Running a Youth Company in Lockdown

In this episode we talk to Ingrid Molinos and Tory East about running a youth dance company during a global pandemic. They tell us about the work their companies, Young Amici and Hampshire Youth Dance respectively, would ordinarily do and how this has changed over the course of 2020. We discuss how young people reacted to their cancelled performances and auditions and the ways in which they have adapted, successfully or unsuccessfully, to online dancing… and we delve into the ways they have been able not just to train, but to live up to their intention of being ‘performance companies’ whilst being restricted to a digital output.

Ingrid talks about the ways in which she has tried to rebuild an inclusive environment for her young people and their families online and her summer school which had sold out. Tory reflects on the barrier Zoom put between them. They both reflect upon the race to upskill digitally in order to support their young dancers, the opportunity presented by One Dance UK through their U.Dance digital festival and the ways in which both they and their young people have come to appreciate just how much they can all achieve.

Together they discuss mental health, the vocational journey, leadership and whether these young people will ever want to make another film again!

Recording date: 6 October 2020

Talking Moves is a Greenwich Dance production
Presented by Melanie Precious
Production by Carmel Smith, Lucy White and Melanie Precious