A Manifesto for Dance
If I was to lead a political party it would be The Dance Party, and this would be our manifesto; it is a manifesto to enhance the physical and intellectual wellbeing of the nation.
Dance is a central part of human life. We need a political culture which recognises the importance and value of dance in every aspect of society. In addition to strengthening the current dance provision, The Dance Party will legislate for the following.
Dance in every school – no child left behind
We believe that every child, from pre-school through to year 12, should have access to high quality dance provision, and this dance provision should have the same status as literacy and numeracy.
(Read more about Dance in Schools)
Industrial and Business Strategy
We want to support our industries, businesses and workers by getting them moving, to increase productivity, creativity and wellbeing. Every workplace must have a place to move and dance, and we will bring in legislation to ensure that five minutes in every working hour should be set aside for non-work-related movement.
(Read more about dance in business)
Health and Social Care
Dance and movement will become central parts of the health and social care system. Dance and movement activities will be available on prescription. To this end, the study of dance and its impact on health and wellbeing will be introduced to the medical school curricular.
(Read more about dance in health and social care settings)
The National Dance Service
To deliver on our priorities we will create a National Dance Service, where an ambitiously wide variety of dance services will be provided to educational settings, businesses, the arts and in health and social care settings, free at the point of need. The National Dance Service will be staffed by dance professionals on full time permanent contracts.
(read more about what professional dancers do, and how much they earn)
Research and Development
A National Centre for Applied Dance Research, will be established, which brings together scientists, artists and practitioners, working together to advance our knowledge of dance experimentally, theoretically and from an applied perspective.
(read more about the Centre for Dance Research at Coventry University)
National and Regional Dance Galleries
A series of national and regional dance galleries – similar to art galleries, will be built in every major city. The role of Dance galleries is to showcase the history and rich social culture of dance.
Local Communities
Local councils will have a legal duty of care to provide local communities with opportunities for shared movement and dance. We believe that every community should benefit from the increased social interaction and social bonding that comes from shared movement and dance. Furthermore, this dance provision should include a diverse range of social dances to help people learn about, and integrate with, different cultures and cultural practices.
(Read more about People Dancing, the foundation for community dance)
A Living Wage
All dancers and dance professionals must be paid a living wage. In our first year in office we will pass legislation to make it illegal to ask any dancer to work for exposure.
(read more about why it’s bad to ask dancers to work for exposure)
Town Planning
Town planners will be instructed to make provision for places to dance in every town and city in the United Kingdom where there are fast food outlets, smoker’s shelters and coffee shops. The number of places to dance should always be equal to the number of places to eat, drink and congregate. Every community should have public places to dance, accessible to all.
(read more about projects which encourage dancing in public spaces)
Balancing the Books
Our manifesto is fully costed, with all current spending paid for out of taxation or redirected revenue streams. The Dance Party believes that the provision of dance on a national level will lead to a more efficient education system, more creative and productive workplaces and a healthier and a more socially supportive nation. Investing in dance will lead to a reduction in our nation’s historic fiscal deficit.
Dr Peter Lovatt spent over 20 years working as a university academic. He set up the Dance Psychology Lab to understand dance and dancers from a psychological, scientific perspective. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and his teaching has been highly commended. Find out more about his academic life here
Peter Lovatt is an author and he has written two books: “The Dance Cure, the surprising secret to being smarter, stronger, happier” was first published by Short Books in the UK in 2020. “Dance Psychology, the science of dance and dancers” was first published in the UK in 2018. Peter has also writes commissioned articles. Find out more about his writing life here
Peter Lovatt is an international keynote speaker who delivers groovy keynotes which inspire, entertain and get minds and pulses racing. Peter has given keynote talks around the world and he has worked with organisations from different sectors, for example, in the banking, tech, creative, education, health and automotive industries. Find out more about his keynotes here
Peter Lovatt is a founding director of the Movement in Practice (MiP) Academy. The MiP Academy is a specialist provider of education in the psychology of movement and dance. MiP Academy is an accredited provider of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Continuing Education (CE) and Continuing Professional Education (CPE), providing both anytime learning and scheduled face-to-face learning opportunities. Find out more about MiP Academy here
Peter Lovatt became known as Dr Dance through his TV and media work. He first appeared as Dr Dance on the Graham Norton Show (BBC) in 2008 and Dr Dance has since made over 1000 appearances across all major UK TV and radio networks, in magazines and newspapers and on stage. Dr Dance has made several stage shows, including “Dance Dr Dance” (2010), “INSPIRED Psychology Danced” (2011) and “Boogie on the Brain” (2018). Find out more about Dr Dance here
Peter Lovatt lives on the beautiful north Norfolk coast with his partner and their two sons.
Find out more about Peter’s latest news here