Claire McMahon Mooney founder of MMD Dance Studios has teamed up with Future Screens NI and world-renowned choreographer Ryan Jenkins to develop Rainbow Dancers. Rainbow Dancers is a project which has allowed hundreds of children and young people from Lurgan and Craigavon to continue their dance education safely at home, alone together. This initiative has provided children and young people and their families the opportunity to remain connected during the crisis. Rainbow Dancers has encouraged 100s of children and families to stay home and save lives during the ongoing crisis.
The Rainbow Dancers programme which is delivered via MMD online offers 10 classes per week which ballet, street dance and contemporary, toning and dance fitness. As a mum of 3, Claire quickly adapted her kitchen into a dance studio and delivers classes at home via Zoom. Classes are delivered in partnership and accredited with iD Company which is the UK’s top independent Contemporary and Street Dance and Teacher Training Organisation founded by World Renowned Choreographer Ryan Jenkins.
“'iD-Company pushes boundaries for excellence with leading choreographers of our generation and is a ground breaking movement that will nurture the talent of tomorrow."
Founder, Ryan Jenkins
MMD Studios was founded in 2012 and has more than 200 students. Founder Claire McMahon Mooney has always been conscious that the costs of attending multiple classes could have significant negative impacts upon local family budgets. The majority of dancers attending MMDs are from low income families. MMD is built on the ethos of ensuring that each dancer can develop their talent without cost acting as a barrier. Claire has offered access to her full online dance programme at a maximum costs of £10 per month. Claire’s main objective has been to keep her dance community, connected, safe and dancing through the crisis.
MMDS serves the community of Lurgan and Craigavon which exhibits high levels of deprivation and significant health inequalities. Dance is recognised as having positive impacts upon health and wellbeing, improving mental health and reducing suicide risk (Canning et al., 2017). Access to dance education is therefore more pertinent in the context of Covid-19. The MMDS model is heavily built upon face to face approaches in the delivery of dance classes. MMDS has developed a community building approach centred upon the development of friendship both within and between families. The Covid-19 crisis has removed the capacity for MMD to deliver this model routinely. Founder Claire McMahon Mooney acted quickly in response to Covid-19 and halted the physical provision of dance classes prior to the closure of schools in NI. MMDS focused immediately on the transition to virtual dance lessons delivered within an interactive environment. Virtual dance lessons present a mechanism for the ongoing advancement of technique and mastery of dance.
“Funding from Future Screens NI has allowed me to continue to provide dance education and to connect with my dancers and their families. Covid-19 caused the immediate collapse of my business. The capacity to offer high quality dance education in partnership with iDcompany has ensured that MMD studios not only survived the crisis but has become more innovative and grown. I am very proud to be working at the forefront of dance education supported by Future Screens NI. Most importantly as a dance community we are more connected than ever”
Claire McMahon Mooney, Founder MMD Dance Studios
“When Covid-19 hit the region, it was very strange and stressful. We didn’t know that Rose’s last day at pre-school was her last day. She lost the capacity to connect with her friends and learn in group setting. There were no more swimming and dance lessons, all of which she loved. Claire contacted me about online classes and we immediately signed up. In the early days of the crisis we found ourselves laughing and connecting as a family as we had to take the classes at home too to ensure that Rose felt comfortable. This changed our experience of the crisis. We had a fun activity to do each day at home and our daughter could connect with other children her age. Her dance has improved significantly. I have no doubt that Claire’s classes improved our health and wellbeing and significantly reduced our anxiety in the early days of the crisis. I do not know what we would have done without her. We could also exercise safely at home which ensured we stayed at home. There were droves of people passing our front gate. It was frightening to go outside, so instead we stayed in and danced!”
Mum of Róise 3, MMD Dancer
Claire is working hard in preparation for the reopening of MMDs. Claire has mapped out her studio to ensure that when it is safe to open each dancer with have a six foot dance space. Claire has been educating her dancers that if “We are to keep safe we must keep a distance”.