People Dancing

A one-day introductory course in the studio for dancers, teaching artists and community practitioners who want to gain skills, knowledge and experience in leading dance with older people.

Join Diane Amans, one of the leading practitioners in community dance in the UK, to explore creative approaches to working inclusively with older people.

By taking this course you will:

• Understand the ageing process and how it impacts on safe practice in dance
• Gain practical ideas for dance with a range of older people and a working understanding of appropriate leadership styles.

To gain the most from this course, we suggest also booking the online course Approaches to Dance with Older People. This is not compulsory for attending the course, however it does offer core foundational knowledge about the safe, effective and creative delivery of dance sessions with older people in a range of contexts which may help your learning at the in-person course.

This one-day course is ideal for both early career artists and more experienced artists considering developing a specialism in this area of work.

£60 People Dancing Members / £87 Standard

Book your place here

Standard price tickets include People Dancing Associate Individual Membership for one year with the joining fee wavered. To find out more about the benefits of this membership please click Associate Individual Membership.

Some feedback from previous attendees of Diane’s course:

"I found the course incredibly well thought out and jam packed with useful ideas … I feel so much more confident now about my own sessions and have taken a lot from this course."

"As well as thought-provoking stuff there was just so much useful, practical information and so many ideas - health considerations, props, music, exercises, etc. For someone just starting out doing this sort of thing, I found this all incredibly useful."

About Diane Amans

Diane is a dance artist, choreographer, author and training consultant based in the North West of England with over thirty five years experience of leading dance activities with diverse community groups both in the UK and Europe. For 15 years prior to 2006, she was artistic director of Freedom in Dance – a company she founded to offer accessible opportunities for people of all ages to participate in dance activities.

She currently works as a freelance dance artist, lecturer and consultant offering professional development, evaluation, mentoring and project management work. She is an Associate Artist of People Dancing and has tutored on several summer intensives. She also deliver lectures and seminars for a range of universities and CPD organisations.

Recent work includes making an intergenerational dance video challenging stereotypes of youth and ageing; developing and delivering accredited training programmes for dancers wishing to work in participatory arts with intergenerational groups and older people; performing dance projects with Bisakha Sarker (dancer) and John Killick (poet); working with health and social care staff to make dance accessible to people living with dementia.
She has written two textbooks: An Introduction to Community Dance Practice and Age and Dancing: Older People and Community Dance - both published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Images: Diane Amans, People Dancing Sumer School. Photo: Rachel Cherry.