Leaders Graduation January 2025

We are so proud to have awarded our first ever certificates and reports to three new Dance Leaders on Saturday 18th January 2025!

Eleanor Grace
Lauren
Larah
Larah, Harry, Lauren and Eleanor Grace.

Larah, Lauren and Eleanor Grace have completed our first Dance Leaders program for people with learning disabilities. They were handed their certificates by Harry, Lydia and Sarah. Our Leaders shared this experience with their families, our amazing Volunteer Lisa, Harry the Manager of The Far Far Away Musical and Company Directors Lydia and Sarah. They led their first class to people outside of the course, everyone had a chance to see their beautiful work books they have spent the course completing, and witness the award ceremony for their certificates. They were also awarded a detailed report on their progress. We had tea and biscuits, group discussions, parents joined in with some dancing and we had a big celebration for each individual newly qualified Dance Leader for Echo Performing Arts.

All of our current Dance Leaders team for Echo Performing Arts – left to right names: Sarah, Larah, Lauren, Lydia, Harry and Eleanor Grace. We have more training happening and will be training a further eight people this year, so soon we will be an even bigger team!
Each leader was awarded a certificate and report by Harry, Sarah and Lydia

The books belonging to Larah, Lauren and Eleanor Grace are beautiful, and will be a useful tool for their first year leading with us in the community.

We are so grateful to both The National Lottery Community Fund and Chalk Cliff Trust, who have enabled this dream to become a reality. We will be now working with these leaders, to gain paid opportunities to lead in the community with our support. They are becoming members of our creative team, and they will impact many different people in the year ahead through our community dance projects. This is a very exciting milestone for us all.

Each dancer shared their own shadow dance with us. They were so beautiful and joyful to watch.

Each Leader took turns to lead on different activities, and work as a team to plan, lead and dance together. The increase in confidence in our Leaders through this journey has been remarkable. We are very proud of Larah, Eleanor Grace and Lauren.

Parents who came to support today joined in too 👏

Below you will see films from our session. Thank you so much to Heather for capturing the whole event so beautifully 💓

Our second group of leaders has begun… Watch this space for them qualifying too in early March 2025 ❤️