Learning in partnership through dance and drama

Moving Stories is a dance/​drama project – a collaboration between Lewisham Education Arts Network, Trinity Laban, Peoplescape Theatre and 12 teachers in six SEND settings in Lewisham. Peoplescape creates inclusive drama and theatre practice and we were keen, through this project, to explore and extend our practice further through the collaboration with a dance organisation.

Primary teachers in SEND settings are often incredibly creative. But like all teachers these days they rarely encounter training in dance and drama and some are understandably nervous about using it in their practice. It has been a privilege for me to work alongside six teachers over two years as an artist as part of Moving Stories, to support them and hopefully inspire them with some new creative ways to teach. In turn, my learning from both the teachers and the dance artists from Trinity Laban has inspired and informed my ongoing practice.

In year one, we worked together in ​‘triads’ with an artist from each art form alongside a teacher. These enabled us to create inspiring, exciting sessions – immersive dance and drama worlds on themes chosen by the teachers such as Alice in Wonderland, The Great Fire of London, Jason and the Argonauts, Under the Sea and The Rainforest. We’ve been able to experiment with combining dance and drama to create a new way of working for us all. The groups we’re working with are incredibly diverse – from ​‘sensory’ groups to others where all children are following a ​‘formal pathway’. In drama we love narrative and story – but with some groups, combining this with a more abstract dance approach has enabled us to engage with the learners in new ways. For the dance artists, the converse has also been true.

Year two is focused on sustainability and helping teachers embed the approaches into their practice without the support of artists. This also involves understanding how to bring in the other adults in the room – usually TAs – to support. As an artist, it is crucial in SEND settings to involve all the adults in the room to create an atmosphere that is nurturing and creative for all – but this is not always a straightforward task, and we have spent time exploring this in our triads. Key to the success of our first year has been the enshrining of the post-lesson thirty-minute reflection for teachers to talk with artists away from the class. Due to multiple pressures, leaving the classroom is often a challenge for teachers but more often than not it was made possible and the project benefited significantly. 

As part of our legacy work, we’re delivering training for the teachers on the core principles of the two art forms such as Teacher in Role and Inclusive Dance practice. This has also been educational for the artists involved to give us a greater understanding of each other’s practice and a shared language. Drama practitioners have started talking about ​‘dynamics’ and dance artists refer to ​‘the frame’ for example. I’ve learned more about using touch within my practice and the scaffolding of activities needed to incorporate this. We’ve also started to work with our lead teachers to disseminate approaches within whole-school CPD sessions. Here artists and teachers share some of the practice experientially with their colleagues and talk about the impact on the children in the school.

This project has already had such an impact on both the organisation and my own practice. Significantly, Moving Stories has emphasised the importance of ring-fenced reflection time with teachers to support ongoing thinking and planning. Partnering with larger organisations has developed Peoplescape’s practice and given us the confidence to plan further collaborations. We’re also continuing to work with the dance artists outside of the project to enable us to further develop our movement practice and find new ways of communicating with and reaching more learners within SEND settings. And, as for our work with teachers, we always learn when we work within SEND settings but Moving Stories has allowed us to work intensively with colleagues over an extended period. It’s been a unique experience and the learning will have a lasting legacy.