Dancing through lockdown: advice from a 10 year old

Lockdown has had everyone's routine up in the air! Whilst trying to keep active at home we've all had to overcome many hurdles. Ten year old Poppy shares how she's been dancing her way through it all

Poppy’s story

My name is Poppy. I am ten years old and I love to do dancing. When I was in year 1, I started to go to a dance group called Integr8 which do lots of dance groups for all different styles. I went to a group for the younger children who wanted to do street dance. It was every Thursday in my school hall. For at least a year Louise taught me, she was a happy and very fun teacher to have been taught by. Louise was one of the reasons I kept coming back but another was most of my friends went to the same class.

Growing my confidence

When I was in the “minis” class with Louise I was very shy and did not want to go to classes with people I didn’t know but as I continued to go to the classes I got less and less shy. So, because I got more confidence, I auditioned to be in a crew. For the audition I went to it was just like a class, the teachers would make a dance, teach it to us, and we would just have some fun. A few weeks later mum got an email to say I was successful, and I got into a crew called Ignite! Crew was every Wednesday. We did a few competitions: I remember in one our crew got third place.

Whilst I was doing crew, I continued to do my Thursday class. After a few years of being taught by Louise she swapped classes with another teacher, Chrissy, she is a very nice teacher and is great at keeping things in order. While Chrissy was teaching me (in year four) I auditioned for crew again, unfortunately I did not get in. Although when they held their Christmas party there was a musical theatre workshop and I went to see what it was like. I really liked the workshop, so I decided to join the class.  Chrissy teaches it as well, I still do these classes now.

Being active in lockdown

Although we are in lockdown, I am staying active by continuing my dance classes on Zoom. I don’t enjoy them as much as being with my friends, but they have really helped my mental health. If I’m feeling a bit moody and miserable, being active and doing something I enjoy with other people really helps.

Also, me and my family are going on walks and playing games of football in the park. We do not usually do this but during this time we have done it more often. It’s nice to spend that time with mum and dad.

It’s not easy to stay active during this time but I think we can do it.

Find more inspiration on getting children active at home on our active home page.