SOUTH SIDE DANCE JOY
THE film could not be more aptly named – 10 Seconds of Joy shows the delight and enthusiasm of young South Side dancers. Dance artist Kate E Deeming has been working in four Pollokshields primary schools to nurture pupils’ talent and get them moving.
Now, as part of Tramway’s Beyond Walls program, their efforts have been turned into a film that is live online – and spreading joy.
Kate said: “I have been really lucky because I have long standing relationships, living in the community, and the four primary schools have four excellent head teachers who will go to the ends of the earth for their kids.
“I got the funding and then made it happen – and it’s had this extraordinary reach.
“I wanted to create a different focus and give kids a physical outlet and let them express themselves.
“I told them, ‘Your job is to bring joy to the world through your dance’ and they totally took it on board and really got in to it.
“Kids were going home and telling their families about it and getting them dancing as well.
“There has been a lot of internalising and focusing on the darkness of this time but when people are messy and silly and a bit crazy and it just brings immediate smiles.”
Kate is familiar to everyone in the community for her public dancing but she became a global sensation at Christmas after being filmed boogying in the streets dressed as a Christmas tree.
For the classes – held in Pollokshields, St Alberts, Glendale and Gleann Dail primaries for all year groups – she was dressed as the Disco Chicken.
Kate said: “I say that I’m the Pavlov of dance now – people see me and just start dancing.”
“I’ve been doing a dance project in the area for three years and kids always ask when they are going to be dancing again.
“When they think about themselves and about their community, they think about dancing.
“I’m just nurturing their talent – they are all super great.
“Every time I finish I say, ‘Everything is going to be ok as long as you can dance’.”
Classes started at the end of April with a series of outdoor dance workshops given before the filming day.
Filmmaker Basharat Khan visited each of the four schools and captured the joy of pupils as they jumped and jived around their playgrounds. On Thursday afternoon the film was played from the back of a trailer and travelled round each of the schools.
It’s now on Tramway’s website here: www.tramway.org/kate-edeeming
Anyone who fancies creating their own 10 seconds of joy can film a clip of themselves dancing and post it on Twitter with #Disco ChickensUnite