People Dancing :: Online courses :: Foundation for Community Dance

People Dancing are working with a number of partners to develop online learning programmes addressing a range of subjects that community dance practitioners may wish to learn more about. Each online learning programme provides dance practitioners with a chance to learn at their own pace, at a time and in a place to suit themselves.

Please scroll down the page to find out more information about our online learning programmes and how to purchase them.

Improving your teaching skills for community dance practice

Photo: Rachel Cherry.

Launched in November 2020, developed by People Dancing and co-authored by the Urban Playground Team. This seven-unit online course will support artists to improve teaching skills in their community and participatory practice, and is relevant to artists working with any population or across a wide range of contexts.

If you’re new to teaching the course will introduce you to key skills and knowledge. If teaching is already part of your practice it will give you the chance to refresh and revisit ways of raising standards.

Topics covered include:

Pre-session preparation
Session planning
Class structure
Teaching and learning theories
Assessment and evaluation
Developing good practice.

Please note: this course was devised before the COVID-19 pandemic. It therefore focuses on in-person teaching. For ideas and advice about adapting your teaching for remote delivery visit our COVID-19 pages.

Cost:

People Dancing Members price: £55.00 BUY NOW

Standard price: £65.00 BUY NOW

Please note: Multi-user licences are available for organisations or groups of 6 or more leaners . Please email qualifications@communitydance.org.uk for further information. Additional discounts are also available for groups of 20+ users.

An introduction to leading dance for Early Years

This programme is for those who want to rise to the challenge of working creatively, sensitively and respectfully with Early Years children through dance. Created in partnership with Liz Clark (Turned On Its Head/Our Creative Adventure) and with support from the Meadowbrook Charitable Trust, this, six-unit online learning programme has been designed to help you gain knowledge so that you can feel confident about creating environments where babies, toddlers and preschoolers can explore with their whole bodies and all their senses.

The course is suitable for practitioners as:

Solid groundwork before you begin your practical work
A refresher before or after having face-to-face training
Information and ideas for developing practice whilst teaching and leading regularly.

The programme covers a range of topics including:

The unique child and their community
Positive relationships
Development and learning: theories and good practice in dance
Creating enabling environments
Leading Early Years dance
Preparing for and delivering your class.

Cost:

People Dancing Members price: £65.00 BUY NOW

Standard price: £75.00 BUY NOW

Above photo credit: Pam Raith.

Introduction to leading dance with Older People

Devised in partnership with Diane Amans, one of the leading dance practitioners in this field, the online learning programme stimulates thinking about what it means to grow old, what health issues may (or may not) have an impact on people as they age, and what issues dance practitioners should consider when planning dance sessions with older people.

The programme consists of seven units which learners can work through in their own time and at their own pace. The programme is interactive and contains videos, quizzes and interactions to prompt thinking about the issues covered in each unit.

The programme covers a range of topics including:

Who are ‘older people’?
Language and labels
Health issues related to ageing
Contexts for dance practice
Approaches to leading dance with older people
Sessions aims, structure and safe practice.

Cost:

People Dancing Members price: £65.00 BUY NOW

Standard price: £75.00 BUY NOW

Listen to our podcast which features Diane Amans explaining why she finds leading dance with older people so rewarding.

Listen here

Above photo credit: Rachel Cherry.

Developing income streams for participatory arts practice

This four-unit online learning programme provides participatory arts practitioners with key skills and information about where and how you might generate income for your work. It looks at commercial, subsidised and mixed-income models and pinpoints a range of key skills that help you generate income.

The programme covers a range of topics including:

Understanding and self-assessing your project needs
Creating a balanced budget
Raising money from commercial, individuals and public subsidy sources
Communicating with people about your work
Legal structures pertaining to funding models
Understanding timescales and grant-maker’s criteria.

Cost:

People Dancing Members price: £55.00 BUY NOW

Standard price: £65.00 BUY NOW

Risk Assessment for Participatory Arts Practitioners

This short online course, developed by People Dancing, aims to help dancers, dance practitioners and participatory artists understand their legal responsibilities in relation to health and safety at work and provides guidance on what to do in the event that an incident takes place in relation to their class, rehearsal or general practice. The course comprises factual information, scenarios, interactive questions and example risk assessment templates.

Cost:

People Dancing Members price: £15.00 BUY NOW

Standard price: £25.00 BUY NOW

Above photo credit: Rachel Cherry.

Preparing for Safer Dance Practice

This online course will give any dance leader the knowledge they need to successfully integrate and manage health and safety principles.

Featuring learning tools that allow the user to apply these principles to their own learning or working environment, the programme supports an effective and ideally injury free experience for all those who dance, whatever their age or experience.

‘Preparing for Safer Dance Practice’ will help dance practitioners:

Minimise injury risk and maximise the participants’ experience when leading dance sessions
Prepare for and engage in dance activities in a safe, secure and hazard-free environment
Manage working in less than optimum conditions while upholding principles of safe dance practice
Promote dancers’ safety and well-being, with attention to individual dancers’ health, varying abilities, experience and dance style
Become familiar with country-specific laws and regulations
Employ risk assessment techniques that anticipate and address potential negative effects on dance activities.

A partnership formed by People Dancing and Safe in Dance International (SiDI) has created an online learning programme called ‘Preparing for Safer Dance Practice’.

The course, aimed at dance practitioners, is built on four learning units:

Preparing the Dance Space
Protecting the Dancer
Protecting the Dance Leader
From Preparation to Application (putting theory into practice and context).

Who is 'Preparing for Safer Dance Practice' for?

The programme is relevant to all dance leaders – teachers, directors and dancers – working at any level and in any context, from children to adults, beginners to professionals. It can also be applied to all styles or genres, from classical ballet and ballroom to hip-hop and Zumba.

‘Preparing for Safe Dance Practice’ can be used as a stand-alone learning resource or to support practitioners when registering for the Preparation for Healthy Dance Certificate (PHDC), which is administered by SiDI.

Find out more about Safe in Dance International from its website here

You can buy this course direct from:

Safe in Dance International's website here

Introduction to Dance for People with Parkinson's

This eight-unit online course, developed by People Dancing, Dance for PD®, and Mark Morris Dance Group in association with the Dance for Parkinson’s Network UK, provides dance practitioners and others with core foundational knowledge about the safe, effective, and creative delivery of dance sessions for people with Parkinson’s.

This package also provides learners with the opportunity to take an assessment for the People Dancing Professional Qualification Level 4 Certificate Approaches to Dance for People with Parkinson’s. This qualification forms the basis of a number of training courses offered by such training partners as People Dancing, Dance for PD® / Mark Morris Dance Group, Dance for Parkinson’s Australia, and Dancing With Parkinson’s Canada / Canada’s National Ballet School. A passing score is 60% or above.

Find out more about the Introduction to dance for Parkinson's online learning programme.