Showcasing Young Dance Talent in Plymouth
Where do you go to find out about groups who run activities for young people in Plymouth? If you have a young person in your life with an interest in dance or performance, or if you are one yourself, then there’s one great way to enjoy a whole bunch of them at once. Tricia Stubberfield went to find out more.
Twice a year, youth groups from across Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall come together for a day of workshops, rehearsals and performance at The House at University of Plymouth. This is Traverse Youth Platform, created by Exim Dance as a collaboration with the University and Next Steps South West. The project has been growing since 2017, pandemics notwithstanding, and the 1st of April sees its seventh iteration.
This spring offering has a lot to show for itself. After many hours spent working together to create a new choreographed piece, learn new styles of dance and rehearse their individual showcase work, the groups top the day off with a public evening performance.
Colleges including Ivybridge Community College and City College Plymouth will be showing off the work of their dance and performance students, as will Barbican Theatre’s Young ReBels. There will also be work by Chhaya Collective Youth Dance Company, based at Exeter Phoenix Theatre. Their contemporary dance weaves in Indian influences, more of which will be featured in work by India Dance South West.
The platform also includes groups you might previously have associated with different sports and activities, such as Plymouth Argyle’s PL Kicks and Space Shot Youth Projects. And Exim Dance’s own projects, including professional youth dance training programme Making Waves, ADAPT Youth Dance Company for young people aged 12-25 years that identify as disabled, and many more, will of course be involved.
Laura Nightingale from Exim told us how thrilled she is to continue providing these platforms for young dancers to come together from across the region to show off and celebrate each other’s work.
“The atmosphere is electric when young people from different backgrounds come together. Afterwards, we love hearing that new relationships have been formed, with young people who didn’t know each other working together and even visiting each other’s classes .”
You can catch Traverse Youth Platform on Saturday 1st April 2023, 7:30pm at The House, University of Plymouth. Tickets are available on Eventbrite. For any further information, contact Exim Dance.
Photo credits: Brett Lockwood