The Stage

Pineapple plans dance scheme to teach jazz and hip hop in schools

Published Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 16:25 by Matthew Hemley

London dance studios Pineapple is planning a new schools initiative which will see the organisation train up teachers to take jazz and hip hop classes.

Debbie Moore, the founder of Pineapple, told The Stage that the outreach programme - which is aimed at improving the fitness levels of children - would see existing Pineapple teachers train other teachers in the dance forms, with the organisation’s staff then making “guest visits” to schools involved.

She said she had chosen to focus on jazz and hip hop-style classes in a bid to distinguish the scheme from other existing school dancing initiatives, such as one launched last year by Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova from Strictly Come Dancing, which has an emphasis on ballroom.

Moore said young children did not want to learn ballroom, claiming it could “put them off forever”, and said her plans, delivered under the Pineapple brand and using existing Pineapple staff, would make it “more exciting for them”.

“I am thinking more jazz or hip hop-style classes for the kids. And even if they don’t have a gym or play area, the schools can move the desks back and do a class like that, which they [the students] will love and it’s good for them - it’s good exercise,” she said.

Moore, who was made an OBE this year, said she was currently looking at the best way to implement the scheme and claimed that dancing in groups is one of the best ways to get in shape.

“The more people that message gets to the better - and using schools for that is a fantastic idea,” she said.

Pineapple will this month be the subject of a fly on the wall documentary on Sky One.

The outreach plans follow news last month that Barking and Dagenham theatre company Arc has been awarded £16,725 by London Thames Gateway Development Corporation to pilot a programme aimed at improving GCSE English grades in the borough using drama techniques.