Dance as exercise and as art. How do the teachers at Gallions Primary School, awarded the Gold Artsmark for their creative approach to the curriculum, use dance to engage their children with projects? The teachers take the stimulus for their dance sessions directly from their classes' project work, so if the children are studying Africa, it's African Dancing, and if the pupils are looking at science then they'll choreograph a dance that helps them reflect on their science vocabulary and understanding. The key here is that the dance is the pupils' own creative work, and though these teachers scaffold the session, the hour each week spent in the hall is time for the pupils to develop original dance material. It isn't necessary to be able to do a pirouette or tap dance in front of the class to teach dance at Gallions. Challenging teachers' fear of dance, the film concludes that in the end dance is 'not about you - it's about the children'.

Video Series: Socks Off
Release Date 2008