Campaign aims to
get 100,000 more active through dance
The Department of Health's 'Dance
Champions'Group, will embark on a nationwide tour to get
the country dancing, Public Health Minister Gillian Merron will
announce today. Dance stars including Arlene Phillips, former Come
Dancing presenter Angela Rippon, Capital Radio’s Lisa Snowdon and
Strictly Come Dancing pro Darren Bennett will today join Health
Minister Gillian Merron and Dance Champions Chair Rod Aldridge, to
launch their campaign to get 100,000 people more active through
dance in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games. The Dance Champions
Campaign, part of Dance4Life, will see the Dance Champions Group:
* travel the length and breadth of the country to host free
mass-participation 'dance-celebration' events in
each region. The events will encourage people new to dance and
those who used to enjoy dancing when they were younger to get
involved and get active; * offer free taster dance sessions for
people who aren't very active and provide people with
information about how they can get more involved in dance locally;
*create the first ever dance directory website, providing a
one-stop-shop to let people know how they can get dancing; * stage
a Dance Summit to bring together national organisations involved
in all types of dance and rally them behind the common goal of
getting the nation active through dance. The champions will work
with dance organisations to get a clearer picture of how the work
of the dance sector can be co-ordinated to help get the population
more active. Public Health Minister, Gillian Merron said:
'Our Dance Champions are some of the best known and
leading talents of the dance world, but you don’t have to be a
professional to enjoy dancing and feel the positive effect it can
have on your health. "People of all ages and abilities
can get active to music and have a lot of fun too. "The
Chief Medical Officer recommends that adults do 30 minutes of
physical activity at least five times a week, but over 27 million
of us don’t manage it. With the leadership of the dance champions,
we want to capture the national enthusiasm for dance and get at
least 100,000 more adults active through dance in the run up to
the 2012 Olympics. "The Dance Champions will help to make
the Government’s Dance4Life campaign ‘come to life’ for many
people across the country” Dance Champion, Arlene Phillips said:
"We want to start a revolution to get the nation on their
feet and onto the dance floor!" "Dancing is a
great way to get fit and healthy and the Dance Champions want to
get everyone involved. It doesn't matter whether
you're young or old or if you've never danced
before - we'll be touring the country to give everyone a
chance to get dancing." Rod Aldridge, Chair of the Dance
Champions Group and of the Aldridge Foundation, said:
"Dance is one of the best ways to get people of all ages
on their feet and fit. So whether you’re fifteen or fifty, Dance
Champions will offer you enjoyable ways to try all forms of dance.
"The Dance Champions tour is an incredible initiative
backed by dance experts and celebrity ambassadors who’ll be
bringing dance opportunities to your door".
Notes to Editors
1. For media enquiries only please contact the Department of
Health newsdesk on 020 7210 5221 2. The 11 Dance Champions are: *
Rod Aldridge OBE, Chair of the Dance Champions Group * Arlene
Phillips, judge on the forthcoming BBC programme ‘So You Think You
Can Dance’ and Youth Dance England patron * Angela Rippon, former
Come Dancing presenter and former chair of the English National
Ballet * Lisa Snowdon, Capital Radio presenter and former
contestant on Strictly Come Dancing * Darren Bennett, Professional
champion ballroom and Latin American dancer and star of Strictly
Come Dancing * Roger Mosey, BBC Director of the London 2012
Olympics * Janet Archer, Director of Dance Strategy for the Arts
Council England * Daran Bennet, Physical Activity Alliance *
Miguel Doforo, expert dance coach and of MD Showgroup * Andrew
Hanson, Head of Policy, Central Council of Physical Recreation *
Margaret Peggie OBE, Former Chair of the Exercise Movement and
Dance Partnership, and Vice President of the Fitness League 3. For
more information about the Dance Champions log on to
www.dancechampions.org.uk 4. All the Dance Champions are giving
their time for free 5. The Dance Champions group will be launched
at 1pm at the Clore Ballroom on Thursday 15th October 2009. 6. Rod
Aldridge is an entrepreneur and Chair of the Aldridge Foundation,
which uses entrepreneurship and education to improve the lives of
disadvantaged young people and their communities. The Foundation
recently piloted a scheme to teach children ballroom and Latin
dance in school PE lessons. An independent evaluation by
Roehampton University found that it significantly improved
participants’ health, self-esteem and peer relationships with
notable improvements in classroom behaviour and attainment. For
more information visit
http://www.aldridgefoundation.com/essentially_dance For more
information about the Aldridge Foundation visit
http://www.aldridgefoundation.com/ 7. The Dance Champions will be
joined at the launch by a number of dance groups who will each
give a short performance. They are Essentially Dance, MD
Showgroup, Medau Movement and a group of older dancers who will
perform a Latin American dance routine. 8. Essentially Dance is a
new initiative to teach ballroom and Latin American dance within
schools' core physical education provision. It is the
first training package to be launched in the UK that will train
school staff to teach students of all ages - from Key Stages 1 - 5
- and of all abilities - beginner, intermediate and advanced. For
more information about Essentially Dance visit
http://www.essentiallydance.com/ 9. MD Showgroup are a group of
young dancers aged between 9 - 17 from Liverpool. MD Showgroup
appeared on ITV's Britain's Got Talent with a
theatrical dance piece to Michael Jackson's
'They Don’t Care About Us' expressing their
feelings about gun and knife crime, abuse, bullying and racism.
For more information about MD Showgroup visit
http://www.mdproductions.org/showgroup.html 10. Medau Movement is
a dance based workout, involving cardio, moves for strength,
stretch and suppleness, with a variety of music and rhythm, pace
and mood. For more information about Medau Movement visit
http://www.medau.org.uk/ The Dance Champion’s Campaign is part of
Dance4Life, a branch of Change4Life, the Government campaign to
get people 'eating well and moving more, to live
longer'
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk