There are many infectious things about Dance. One of its most inspiring qualities is the way that it brings people together and we were able to celebrate the power of this at this year’s Body Language performance platform. Over 250 tickets sold, hours of committed rehearsals with students, and families enabling all of this to come together; it is a shared language that sparks curiosity and encourages collaboration.  Dance continues to sit prominently as a foundation in our school community and this is a wonderful way to acknowledge the 28^th year of Body Language.

On Monday 4^th March the Body Language stage sprung to life with primary and secondary dancers from the Dartmoor Schools Sports Partnership launching the week with the ‘Let’s Dance’ show. On Tuesday 5^th March we welcomed Year 5 and 6 students from our feeder primary schools to the stage with a selection of 7 dances inspired by musical theatre from the West End for Primary Body Language 2024.  These two events alone saw over 400 young people sharing our stage and performed their choreography with passion and flair; just one example of exactly why the performing arts are so important within education and far beyond.

On Thursday 7^th March an exciting and diverse programme of dance was performed by South Dartmoor dancers across KS3, 4 and 5. Dances were enriched with original movement inspired by a range of stimuli and professional dance, all of which has been explored through the Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 Dance curriculum as well as the rich extra-curricular provision we are proud to offer to our student body. We celebrated examination work from GCSE, BTEC and RSL dancers. In addition, Key Stage 3 curriculum groups performed choreography inspired by professional choreographers and companies to represent what they have been learning about on their Dance learning journeys. The Year 7 & 8 club piece was an excellent celebration of cross-curricular design, requiring students to be curious about History and embody what they have learnt to bring the choreography to life. The primary Boys Dance Project enjoyed a six-week project in which they created a performance piece that communicated what Dance means to them. And finally, the College Dance Company worked hard between January and March to embrace the challenges of character development in order to appreciate the impact this can have on their overall performance and choreographic skills. 

We are proud of so much that we do at South Dartmoor, particularly when we reflect on the huge number of live performance opportunities we offer our learning community. The growth and dedication from the performers of Body Language 2024 is representative of the array of life skills they have developed by embracing the Body Language experience; it brings us great joy to play a part in their journey. 

Every single dancer on the Body Language stage this year embodied our core values; Truth, Respect, Equality and Excellence, and this is because they feel a sense of belonging and investment within our learning community. Thank you for supporting these young people and enabling them to share their excitement, hard work and creativity with confidence and pride. 

Body Language 2024 is our ‘Thank You’ to you all.