Here, Dance Informa invites Angela Rippon to share her update on the Let’s Dance campaign.
Where has this year gone? It’s almost Christmas, and the Let’s Dance campaign is already getting into gear to make our next National Day of Dance on March 8, 2026, even bigger than before.
So, let me bring you up to date on just some of the projects that are making waves throughout the dance community and beyond right now.
In preparation for the big day on March 8th next year, we are again planning a preview of the campaign about four weeks before, on or around the 15th of February 2026. This was hugely important earlier this year for our first Day of Dance, as it gave us an opportunity to showcase at least 10 different dance styles, from ballet to ballroom, classical Indian, to dance for people with health conditions like Parkinson’s and cancer. Next year, again we will showcase a whole range of dance styles and health benefits. And we will be presenting this to the national press and broadcast media from the top of the iconic Shard building in the heart of the City of London.
The really exciting plan is to cover the whole of the face of the building with an electronic “Let’s Dance” logo, which will be seen for miles across the rooftops of central London. I can’t wait to see that!
October was a busy month for awards ceremonies. I had the huge pleasure of traveling to Belfast in Northern Ireland for the Golden Dance Awards. There is such a vibrant dance community in the province that there were 52 awards being presented that night for outstanding dancers, teachers, and students. And it was great to see parents being honoured as well for the support and encouragement they give to students. Where would so many young dancers be without the support of mum and dad? And as you can imagine, being Northern Ireland – where they know how to party – the celebrations afterwards went on into the early hours of the following morning.
At the Labour Party’s annual conference, held in Liverpool this Autum, I was asked to chair a meeting to discuss the role of Sport and The Arts in the Health and Wellbeing of the nation. My impressive panel included a government minister, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary committee on Health, and representatives from football, theatre, and community centres. As chair of the discussion, I made a strong case for the inclusion of dance in National Health Service planning for the future. And was able to cite over 30,000 pieces of evidence-based research that back up the enormous contribution dance can make to the mental and physical health and well-being of the nation. It was certainly a lively debate. And we sent our Parliamentary colleagues away with plenty of material to help shape a programme based on prevention, rather than cure. With dance making a major contribution to the NHS 10 year plan.
In October, I had the opportunity of speaking at the Annual conference of Health clubs and Gyms in Great Britain. Many clubs already include dance in their health and fitness programmes – but many don’t – so this was an opportunity to encourage all gyms to offer dance to those people who really don’t want to run, lift weights, or exercise on machines. Subsequently, two of the largest Health Club groups in the UK followed up with meetings to explore ways in which they could offer a dance programme. And we are exploring ways that all newly qualified dance teachers will have the necessary extra qualifications needed to ensure that they can work in gyms and health clubs.
One of the most interesting offers to come out of that presentation, was an offer from the company Pure Gym to offer membership to all people in the UK with Parkinson’s Disease – to use the gym facilities or join in a dance class.
Dance has proved to be an incredible way of improving core strength, balance and co-ordination in people with lived experience of Parkinson’s. Improving their gait, and through music, giving them back control of their bodies for the duration of the lesson. And there are scores of Parkinson’s Dance classes being held all over the country.
The offer from Pure Gym is so timely. As in co-operation with Parkinson’s UK, Let’s Dance has asked the international choreographer Dame Arlene Phillips to choreograph a routine for people with lived experience of Parkinson’s that can be done standing or sitting. Arlene is working with specialist dance teachers from English National Ballet and People Dancing, along with people with lived experience of Parkinson’s, to create the work, which will be a major part of our Let’s Dance health programme throughout next year. We hope to encourage even more of the 166,000 people currently diagnosed with the disease to join the 4,000 who already dance. And encourage family doctors to recommend and prescribe dance to patients through the programme of Social Prescribing. A project that helps GPs use proven alternative treatments that support essential medication.
Let’s Dance is also supporting a major project to tackle men’s mental health, through a brilliant programme of dance being run in Southampton. More about that in my next news report once the research on that has been finalised.
As always, there are quite a few new and innovative projects bubbling away in the background. When I next write to you, I hope I will be able to bring you up to date on some of them, and share with you some of the exciting developments in our Let’s Dance programme.
