festival of Remembrance, Ballroom Dancing Championships, Mountbatten Festival of Music, Bach Family Choir carols, National TV Awards, The Tennis Masters, Pop concerts, Cirque du Soleil and many more.

It is remarkable to think that such an imposing build-ing and one of Londons biggest monuments, is also a living, working institution and able to play host to and meet the challenges of all of these events. Even more remarkable is the opportunity to perform there, Dance Proms will give many young dancers the opportunity to do just that.

To get a sneak preview of what that experience might be like, let us take you on a virtual tour.

The auditorium is as wide as it is tall

Royal Albert Hal

l

Photos: Marcus Ginns, Roy Campbell-Moore, Sheila Burnett

Arena floor to Corona = 40m (131)

The footprint of the building is 5247 m2, or 56,480 ft2, or 1.3 acres (0.5247 ha)

The whole site of the Hall including the

South Steps measures 1.027 Hectare

There are approximately 600 metres of public corridor and 300 metres of back of house corridor

On a cold winter day, it can support

158 tonnes of snow. The temperature reaches 64C and above in the roof in the summer

Interesting Facts

Photo: Marcus Ginns

WebPlay is an arts education charity dedicated to exploring how technology can enhance the live theatre experience for young audiences. After 10 years of successfully delivering innovative theatre-based projects, in 2009 we began working with dance, delivering an online project for the Royal Albert Hall and English National Ballet which linked young people in the UK and China to develop and perform their own versions of Swan Lake. WebPlays philosophy is that nothing replaces experiencing the performing arts live, but that simple technology can be used in profound ways to extend and deepen that experience. By bringing young people together online to journal their process, share their experiences with others and interact with dance professionals, Dance Proms will provide the performers with a rich experience of the dance world as well as enhance their personal development and bond the group as a cohesive company before they perform at the Royal Albert Hall. All interaction will happen on Page to Stage, WebPlays secure and easy to use online platform. Dont worry if youre not very experienced with IT, we specialise in simple - it wont be any harder than sending an email and the WebPlay team will be with you every step of the way. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us either at sydney@webplay.org or on +44 (0)207 729 4161. We look forward to working with you online at Dance Proms!

WebPlay and Dance Proms - Celebrating Dance Through Technology

Photo1: Sheila Burnett

WebPlay

DANCE PROMS is a partnership project betweenthe IDTA, ISTD, RAD and the Royal Albert Hallworking together in celebration of dance.

Celebration of Dance Festival Limited, Incorporated in England & Wales No. 7407392www.danceproms.co.uk