‘People look forward to it everyday’: Northampton disability dance school is a hit as it moves online during lockdown

A Northampton dance school that specialises in sessions for disabled adults and children has become a huge success online.

Born to Perform, which is usually run from the Bee Hive facility in Harborough Road, had to move all its sessions online when the national lockdown was imposed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since then, the three women who run the dance school have been hosting sessions online, including street dance and drama, that have been extremely popular.

Kimberley Carey, one of the founders of Born to Perform, said: “The online sessions have proved to be more successful than we really thought.

“We’ve had people saying without the online sessions they’d be so down so it’s key to building their confidence.

“We’re not getting paid, we’re just doing it to keep spirits up.”

The daily sessions are held on Zoom, which Kimberley says is really good as the participants can see each other and stay in contact.

She added: “We’ve had so much good feedback. People are saying they look forward to it everyday.

“For those who have autism, they need structure and this gives them a bit of structure and helps to maintain a bit of normality during the pandemic.

The dance school was only set up earlier this year, but Kimberley says there’s a huge need for dance and drama sessions for disabled people.

“Children who feel like they don’t fit into mainstream classes do it,” Kimberley continued.

“We’ve had six and seven year-olds with Down syndrome and were so happy with it because it gives them a chance to be themselves and not get judged.

“The lockdown has given us even more of a push to continue after and more reason to expand and offer more opportunities.”

The online sessions are currently for members only, but the dance school would love to welcome new members.

To find out more about Born to Perform, visit its Facebook page.

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