The UK have a growing number of talented dance freelancers that work to improve teams of all levels to reach their full potential and grow the sport nationwide. Freelancers are so important in Allstar Dance because they are experts at nailing the scoresheet, know exercises and drills to get
those skills you want your athletes to have and their stories and knowledge can inspire and motivate athletes. COVID-19 has meant they have become even more creative than ever to keep us going. I spoke to four of the most successful and inspirational Allstar dance freelancers about what they can do, what their favourite memories are from coaching all over the UK and beyond, and how they work with teams to improve and maximise their scoresheet and how they have and will be dealing with COVID-19.

One is from south west England, one south east, one from northern England and one from Scotland.

Danielle Robinson

Danielle currently coaches Team England Jazz, and was previously the technique coach at Team England Pom. Her Allstar home is Yorkshire Martyrs, a team which has been going from strength to strength, their Junior Pom team gaining a summit bid in 2019 and the programme is represented in most Team England dance teams. Danielle is a director of Yorkshire Martyrs alongside her sister, Charlotte. She will be very familiar to a lot of you as she demonstrates and teaches the BGU
Pom and Jazz coach qualification courses.

1.What dance styles do you specialise in?
I specialise in Jazz, Pom and Lyrical.

2. What are your key areas you consult on? Consult in choreography of full routines and end dance sections for cheer. I also hold dance technique workshops along side a successful jumps clinic. I am currently a judge for several different EPs. I also do clean up camps for all of my specialists styles.

3. Which teams have you worked with?

So far within lockdown I have had workshops with 22 programs ranging from worlds teams to beginner dance teams.

4 How are you adapting to teaching around COVID?
I have been extremely lucky throughout the pandemic that I have been able to still offer my workshops via zoom. This has still allowed my regular teams to work with me and still further themselves. It has also given me opportunities to work with teams that usually wouldn’t be able to work with me due to distance. I am extremely grateful that I have had the focus of workshops and I have still been able to spread my love of dance with different programmes this way.

5. What kind of support do you offer to help programmes?
I work with programmes mainly at the beginning of the season for all workshops. Choreography camps are usually held before Christmas. I offer feedback for choreography and technique both online and in person.

6. Why did you decide to start freelancing outside of your allstar team?
I was approached by several different programmes asking for clean up camps and technique classes.

7. What’s your favourite thing about working with so many teams around the country?
I love nothing more than spreading my love for dance and allowing dancers to gain from my experiences and knowledge in order to live out their dreams.

8. What has been your most memorable moment from freelancing?
Travelling to Europe to hold camps. I have worked so far in both Barcelona with BCN Cheer and in Amsterdam with Legacy Elite. I hope to work with more international teams soon as I have exciting plans for the current season!

9. How can people get hold of you?

I have my profile on instagram- daniellecheeranddance Camps and workshops can also be booked via my email address and my work contact.
Email: CDCampsChoreography@gmail.com
mobile: 07853384648

Becky Mancini

Becky Mancini is a reigning world champion for hip hop, as she is a dancer for Allstar Team ADA Dark Angels who won the Open Co-ed Hip Hop Elite Title at ISASF in 2019. She is also the coach of ADA Virtues Jazz and Lyrical who scored worlds bids in their first and second ever seasons respectively. Currently the manager and coach for Team England Hip Hop and an assistant coach for Team England Jazz, Becky is very experienced and knowledgable in multiple styles.

1. What dance styles do you specialise in? I’m a bit of a pic’n’mix to be honest! I specialise in all HipHop styles : popping, locking, house, hiphop choreo, whacking. But I am also a lyrical contemporary and jazz worlds coach therefore work for on this style and the technique within it….And I dabble in some cheer dance too- for the
sass!

2 .What are your key areas you consult on? (Ie. Choreography, technique, power, clean ups, judging feedback)
I can really work wherever the team desire as I have experience in all but I would say that choreography and visuals are my most key areas – making sure a routine is unique, visual and entertaining to hit that score sheet!

3.Which teams have you worked with?
Yorkshire Martyrs, Sharon Ann, Legacy Allstars, Roots Cheer and Dance Scotland, Jets Cheer, Wye and Galaxy … this is just to name a few. And I also am head coach for Team England Hip Hop and assistant coach for Team England Jazz.

4 How are you adapting your teaching around COVID-19?
During the lockdown as others I went full swing into zoom classes! Zoom was an absolute saviour for keeping me sane! But also a challenge… trying to choreograph contemporary minus leaps, jumps and travelling was definitely new and my dancers had some epic fails! I am very happy to
continue offering classes and freelancing activities over Zoom to teams that still have travel restrictions.
The last few weeks Ada have returned to the studio in bubbles – we aren’t yet in our normal teams but just being in the studio seeing the athletes and being back together is just the best feeling! I think covid-19 has certainly taught me and many others to never take life for granted! I am so lucky to
have a job I adore and covid-19 really proved to me just how much I love it and need it in my life. I am looking forward to be able to travel to teams once government guidelines and SportCheer England advice allows me to. Even then, I will be observing social distancing and hygiene safety measures like we have at ADA

5 What kind of support do you offer to help programmes?
Normally a one off session but with a follow up. For example if a programme was to get me in to choreograph their hiphop routine or a cheer dance section I would teach and do the visuals in one day and then follow this up with regular communications in the form of the coach sending me
videos and me giving detailed feedback.

6 Why did you decide to start freelancing outside of your allstar team?
Through the pure love of dance and creating! I love working with lots of different dancers and sharing my passion for dance! I believe Allstar is a family and we should share and help each
other!

7. What’s your favourite thing about working with so many teams around the country?
Similar to before I love meeting new people with the same passion as me! There is so much talent in our country and it’s so exciting getting to work with so much of it!

8. What has been your most memorable moment from freelancing?
One of my fav jobs I’ve done was with Roots Dance Academy (Rosie Strachen) the girls were just amazing and my first ever time in Scotland they really looked after me. Plus it was such a great day and I have continued to do some work with these guys over zoom. They are always so
hardworking and eager to learn! ALSO Wye and Galaxy brought the whole team I worked with to watch the ADA showcase. This was such a beautiful thing to show pure support to another academy – beautiful people!!

How can people get hold of you?

The best way is via my dance Instagram: beckymancini_darkangels OR via maxourcheeranddance as I am available for booking via these guys too!

Maddie Jamieson

Maddie grew up dancing in both Scotland and the US, gaining 27 national titles in the process. She competed at ISASF with CDC Senior Pom and Senior Hip Hop, and has also competed ICU as part of Team Scotland Pom and Hip Hop. Following retiring from competing in 2018, Maddie set up
her freelancing business and was offered one of the Team Scotland Jazz coaching positions in

She is also a qualified judge with ICU, lectured at BATD and for Scottish Student Cheer.

1 What dance styles do you specialise in?
Pom, Traditional Pom/Cheer Dance, Jazz and Lyrical

2 What are your key areas you consult on?
Most of my work is either choreography, consultancy on a competition routine, or intensives which include workshops and masterclasses. I am also an ICU qualified judge, so I suppose that everything I do comes with a little bit of judges feedback! The most common request is for a pom
or lyrical workshop.

3 Which teams have you worked with?
I am so lucky to have worked all the way from Inverness down to London and across allstar, university and studio dance! Some of my more recent clients include MSD, DM Diamonds, Phoenix Flames, Roots, KDC and the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Middlesex. I also coached Team Scotland Jazz this year alongside Sharlene.

4.How are you adapting to teaching around COVID-19?

Initially it was all Zoom and Facebook Live, which was a blessing in disguise because it meant people from all over the world could take class with me. It wasn’t without its challenges though – limited space and different flooring being the two that spring to mind. When we were allowed to
have outdoor classes, I had a number of wonderful days choreographing in the pouring rain in a local park! Thankfully we’re back in the studio now, but with plenty of restrictions and safety measures in place. While it is tough to not be able to have our typical start to the season or work
on all the dance lifts and close contact choreography we’d want, all we can do is follow government advice and know that we’re all in the same boat – the health and wellbeing of people is the most important thing.

5.What kind of support do you offer to help programmes?

(Ie. How long and in what format, for example do you work with programmes throughout the season or generally one off sessions?)

You know, it tends to vary program to program. Some want year-round support for their competition teams and some just want an hour of help on a specific skill! I’m happy to do both. Alongside the usual freelancing help, I offer all of the teams that I work with free, unlimited, year-round feedback
on videos as standard. It’s just a little way of saying thank you for letting me be a part of their season! I also try to make it to at least one of the competitions that my clients compete at so that I can support them there too!

6.Why did you decide to start freelancing outside of your allstar team?
Initially it was just an excuse to spend even more time in a sport that I loved, doing some class covers and one-off workshops. I freelanced a little back in the day but moved abroad in 2013 and thought that it would be the end – seven years on and here we are!
In 2015 I worked exclusively in the studio circuit and competed exclusively in the allstar circuit to try and keep work and play somewhat separate. Through staffing at competitions over the years I had become friendly with a few allstar coaches and towards the end of my dance career some had
approached me about working with their teams. Scotland is such a small place that quite often you compete against the same team three or four times in the season and I felt that it would be a conflict of interests to work with teams that I’d compete against so often. Thankfully when I retired
in 2018 the offers were still there and I started freelancing for allstar and university programs again.

7.What’s your favourite thing about working with so many teams around the country?
Having been in the industry for so long, getting to work with the same programmes year after year and see them progress not only as a team but as individuals is incredible. Often I work with senior and university teams, and watching them getting older and be successful in every aspect of their
lives is an amazing part of the job. That’s maybe my favourite part of freelancing, but my favourite part about working with so many teams is seeing the little nuances in how different programs teach dance team. There are so many world-class educators in the UK and I feel like I learn something new everytime I watch other dance coaches work.

8 What has been your most memorable moment from freelancing?
Ah, so many. The moment I heard that I had gotten the Team Scotland job was super special to me so deserves an honourable mention, but it certainly wasn’t necessarily the most glamorous – I was home alone! Another great time was cleaning and consulting for two defending national champions, the University of Edinburgh Hiphop in 2018 (coached/choreographed by Jen Park) and University of Glasgow Pom in 2020 (coached/choreographed by Elizabeth Groom). Both defended their national titles and more, with Edinburgh also winning BCA Allstar Nationals and Glasgow defending their Grand Champions title at Future Cheer. I went to Edinburgh University and my sister to Glasgow, so it was an honour to help those Scottish teams continue dominate the dance scene all over the UK. The final one which stands out was SSCD winning the Small Junior Pom division at BCA Scottish Sensation in 2019. I try not to think about results too often, but that team was really special to me as it was the first allstar routine that I had choreographed in five years and we just had a ball. The result was so unexpected – by the time the announcer hit the top 3 I was already crying on the ground. It was just the cherry on top of an incredible journey back into freelancing

9.How can people get hold of you?
You can find me at maddiejamieson.com, on Instagram @maddiejamiesonchoreo or you can email
me directly at maddie@dreamweavers.org.uk

Matt Jones

Matt is Head Coach for Architects Dance Company in Essex which has multiple worlds bid winning Hip Hop and Lyrical teams.

He is the founder of Team England Hip Hop and led them to top ten placements for five years running, and was working alongside Team Northern Ireland Hip Hop for their worlds routine in 2020. Matt has also competed in the ISASF World Championships in both Jazz and HipHop and performed at one of Europe’s biggest dance exhibitions ‘MOVE IT’ Three
times! Matt has spent many years teaching dance and cheerleading in schools, colleges and universities, as well as being a fully qualified Varsity judge and proudly judges numerous competitions for ICC throughout the season.

1 What styles do you specialise in?
As a dancer and choreographer I specialise in HipHop, Contemporary/Lyrical & Cheerleading Routine & Dance Choreography. For the past two seasons I have also been able to broaden my skills and choreograph for Chester Vixens University Pom Team. I can’t take all of the credit though, many of the HipHop camps and choreography we do are assisted by the insanely talented Jamie Murphy. Jamie is a dancers and coach at Architects and has one of the best choreographic brains I have seen. He is an absolute inspiration to so many and he brings an incredible energy to every camp.

2 What are your key areas you consult on?
We mainly work with teams on choreography for full routines or select sections. We also go in to help clean up/improve upon existing choreography as well as further develop technique to drive
scores on the dance scoresheet.

3. What are some of the teams have you worked with?
Ahh honestly too many to list! We have been so lucky to have worked with so many teams all across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland!

4. How are you adapting to teaching around COVID-19?
COVID-19 has been so tough but I feel like it has made us all stronger! We have pulled together as a dance community making use of the talents of various coaches from all over the country! It’s been great to meet new people via zoom and see them enjoying learning despite being locked indoors! I’ve been fortunate enough to still run classes via instagram live and worked with teams via zoom! We are still happy to work with teams via zoom and other online platforms where local lockdowns are in place. I think it’s sparked a new fire in a lot of teams and dancers who are eager to get back dancing and growing! Luckily we have bookings starting from September and we can’t wait to get back into seeing all of the amazing teams in person!!! We will of course be following all the guidelines available from the Government, and keeping everyone’s safety top priority by observing recommended social distancing and hygiene procedures.

5.What kind of support do you offer to help programmes?
So initially teams will book in a one off choreography session. We will head in for a day (for a full routine) which is normally around 8 hours and we work through setting and formatting the routine. We then normally book in a clean up with the team and let them know we are on hand 24/7 with
anything they need in terms of feedback, help, reviews, scoresheet breakdown or music edits. It really is a long term relationship and we are so happy to help teams grow and aid them on their journey throughout the season. We invest in a team the same way they invest in us.

6. Why did you decide to start freelancing outside your Allstar team?
After moving from a cheerleading and dance programme to just focusing on dance I wanted to still have that outlet for Cheerleading choreography as i absolutely love it. Now that I had stepped away from owning my own cheer gym teams were now really interested to have me in and work with them. In terms of dance, I am just really passionate about seeing the Allstar Dance community pull together and continue to grow and develop. I was fortunate enough to found and head coach Team England HipHop for 5 years and doing that showed me how much talent and passion there is in this country for dance. I love helping both the dancers and the coaches learn more about different styles and choreography and watching them further develop with new skills and knowledge.6.What’s your favourite thing about working with so many teams around the country? Meeting new people, visiting new cities and learning about their teams, lives and experiences. We have made so many friends for life who we keep in regular contact with. It’s an amazing way of bringing people together, all whilst doing something we love! Watching the excitement of the younger dancers when they get to work with someone new and how excited they are to be learning
your choreography is truly amazing too!

7. What is your favourite moment from freelancing all over the UK?
I think there are honestly too many to list – every single workshop provides us with something memorable. A few of our favourites if we had to pick would be:Working with the first ever Team Northern Ireland Hip Hop team last season. Although Worlds was cancelled these guys worked so hard and really came together as a team. Was an incredible experience to watch something at its absolute beginning and follow its initial journey. TLC from Scotland and their absolutely ADORABLE mini hiphop dancers. Honestly some of the most talented kids I have ever worked with and they are always so excited to learn and show you how hard they can work. A great mix of boys and girls and they came away with Mini Grand Champs and Overall Grand champs of all styles and ages – absolute legends!!!!!
Working with Chester Vixens (my family’s hometown) University Teams. These girls are so hardworking and in our first year they walked away with National and Ultimate Champs at the Future Cheer university Competition. These girls do so much for the local community and are an absolute credit to the university cheer scene.

7 How to get in contact with you?
We are super busy for the 2020/2021 season but we do have a few dates still available. If anyone would like to book in any dance or cheerleading camps and workshops then either email
architectsdancecompany@gmail.com or message us privately :)

We hope you found this useful when planning your season ahead! We would love to do another
feature on freelancers that help teams to grow later in the season as our aim is to promote UK
talent and businesses so get in touch with us if you’d like to get involved:
emma@cheerfromheadtotoe.co.uk or message the Instagram @cheerfromheadtotoeuk.
Next week on Dance Sundays: we want to celebrate beautiful lyrical routines! Send your favourite
clips of your routines in to us.

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