Take a look at the FAQ’s below or get in touch if you have other questions about what Zest Dance Workshops can do for you…
The workshops can vary in length: We recommend from 30mins for Nursery and Reception classes, 45 minutes for Key Stage 1, and 1-2 hours hours is suitable for key stage 2 and above.
We are happy to fit in with your school’s timetable.
Please contact us for more detailed information on the your specific dance workshop.
PE kits are best for the dance workshops.
Or alternatively school uniform and bare feet are also fine, or plimsolls/trainers.
We require a CD player to use when we visit your school.
Please let us know if this is going to be a problem so we can arrange to bring our own speakers to use.
We only use music that is suitable for young impressionable ears with no swearing or inappropriate lyrics, (which is not easy to find these days!).
We work hard to find music which represents each style of dance and the country it is from.
Music is a valuable teaching resource when studying a particular country – so we leave you with a copy of the music so you can continue the dance, or play it in your classroom after we have gone.
All Zest teachers have current DBS certificates and dance insurance which covers pupils in their care.
Let us know if you want us to send you a copy in advance.
You can do as many different dance styles in one day as you like!
We teach up to 30 children in a class to one Zest teacher. If there are a few more that’s ok, just let us know in advance.
We can’t take more than this amount of children to one Zest teacher, as it becomes unsafe and not a good learning environment for the students or the teacher.
We do require another member of your school’s staff to be present in each workshop.
If you have a large number of children we can send in multiple Zest teachers who can work with all the children in one large group if required.
Zest believes it is good to give children a visual picture of the dance style before the dance has even begun, as this is often what sticks in their mind most.
If you are having some cultural dance workshops our teachers will dress up in appropriately themed outfits.
These will give a flavour of the country, but may not be full costumes as we need to dance all day so it has to be practical for us too. If you are having many different dance styles in one day, it may not be possible to do multiple changes.
For our Bollywood, African and Carnival dance workshops we bring some costumes for the children to dress up in too.
Yes.
It is great for schools to have a record of their children dancing and having fun, so putting up photographic displays or using video footage for parents evening etc is perfect.
The code of practice keeps changing in schools as to whether you can take footage or not, it is up to the individual school policy. As far as Zest are concerned we are happy to be in your photos and films.
Or if you are happy to share your pics or videos with us please let us know so we can write a blog or share a Tweet about our time in your school.
We leave a copy of the music, but we can also leave some notes on the workshop we have taught, or suggestions on how to continue the dance after we have gone.
Please let us know what you require and we will make up a pack to leave you with.
Yes!
At Zest we feel that performance is a very important part of our dance workshops and something everyone should experience.
The performance could be at the end of the class, in assembly at the end of the day or a larger performance at a later date.
Please see our Workshop page for further details.
Why not treat your pupils to a dance workshop? We are based in London but have teachers across the UK to bring our workshops to you.