Swanning Around is a dance project for schools created by WebPlay in partnership with English National Ballet and the Royal Albert Hall.

This year, students from ten schools in the UK and China have been working with professional dance artists provided by English National Ballet to develop a piece of original choreography inspired by Swan Lake. They have also learnt two pieces that involve students from all the participating schools, and a third piece that involves the London students only. Their hard work culminated in a stunning performance of the new dances at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 14 June 2010 featuring the UK students and a small group of the Chinese students. The Chinese students will get a chance to perform their piece at the World Expo in Shanghai on 8 September 2010, alongside a small group of the UK students.

The schools have also been working together in online partnerships, so that the students in the UK and China can learn more about each other’s lives and communities and support each other in the creation of their dances. They have been communicating through WebPlay, a web-based programme that allows students to upload photographs, blogs and videos, and which also provides materials to stimulate discussion between students in each country and training and support materials for teachers.

Connecting Classrooms has supported the development of resources and materials to enable the participating schools in the UK and China to share their ideas and experiences online.

For more information about this project, please go to the Swanning Around website.