Past Projects

Since it was founded in 1988 YDance has delivered a wide range of projects and longer programmes of work across Scotland and further afield. Here are a few highlights from past years. 

Cashback for Change (2020 – 2023) – In 2020 YDance established the Cashback for Change programme, supported by the Scottish Government’s Cashback for Communities Fund.  Delivered in partnership with Glass Performance, the programme used dance and drama to engage and positively influence young people aged 10 -21 who are most at risk of displaying anti-social behaviours and/or entering the criminal justice system. Over the three years 1,164 participants aged 10-24 years participated, in the CashBack for Change programme and gained a total of 492 Personal Achievement Awards 

Shake It Up (2019 – 2021)  - A four-year initiative funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, which used dance to support improvements in attainment levels in primary schools. Running from January 2017 until December 2020, Shake It Up was designed to raise attainment for over 5000 primary school children in four local authority areas – Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, and Clackmannanshire. The programme enabled children to learn a range of curriculum subjects through dance, increased pupils’ engagement through a kinaesthetic approach, and left a sustainable legacy of teachers with the skills and knowledge to continue to develop this kind of integrated curricular lesson delivery. 

Step It Up (2021-2023) – Following the success of Shake It Up, YDance was awarded a further 2 years funding buy the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to deliver a new programme focusing on teacher development inDundee, Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire. Through practical sessions and CLPL teachers from six schools worked alongside Dance Artists in Education looking at ways dance and kinaesthetic learning can improve attainment and overcome barriers to learning. 

Take Flight (2021-22) -  worked with three primary schools in North Lanarkshire in 2021-22 and was a collaborative project based on curiosity. Children, teachers, YDance artists and three emerging dance artists worked to enhance learning for pupils and self and ensure performance making comes from a shared exploration into the  unknown. The project  worked with one class  and their teacher in three primary schools in North Lanarkshire through a hybrid model of delivery. 

Generation Dance Festival (2018) - In partnership with Scottish Ballet, this project brought an intergenerational cast of 50 dancers aged 16-80 together for a performance at Tramway, as part of Festival 2018 – the cultural programme for the Glasgow 2018 European Championships. 

Tell Us Who We Are (2018) -Commissioned by Glasgow Life for Festival 2018 – the cultural programme for the Glasgow 2018 European Championships. This show brought together the National Youth Choir of Scotland, the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, YDance and Scottish Youth Theatre to create a piece with a cast of 50 young performers. 

Take the Lead (2017 – 2019) -  a three-year project which worked with young people in North Ayrshire and in HMYOI Polmont.  The programme aimed to increase ambition and aspiration by building young peoples’ confidence and capacity, health and wellbeing, and developing the behavioural, social and emotional skills they need to engage and progress into further learning and employability. As part of their involvement, young people also had the opportunity to gain various awards and qualifications. In its three-year lifespan, Take the Lead worked with over 700 young people. 

Look Up , Look Under, Look Out (2017) - Part of Paisley 2021 Look Up, Look Under, Look Out aimed to develop children’s creative dance skills and engage their imagination. The project allowed the children to ‘look up, look under, look out’ and explore the history and architectural wonders in their communities. Pupils from eight Renfrewshire primary schools each selected a local building or piece of architecture to focus on. YDance staff visited the school each week and used the building as a stimulus for a dance piece. All of the pieces were performed at Johnstone Town Hall to an audience of friends and families.  

Let’s Dance European Project (2016 – 2017) -  a community dance project offering young people and other artists in Germany, Netherlands, Scotland and Spain the opportunity to build their experience in community dance through a series of local and exchange workshops. The project aimed to inspire new creative work through artistic co-production and engage new dance audiences across Europe. As part of this, YDance created Horizons – an inclusive youth dance company for dancers with a range of abilities, aged 14 to 25. The international partners involved were Agencia Andaluza de Instituciones Culturales (Granada, Spain), DeLOOPERS (Bremen, Germany) and Keunstwurk (Leeuwarden, Netherlands.) 

YDance Active (2012 – 2016) – part of the Active Girls Programme - a Scottish Government funded programme aiming to increase girls and young women’s participation in physical activity through key programmes, including the YDance Active project. YDance Active worked in partnership with Sport Scotland to deliver a Youth Training Programme and a Workforce Development Programme using dance to engage young women and to increase opportunities in dance nationally across Scotland. 

Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival (2014) - The first ever Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival brought together 400 young people from 11 countries to take part in a programme of workshops and performances over four days in 2014.  

UK Youth Dance Ensemble (2012) - Working in partnership with Youth Dance England, National Youth Dance Wales and DU:Dance (Northern Ireland), this project brought dancers from the National Youth Dance companies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together to work with renowned choreographer Hofesh Shechter. Over a series of residential rehearsals in each country, the ensemble created a new piece entitled Tank , which was performed at the U.Dance 2012 UK Youth Dance Festival at the Southbank Centre, London. 

Free to Dance (2008 – 2012) - Free to Dance involved teenage girls across Ayrshire, Glasgow and Orkney, encouraging them to get fit and feel good about themselves through dance. With funding from the Scottish Government Health Department, YDance ran free dance sessions, offered performance opportunities and led Award in Dance Leadership training courses, as well as providing training for project partners. Over the course of the project, almost 1,000 girls per week were dancing. YDance worked with more than 100 partner organisations and ran over 100 different sessions weekly.