International Dance Day celebrated with joyful flash mob on Sergels Torg

It was the UN agency UNESCO that established International Dance Day in 1982 – a day for everyone involved in dance to showcase what dance means for them and for society.

For SKH, the idea to do something spectacular on the day emerged from a networking meeting with upper secondary schools where the university’s teacher education students do internships. Could all the schools be brought together for a grand celebration of dance and dancing?

SKH commissioned choreographer Ingrid Corradini Andersö to put together a short programme that all the pupils at the schools could learn. She has since travelled around teaching the pupils and students the choreography. The music was composed by Izza Gara and Venus Anon.

Close to 130 pupils, plus the students of SKH’s Teacher Education Programme in Dance, ended up gathering on Sergels Torg in the sunshine and spread out across the square in true flash mob style. There they danced both school-by-school and in a large group, cheered on by family and friends as well as crowds of passers-by. People had lots of curious questions about both the event and the dancers.

Meeting through dance

The fact that such a large group came together, from so many different upper secondary schools, was a key part of the plan. Ninnie Andersson, head of subject for dance pedagogy at SKH, believes that the interaction between students from different schools is important – it creates vital connections and understanding among the students, which those who go on to pursue a career in the field can then take with them into their professional lives.

“Sometimes the different schools become like islands; they rarely meet,” she explains. “I see that SKH has the opportunity to support the creation of meeting places for young people and students involved in dance, and to strengthen collaboration between the University and upper secondary schools.”

Josephine Björklund, a lecturer in dance pedagogy at SKH and one of the organisers of the event, believes it also provided an opportunity for pupils and students to truly feel the power inherent in dance and in meeting through dance.

“There is something incredibly powerful about coming together that you experience as a dancer and a dance teacher,” she says. “It’s something we perhaps ought to remind each other of more often.”

That power was felt particularly strongly by the people at Sergels Torg on this sunny Wednesday afternoon. In many ways, the celebration became a way of raising the profile of dance and encouraging more people to take part in it, both as an audience and as dancers. Perhaps a celebration of dance could open people’s eyes to the possibility of pursuing a university-preparatory dance programme at secondary school or university?

“Children need the opportunity to encounter dance from a young age and see that it is an option within a university-preparatory secondary school programme,” says Ninnie Andersson, “and then – as econdary school pupils – realise that it is a viable career choice. It’s an ongoing cycle, a chain of knowledge needed for dance to thrive in Sweden – from the young child to professional dance teachers and dance artists.”