The Ballet Nacional de España boosts learning activities to attract youths to Spanish dance

Becoming aware of an increase in the average age of audiences attending theatre and dance shows and the fact that Spaniards know little about the nature of the Ballet Nacional de España and about Spanish dance in general, led the BNE to start an educational project that focuses on children in 2016. “We need to make the public aware of the different styles covered by Spanish dance; it’s not only flamenco”, says Rubén Olmo, director of the Ballet Nacional de España. “Fortunately, after initiatives like those fostered at the BNE, we’ve noticed that more young people are coming to the theatre”, he added.

The first action taken by the BNE to attract young people to Spanish dance was to publish, in printed and digital versions, the illustrated book Bailando un tesoro, written by Azucena Huidobro, former dancer of the Ballet Nacional de España. The 3,000 copies printed were sold out and we intend to print 1,000 more copies.

Also, the BNE will publish a new series of interactive didactic books about the different Spanish dance styles, titled #BNEnoscuenta. The first one, written by BNE classical dance mistress Elna Matamoros, will explain kids the history and characteristics of the escuela bolera. The project includes technological resources such as enhanced reality and QR codes so that readers can see videos thanks to the app BNE nos cuenta, developed for Android and iOS by the Faculty of Computing of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

The Grupo e-UCM of the Department of Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence of the Faculty of Computing, specialized in e-learning and learning technologies, had previously developed the videogame Bailando un tesoro for the BNE. By following the characters, the first educational videogame on Spanish dance is a powerful communication tool that helps spread and promote our cultural heritage in the language most widely used by youngsters. For this novel, groundbreaking project we had the collaboration of the ACE Acción Cultural Española, Berklee School of Music Valencia and BNE patron Ann Kreis, in addition to the support of GameLearn.

The Ballet Nacional de España goes to school

The aim of the programme The Ballet Nacional de España al cole is to spark children’s curiosity about Spanish dance through two activities: a learning workshop that uses the book and videogame Bailando un tesoro as communication tools; and schoolchildren visits to the BNE Madrid base to watch rehearsals. Since 2017, 877 students in the 5th year of Primary School from 12 state assisted and private schools of Comunidad de Madrid have joined the workshops.

“Carrying out a project is just as important as spreading it and making sure it meets its goals”, says Belén Moreno, Head of Sponsorship, Learning Activities and Public Relations of the BNE. That is why two impact studies were conducted to find out whether the book and the videogame were good informative tools for children. The results confirmed in-person talks were better received than the videogame, and also that boys were more motivated than girls. “There’s still hope in the duel between humans and technology, although we can’t overlook the latter as it can reach a larger number of people and places”, Belén Moreno concluded.

Given the good results of previous school campaigns in Madrid, in 2020 it is expected that more Comunidad de Madrid schools will benefit from the The Ballet Nacional de España al cole workshops and schoolchildren’s visits to our headquarters will be increased to four per month. The activity will be extended to all Primary school years and taken across Spain, in parallel with the performances of the company. “This is how we intend to keep approaching the young in an attractive way, encouraging them to take part wherever the BNE performs”, concludes the BNE head of Learning Activities. The next workshops will be held in March in Jerez (Cádiz), Terrassa (Barcelona) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and in Pamplona and Águilas (Murcia) in May.

In these workshops, children learn about the history of Spanish dance and its different styles, and they also practise foot and hand movements apart from learning to use the castanets, the fan, and the shawl, with the guidance of Maribel Gallardo, former principal dancer and current répétiteur at the BNE. “Learning Spanish dance should be available in schools because this is the only way to motivate children and stir their curiosity to come to the theatre”, she says. She also champions the therapeutical power of dance to help children deal with everyday issues, while at the same time teaches them sociability and discipline. After the workshop, participants will get the first interactive book of the #BNEnoscuenta collection.

Come and find out about the BNE

With the aim of boosting the BNE dissemination activities, in 2020 visits to the BNE home in Madrid will also be increased. Up till now visits were only arranged for A level Art students and they will now be extended to all kinds of organised groups. All the schools, associations, secondary schools, and universities of any country will be able to arrange a visit.

Spanish dance students, both of official and private schools are also welcomed to watch the company’s rehearsals and meet BNE director Rubén Olmo, the dancers and the répétiteur.

The grant programme for dancers who have received awards at choreography competitions in our country will also continue. These grants allow them to attend classes with the rest of the company for fifteen days.

Future projects

The Ballet Nacional de España wishes to put in place specific actions in order to extend the good results obtained through this groundbreaking project that aims to spread Spanish dance and create new audiences. The next action is to exhibit the project in Boston and New York in April. A group of BNE and Universidad Complutense de Madrid representatives will give a talk followed by a castanet recital at the universities of Harvard, Tufts, Northeastern, and New York.