Tracing the impacts of informal dance training: a case study of falling on your feet, a programme for dancers over 65

Abstract

This article takes as a case study Helix Art’s Falling on Your Feet, a dance and health programme for people aged 65 and above, who are living independently in Teesside. It examines how the programme has traced the social, health, and artistic impacts and effects of informal dance training. Methods used to trace impacts include: i) informal conversations between an artist practitioner and the group within a structured social session, ii) informal interviews led by trained assessors, iii) reflections written by the dance practitioners, iv) photography, and v) light touch interventions such as Timed Up and Go (TUG) testing. Impacts have been captured mainly through qualitative and light touch interventions. This paper examines the reasons qualitative and light touch tracking is necessary, and beneficial, both for the participants, practitioners, partner organizations, and funding bodies.