Councils make a song and dance about young people's project

An innovative dance and music project is being introduced across Staffordshire to capture the hearts and minds - not to mention legs and ears - of young people.

Five Staffordshire local authority Arts Development services across the County including Tamworth Borough Council have partnered up with the County Council, Arts Council England West Midlands (ACE) the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent based Youth Music Action Zone organisation "Make Some Noise" and the Staffordshire Youth Services, to deliver the exciting "Bordermoves 2"project, which will see a touring package of dance and music workshops taking place across the county over the next two years.

The project is specifically designed to target young people aged 15-25 years who, for various reasons find themselves in minority groups. It will offer opportunities for them to learn about urban music skills and various modern dance styles, such as hip-hop or breakdance. In addition, participants can go on to become mentors to teach other young people in the future.

Through links with arts organisations, the project will involve working with local dance and music artists to deliver workshops and sessions, giving young people an activity to focus on and a sense of belonging. These sessions will feed into two annual "club night", events which will showcase the work that the project has achieved.

Nigel Singh, Acting head of the Arts and Museums Service for the Council's Staffordshire Arts and Museum Service, explained more about the project. He said: "Bordermoves 2 aims to build on the success of the original Bordermoves project, which ran about three years ago and created various opportunities for young people to access breakdance and capoiera style dance workshops.

"However, this project will introduce two new phases, namely the provision of music activities, particularly urban music skills, and the development of training/mentoring opportunities for young people, both as participants and facilitators. Trainee facilitators and mentors will be able to earn accreditation with bodies such as Millennium Volunteers and the Princes Trust.

"In essence, Bordermoves 2 aims to capture and engage the interest of young people who may feel marginalised or may be in minority groups, whether the reasons are social, political, racial, geographical etc. Each area may have its own set of circumstances, but this is a targeted project which will look to work with those most in need in each district." The project is currently recruiting for a coordinator who will manage the scheme on a day to day basis, which will involve networking with local artists, youth organisations, colleges and other service providers. They will facilitate sessions covering breakdancing, DJ and MC skills, and basic music composition, and will work towards promoting the project at both regional and national level.

Nigel continued: "Bordermoves 2 is a partnership project in every sense of the word. Arts Development Officers from five district and borough councils are involved Cannock and Rugeley, East Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands, South Staffordshire District Council and Tamworth Borough Council as is Staffordshire County Council. In addition, we are working with the group, 'Make Some Noise' - a group created and funded by the national organisation Youth Music Action Zone to offer and promote community music initiatives and Staffordshire Youth services"

Staffordshire County Council would like to hear from anyone interested in the role of project co-ordinator for Bordermoves 2. The role is for a fixed term of two years and the deadline for applications is Friday 20th May 2005 - for more information call Nigel Singh, Strategic Arts Development Officer, on 01889 881388 or email nigel.singh@staffordshire.gov.uk Photographs included to be credited to the Bordermoves photographer Janie Airey and the email address janie@janie-airey.com or visit the website