14 December 2022
Newsdesk
On Friday, the Royal Opera House was delighted to host a mass performance event with 600 students in Coventry Cathedral, celebrating the success of a programme that has widened access to world-class art in the area for over three years. The Create & Dance programme recently won Gold in the prestigious Pearson National Teaching Awards, under the ‘Impact through Partnership’ category and in collaboration with Coventry schools, and was recognised for the real impact it has had on children in the community.
Across the day, 22 classes from 10 different primary schools shared individual 5-minute dances inspired by The Nutcracker – the result of a five-week scheme of work provided by the Royal Opera House and delivered by teachers in the area. The morning and afternoon sessions included mass-participation workshops led by Royal Ballet dance artists, and final performances by students in front of their parents and carers. Attending schools included: Earlsdon Primary, Southfields Primary and Sherbourne Fields School.
The event was part of a long running programme in the area, set up in 2019 when the Royal Opera House's Create & Dance team partnered with Coventry schools, the Local Cultural Education Partnership (CCEP), Coventry City Council and Coventry City of Culture to address a perceived gap in inclusive dance provision. The programme continued throughout the pandemic – offering online events, training days, and a 'Live Assembly' with Principals from The Royal Ballet – and it upscaled in the years since, inspiring the creativity of children across the city.
Garrie Rogers, a teacher from Southfields Primary, said:
‘I am so proud of the emotional development I have seen in our children during our Create and Dance work. Up until the morning of the showcase, and even just before they stood up to perform, I saw nerves and apprehension. To then see the joy on their faces as they performed and the excitement afterwards, was a pleasure to behold. The atmosphere in the cathedral was electric and every group seemed to feed off the energy in the room. It really did showcase the hard work and wealth of creativity and passion in our children.’
Rebecca Bollands, Deputy Headteacher of Earlsdon Primary, added:
‘The showcase at the cathedral made me feel immensely proud of all the Coventry teachers who have not only attended all the ROH CPD, but have gone back to their schools and worked so hard with their pupils. We have had very challenging times with covid and the current economic situation, so it was an absolute pleasure to see children having the opportunity to be creative and to have joy in their lives. This event will have a very special place in my heart. Thank you ROH!’
Two schoolchildren from Southfields Primary added:
‘I'm really proud that I did that, it was so much better than I expected.’
‘It was so scary, but we did it. It was really funny when the teachers were dancing at the end!’
A student at Earlsdon Primary added:
'When I saw the Royal Opera House on their t-shirts, I knew that we were going to have a good day.’
Jillian Barker, Director of Learning and Participation, said:
‘We at the Royal Opera House are so proud of our work with our partners in the Coventry area. It was thrilling to see the mass dance event in the extraordinary setting of Coventry Cathedral and to see how creative each child was in response to The Nutcracker. We want to inspire the creativity of the next generation and bring the arts to the heart of the community. We were thrilled that we were recognized by Pearson Award Committee for making a real impact across Coventry, and we look forward to continuing this work in schools and communities up and down the country too.’
The Royal Opera House’s work in Coventry is part of its National Schools’ Programme, Create & Learn. Split into three disciplines – Create & Dance, Create & Sing, and Create & Design – the programme aims to inspire creativity in schools from Cornwall to Cumbria and embed cultural learning at the heart of the curriculum. Following the success of last year, which saw over almost 900 schools engage with the work, the programme will this Season reach teachers and students in: London, Blackpool, Knowsley, Rotherham, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Basildon, Doncaster, Peterborough, Medway, Thurrock, Coventry, Surrey, the West Midlands and East Anglia, providing training, events and resources created for teachers by teachers. In addition to the Pearson National Teaching Award, the programme won a Teach Primary Award in the Remote Learning category in 2021, and was awarded Highly Commended this year. It is completely free to state-funded schools, and no previous experience of opera and ballet is needed.
