Young Dancers Come Together For Step Live Festival To Showcase The Power Of Dance

On Tuesday 4 July, young dancers from across the capital and Essex performed at Cadogan Hall for Step Live Festival 2023.

An exhilarating event with two shows featuring 22 London and Essex school groups, the annual Step Live Festival 2023 marks an opportunity for young people to show off their dance talents and perform in front of hundreds of audience members.

Step Live Festival is one of the many events created by the Royal Academy of Dance's Step into Dance programme, which is one of the UK'S largest inclusive secondary school programmes run in partnership with the Jack Petchey Foundation. The festival is an annual celebration of dance, where Step into Dance students perform a selection of work that they have created whilst on the programme.

Students from the Step into Dance programme performed a variety of dance styles to enthused audiences including hip hop, contemporary, jazz, commercial and afro. The evening performance saw the Royal Academy of Dance's youth dance company SYNC take to the stage to perform a work choreographed by Step into Dance practitioner Jeremy Morganty.

Tim Arthur, Chief Executive of Royal Academy of Dance said: "Step into Dance events are so energetic - the roof is raised whenever and wherever they take place. The Step Live event is no exception; it's a fantastic example of young people coming together to experience the joy and wonder of dance."

Gemma Juma, Jack Petchey Foundation's CEO, said of this year's collaboration: "The Jack Petchey Foundation is proud to be working with the Royal Academy of Dance on this uplifting programme. Step into Dance provides an opportunity for young people from diverse backgrounds to develop their dance skills and supports their physical and mental well-being. The young performers have worked so hard over the year and have delivered a showstopping spectacle of youth talent - they should be proud of their achievements!"

"Thank you for inviting us to perform at Step Live last night. It was a really wonderful experience for the students. It was just so lovely to be in such a supportive and dance filled atmosphere that I know the students won't forget. Its these opportunities that they will remember for life and grow so much from. So, thank you." - Saffron Hartley, Teacher of Dance, Riddlesdown Collegiate.

Step into Dance, a Royal Academy of Dance programme in partnership with the Jack Petchey Foundation, enables young people to develop their passion, skills and understanding of dance. Working with mainstream and SEND schools across London and Essex, Step into Dance reaches around 3,000 students annually through a diverse and inclusive programme of weekly classes, workshops and performance opportunities, aiming to reach those that might not otherwise connect with dance.

For a full list of the Step into Dance performance events as well as other summer events, visit the Royal Academy of Dance website.

If you are a school or young person interested in participating in the Step into Dance programme and would like more information how to get involved, please contact stepintodance@rad.org.uk

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