This July, I had the privilege of attending the Improving Your Teaching Skills for Community Dance workshop, led by Alister O’Loughlin of Urban Playground, as part of the People Dancing Summer Intensive at De Montfort University.
Thanks to receiving one of the Mel Horwood bursaries, I was able to participate not only in the two-day in-person workshop (22 - 23 July 2025), but also access the accompanying online learning, something I wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.
The workshop was fantastic! Alister is an incredible facilitator. His ability to guide, question and draw out new ways of thinking about teaching left a lasting impression on me. Honestly, I’m gutted that Prodigal UPG are based 6.5 hours away from where I live. If you’re anywhere near Par in Cornwall, I’d urge you to visit and experience their work for yourself; you won’t regret it.
As someone who has been teaching, leading and facilitating for nearly 20 years, this workshop was the refresh I needed. It created space for me to reflect on aspects of my practice that had been buried under the weight of routines, habits and the 'shoulds' and 'should nots' of different teaching contexts.
The biggest takeaways for me were simple but powerful reminders:
- To bring creativity back to the forefront of my planning
- To keep asking: what do I want my participants to learn, feel, witness or experience?
- To build lessons around those intentions, rather than forcing my teaching into rigid structures
- To trust myself, my ability and my experience
- To remember that I have so much more to offer than just 'technique' classes
- To reflect on how, and in what contexts, I really want to work.
Having access to the online learning platform was also valuable. It meant I had a reference point I could return to afterwards, which freed me up from having to take extensive notes during the workshop. As a result, I was able to be fully present in the room and engage more deeply with the process. The platform itself is an excellent and practical resource for anyone wanting to develop or refine their teaching practice.
"The experience has not only refreshed my teaching skills, but also reminded me why I love this work."
Since attending, I’ve carved out time to sit down and create new lesson plans and set fresh aims and objectives for all of my classes. I’m now a few weeks into a new term and I feel energised, prepared and excited. My whole teaching practice has been reinvigorated; all of that from just two days in a studio with incredible people.
I’m hugely grateful to People Dancing for hosting such a thoughtfully designed Summer Intensive, to Alister for his inspiring facilitation and to the Mel Horwood bursary team for making my attendance possible.
The experience has not only refreshed my teaching skills, but also reminded me why I love this work. I’m excited to carry these learnings forward into every class I teach and to continue finding ways to bring creativity, reflection and joy into the spaces I share with others.
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Photo credits: Top and bottom images - People Dancing Summer Intensive 2025. Photographer: Andrew Moore. Second image - Richard Youell.