Ballet Hoo!
Youth at Risk specialises in designing innovative and challenging personal development programmes that have a proven track-record for getting to the very heart of youth disaffection and empowering society’s most difficult and damaged youngsters to turn away from crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour and build a b
etter future for themselves.
‘Ballet Hoo’’ was one such programme. This unique project combined powerful personal development and life skills coaching with a demanding regime of ballet training to bring about a radical transformation to the lives of a group of young people from Birmingham and the Black Country. It culminated on September 28th in a live performance of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s production of Romeo & Juliet at the Birmingham Hippodrome,
The premise of the project was, if these young people could, from scratch, successfully cope with the disciplines, challenges and intensity of the training required to dance ballet to a high standard and to stage a full scale professional ballet production, then this would build their self esteem and set them up to tackle other challenges in their lives with renewed belief in themselves. Successful achievement of the ballet project would act as evidence that they can achieve when they take control of their lives and seize the opportunities that are offered to them.
The story of Romeo & Juliet provided a perfect metaphor for the lives of these young people, embracing as it does dysfunctional families, gang warfare, drugs, murder, sex and teenage suicide.
A ballet company prepared to take risks was fundamental to the project and in Birmingham Royal Ballet, Youth at Risk found a willing and perfect partner. Education and community work are central to BRB’s artistic vision and in ‘Ballet Hoo’ it saw the opportunity to take this work several steps further and involve the whole company.
A presentation on the project was made to Andrew Sparke, Chief Executive of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, whose enthusiasm for it led in turn to presentations to the Black Country Partnership and Birmingham City Council. The outcome was a decision, a brave one given the pioneering nature of the project, for the local authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Birmingham to participate in one overall collaborative programme, with funding and resource support from Black Country Connexions and the Learning & Skills Council.
Youth workers from both statutory and voluntary organisations, teachers and youth offending teams undertook the process of identifying and enrolling the young people for the project. Through them some 200 signed up to participate.
Recruitment consultants Alexander Mann lent their services to bring on board volunteers from the local communities to be trained by Youth at Risk as life coaches. Life coaches are a fundamental element of Youth at Risk programmes. They are matched one-to-one with programme participants and support them throughout in achieving their goals. Without them the chances of the young people ‘turning the corner’ are greatly reduced.
At the outset of the project in May 2005, participants in groups of 30-40 underwent an intensive 4-day Youth at Risk personal development workshop. In these workshops participants addressed the issues in their lives that were making them behave the way they did. The days were long and tough, the training emotionally challenging – but always compassionate. At the end of the course participants set themselves three main life goals related to their commitment to change and signed up to a fitness regime.
During the course of the next year they met each month in area groups for further personal development training and on a weekly basis individually with their life coaches, who supported them in implementing change in their lives, in accessing other services available to them and in avoiding old habits and mistakes. The young people were also introduced to the basic principles of ballet and entered into a fitness regime.
At the end of that year just under 100 participants enrolled for stage two of the project where the focus on the ballet element intensified. They were introduced to the wide variety of roles they might play, which included the technical areas of staging a production such as costume and scenery design, stage management, marketing and administration as well as actual dance performance.
The following six months were intense and demanding. Life coaching sessions continued and were overlaid with dance and movement workshops, led by Desmond Kelly, Assistant Director, BRB and Ballet Mistress, Marion Tait. The disciplines of ballet training and continued participation in the project were extremely strict and unbending. Too much for some – but a real turning point for the majority. Life became one of intensive skills and fitness training, learning and rehearsal. By working as a company of dancers, actors and technicians the young people learnt to live together, to build relationships, to resolve conflicts in a positive manner and to respect others.
Performance night was a triumph, exceeding the most optimistic expectations. As one journalist put it “once they stumbled but now they soar”. More to the point and more poignantly the project’s outcome was best expressed by one young participant as thus. “I used to be a nobody – now I’m a somebody”.
As part of its commitment to young people and the arts Jan Younghusband at Channel 4 commissioned Diverse Productions to film the entire project and create a 4-part TV documentary entitled Ballet Changed My Life :Ballet Hoo! Screened last autumn, it was compulsive viewing. Whilst emotionally charged, tragic and heart breaking in parts, it was nonetheless a remarkable testament to what young people can achieve when enabled to recognise their potential and seize their opportunities.
