Let’s Dance Not Fight
On the 10th, 11th and 12th of July we held our Annual Show for 2019, ‘Let’s Dance not Fight’, showcasing some of the incredible talent the young people have here. This year’s show was linked to our campaign #letsdancenotfight, which is aiming to promote youth dance across London whilst making a stand against intolerance, hatred and violence, especially knife crime. The show included a Steel Pan performance, media slideshows and an array of dance pieces, all performed by the wonderful young people here at Paddington arts.
As knife crime and youth violence continues to increase in London, with an extra 335 reports of knife crime over the past year in Westminster alone, it is vital that young people in the area are given opportunities to use their skills and talents in a beneficial way, whether that is performing or just learning something new as a hobby. It’s not just in London, however, since 2013 more than 1000 victims in the UK have been killed by a knife and the number is continuing to increase. Police recorded 43,516 offences involving knives or sharp objects in the year to March 2019, the highest since comparable records began in 2011 and hitting a record high, up 8% from the previous year.
The #letsdancenotfight campaign is aiming to encourage young people to get involved in the performing arts as a way of getting off the streets and focusing their energy into something worthwhile. Doneil, who is part of the 16-26 year old dance group, said that dance is “100%” a good way to help prevent youth crime and Savanna, also in the 16-26 dance group said dance is a “positive” activity and “relieves stress”. Research suggests that not only does the physicality of dance help reduce stress, anxiety and depression but dancing in a group also encourages social bonding and building of friendships, which can give young people that feeling of inclusiveness which they so often desire. Many young people seek to join gangs as they feel excluded and isolated from those around them and often don’t have a safe place to call home or a family that they can get support from. Therefore, being part of a tight-knit group can help them to open up and feel more included.
Kayla, who dances in the 16-26 age group, told of her personal experiences with knife crime saying, “My friend’s cousin was stabbed about three years ago and it affected the whole school. He came in the next day and everyone was silent.” When asked how this affected her personally she expressed that “It made me think about my cousins as I have a lot of male cousins. It didn’t make me feel safe.” She then added that she had once “seen it with my own eyes”. Knife crime and youth violence also has a deep impact on parents in the area, with many becoming increasingly worried for their child’s safety. Savanna said that “parents get scared as well” and admitted that her parents are “panicking all the time”. For many parents, the sense of security they have knowing their children are safe and well looked after at places such as Paddington Arts is a huge relief to them. They then get to see the incredible effort their children have put in over the weeks at the annual show, no doubt making them extremely proud. That’s why it is so important that campaigns such as #letsdancenotfight exist so that they not only protect vulnerable kids but also educate others, including parents, on how they can help protect young people.
However, it is not only young people and parents who are noticing the increase in knife crime and youth violence. I spoke to Patrick Green, CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust (one of the leading anti-knife crime charities in the UK), who said “Much of knife crime has been linked to the drugs market and gangs, but cuts to youth services and the police have contributed to the problem as there are a lack of youth workers to divert young people in to positive activities and not enough police on the street.” Although Theresa May insists that there “was no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers”, policing cuts means police numbers have fallen more than 20,000 since 2010, whilst crime has continued to rise. Patrick has worked in youth work for over 20 years and has witnessed knife crime. He is now the CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust, set up in honour of Ben Kinsella who was tragically stabbed to death on 29th June 2008. The trust runs workshops at the Ben Kinsella Exhibition in Islington to educate young people on the consequences of knife crime and the effects it has on families. Patrick believes that “Lots of support for all young people, prevention and early intervention programmes to help young people move in the right direction” are the best solutions to prevent youth crime, which is just what the #letsdancenotfight campaign is aiming to do. He also believes that dance can bring many benefits to the lives of young people, who as Patrick says may have a “lack of positive opportunities to build a career in society, feeling left behind or that they don’t fit into society”, adding that dance means, “you have fun, you are creative, your talent will shine, you’ll meet positive peers, make friends and meet good role models. But most of all you will have fun.” Patrick picks up on the point that joining a dance group or any group at a youth centre allows young people to make new friends and meet good role model figures. This can be extremely important as young people joining gangs often wont have a positive group of friends and may not have a loving figure to look up to for advice, therefore it is vital that centres provide this.
So, the Paddington Arts Annual show is just the beginning of our extremely important #letsdancenotfight campaign. Both young people and adults firmly believe that this campaign is crucial in order to spread awareness of the dangers of knife crime and youth violence in the area and give more young people a chance at a more positive life.
It was an inspiring show packed with talent from a variety of ages, and I couldn’t help but smile the whole way through. The young people here are determined to make a difference in the area and want to showcase to everyone that dance and the arts are a fantastic way to spend your time. So, please, help us raise awareness for our campaign #letsdancenotfight.
Article by; Elspeth Singleton, Photos by; Jake Tewson
