Crawley teenager becomes assistant dance teacher thanks to outreach programme

A 15-year-old year-old girl who joined a dance project two years ago has now become an assistant teacher thanks to the support of DanceHub.

Tillie Ball first joined the Y.E.S project in 2021 at her school in Crawley as a participant, but by February 2023 Tillie managed to achieve her Level 2 qualification in dance leadership with DanceHub.

Jade Hand – Y.E.S project teacher, said:  “I have been teaching the Y.E.S project at Tillie’s secondary school since September 2022. 

“In this time, I have seen Tillie grow and progress as both a leader and dancer. 

“Although when I first started, she was still confident in both leading and dancing, I have seen this massively increase over the past eight months. 

“She isn’t afraid to lead the class and does so with confidence and great ability. 

“Tillie is often keen to explore her own choreographic skills throughout the sessions and always comes up with interesting and new ideas which she shares with the class. 

“When leading the class, she does not require much support from myself and is clear and precise with her instructions. 

“I look forward to seeing this leadership progress further.” 

Since receiving her qualification Tillie has taken on more leadership opportunities and responsibilities.

She regularly leads choreography sections and warm ups in her school Y.E.S project and she has helped out at DanceHub events – Forward Motion 2023 and Let’s Dance Crawley 2023. 

She has also been leading Y.E.S project sessions at her old primary school as a teaching assistant and passing on her expertise to the next generation.

Lauren Parrott – Y.E.S project teacher, said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Tillie and watch her confidence grow as the term has progressed. 

“Tillie creates fantastic routines that the students love and teaches them clearly while ensuring that the dancers still have fun.” 

The Y.E.S project is an outreach project run by DanceHub.

It aims to use StreetDance as the vehicle to engage with young people and support them to develop lifelong skills such as creativity, confidence and teamwork, as well as providing leadership pathways into the world of dance and more. 

The project targets young people from deprived areas and in particular those that are inactive and not engaged by traditional sport, physical activity and dance.

DanceHub believes it is vital to support and empower young women such as Tillie to chase and fulfil their aspirations, especially in the often male dominated world of sport and exercise. 

70 per cent of the DanceHub and Y.E.S team are female identifying, which provides the young leaders with positive female role models in sports and dance that they can look up to and identify with. 

Jade added: “Tillie is a shining example of a young Y.E.S ambassador who is helping to determine the future direction of the Y.E.S project. 

“Her dream is to own her own StreetDance company and Y.E.S/DanceHub are proud to offer her the experience she needs to make this happen.” 

To find out more DanceHub, visit their website or for more information about Y.E.S Project, visit the website here.