IN 2016, Powys Dance director Amanda Griffkin had an idea to bring together dance and science to inspire children to enjoy both.
Flying Atoms combined aerial dance, theatre, original music and an impressive set to open up the world of physics to children aged 7-11 and their families. One audience member in Cardiff this year told us: “I brought my granddaughter in the hope that she would get interested in science and now she wants to fly!”
When the show visited Newtown in Autumn 2018 as part of a Wales wide tour, our producer Lauren Hussein visited a local school before and after the show to try to better understand the impact of the show on the little professors.
She used the draw-a-scientist test, to see what gender the children saw scientists to be. Encouragingly (compared to other similar research) before seeing the show 33% of children drew female scientists. However we were really pleased to see that after seeing Flying Atoms nearly 50% of the scientists drawn were female.
Across two and a half years, Flying Atoms has reached over 4,000 people in schools, venues and at festivals in England, Scotland & Wales. We’re really proud of these big numbers but we’re really interested in what each individual took away from their experience of the show.
?After a successful winter term of children’s dance sessions in Hay, Powys Dance are bringing a new groove to Hay on Wye in the form of dance sessions for adults!
Something brand new to get 2019 started well, 12 weeks of adult dance sessions, offering an array of dance styles to anyone looking for a new and fun challenge to kick the new year off with!
On the dance menu will be Salsa, Jazz and Contemporary dance in 4 week blocks over a 12 week term, starting on Monday, January 14 with four weeks of Salsa!