STEP UP into our Safedance For Kids program
Following two years of consultation, Ausdance QLD is launching a three-year pilot of a world-first education program. ‘Safedance for Kids’ teaches physical, mental health and social safety, through a First Nations Culturally safe lens directly to 8-10yr old children. It is delivered in community (local dance activities) by community (teachers) to community (children).
Step-Up – an initiative of Ausdance QLD’s Safedance Program’(working title), is a revenue-generating program teaching strategies, concepts and ‘rules’ over six action-packed/evidence-based sessions. Children receive a ‘goodie bag’, tickets to a live performance and coaching by a professional dancer alongside their teacher. These key elements inspire, impact and encourage children, families and studios to focus on safety as a foundation of dance training.
More than 75,000 children under the age of 15 dance in Queensland each week. Safedance for Kids gives these children and their communities strategies to protect growing bodies and minds. It builds healthy dancers able to dance professionally or recreationally for a lifetime. It earns income and is accessible to the diverse dance sector. Safedance for Kids responds directly to global best practice of safety and to critical sector needs.
1600 + members expect Ausdance QLD to prioritise substantial improvements to child safety. Dropouts due to injury are high(15%) and incidents of mental illness(eg: eating disorders/ anxiety) are increasing. Dance teachers struggle to meet higher community expectations and want practical solutions to improving child safety without additional bureaucracy.
Design and development of Cultural Safety content has commenced, funded by the first year of three-year grant committed by the John Villiers Trust. The business model is sustainably designed so teachers, studios AND Ausdance QLD earn additional income with low fixed infrastructure costs.
Safedance for Kids equitably meets the safety, social and business needs of the dance sector.
Short-term benefits;
Increased child safety knowledge in communities
Increased revenue for the dance sector
Medium-term benefits
Engaged local communities/sponsors
Improved child safety
Exposure to live dance performance
Long-term benefits/impact:
Improved child safety for 76k in QLD annually
Financial sustainability for Ausdance QLD
Empowered and educated lifetime dancer
Longer professional dance careers
Audience development
Conceived and designed in close consultation with sector, the model ensures commercial, social and structural outcomes are achieved.
Financial feasibility:
Immediate break-even for Ausdance QLD and delivery partners
Sponsorship consultations prove ‘sponsorship viability’
Ausdance QLD earns ongoing passive income
Social feasibility:
Australian Society of Performing Arts Health and child safety specialists build content reflecting global best practice.
It is a ‘value-add’ product for teachers
Practical feasibility
The model is designed to minimise work (operational costs) and maximise impact (education/income).
Safedance for Kids is effective and accessible for our diverse range of members across Queensland, improving child safety and incentivising teachers with additional income. It creates a perpetual source of income to support Ausdance QLD and as it grows, will dramatically change the long-term safety (and therefore careers) of dancers in studios, communities, companies and on stages across the state.