THE EVOLVE PROJECT

The Evolve project was established in September 2022 when Unity Stage School was awarded funding via the Use Your Energy fund in association with Sports England. The premise of the project was to open more technical training for those young people from disadvantaged areas that struggle to engage with clubs / activities due to the social and economic barriers that they face. Based out of Dukinfield Old Chapel Unitarian’s Community Hall, we began opening our doors to students to come along and audition for the chance to join the teams. The audition was judged by a panel of non-bias judges who had the final say for the two teams that eventually formed our evolve teams. Initially I we had two teams (junior and senior) but due to the success of the pilot we were able to open an additional class (intermediate) for more young people.

The evolve classes are completely FREE OF CHARGE and run on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The evolve groups are classed as an advance performance group and are used for public performances outside of our Unity calendar. We work on technique, flexibility, and technique in classes alongside repertoire and movement memory and retention. We have lots of aspirations for these groups including further larger scale performances, competitions, and exposure. The mission of Evolve is to change the ‘elite’ model to be more inclusive and to adapt a ‘come as you are’ approach to the audition process.

Thanks to the funding received and fundraising that took place in 2022, we have been able to fully fund around 20 weeks’ worth of classes and we are constantly working towards raising more funds to extend this further! We have also purchased T shirts through one of our sponsors - Keyfax and will be looking to provide a full dance kit for all young people with future funding. By securing funding we are constantly looking at ways of improving our programme and increasing the opportunities for our young people. We hope to be able to take the attendees to amateur and professional productions, attend industry workshops and eventually exhibitions and conventions where they can widen their knowledge and understanding of the arts. We hope that by opening these doors the young people gain an appreciation for the arts and it drives a passion for them to continue their journey after their time in Evolve.

Our three head coaches have high profile training backgrounds and experience and a combined knowledge of most dance and performance styles. The coaches have main responsibility for one team, however, will also assist with the others to help maintain discipline and precision in classes.

Miss Cat - Intermediate coach and project lead

Miss Tama - Senior Coach

Miss Ellie - Junior Coach

For more information on how you can help our project grow or to find more information on how to get involved please contact: contact@Unitystageschool.co.uk

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