Dancing in the dark

You’ll need

Camera or phone
Sticky tape
LED wristbands and headbands

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
Explain to parents and carers that there’ll be the option for people to be recorded on video and make sure you have the right permissions for everyone. Explain that their faces may not be visible in the dark. However, if young people can’t be recorded, there’ll be plenty of other ways for them to be involved.

Making it more effective

Some more environmentally friendly versions of this could include using an ultraviolet (UV) light with either high vis tape, high vis paints that can be washed out of clothing, or high vis clothing.
Ask everyone to come to the meeting in darker clothes, such as black or navy, as it’ll help their dances look more effective.

Play the game

Everyone should stand in a semi-circle.
Split everyone into groups of up to four people.
Play the piece of music, so everyone knows what it sounds like. The young people could choose which song to use.e
Explain that people will be wearing LED wristbands and headbands when they dance, creating a sort of stick person effect.
Everyone should think about the sort of moves that will work well. For example, turning around will make people disappear.
You could have a look at online videos to help everyone understand the effect you’re aiming for.
Set up a dance area and get the camera ready to record. Choose somewhere dark or adjust the settings on the camera so the LED wristbands and headbands can be seen, but it looks like the dancers’ bodies disappear.
The first group should come up to the dance area and wear the LED wristbands and headbands.
The first group should show everyone their dance. If everyone has permission to be filmed, someone should record it.
Someone should clean the LED wristbands and headbands, then the next group should have a turn at performing, and possibly recording, their dance. Everyone should take it in turns to perform and record.

Reflection

This activity needed everyone to work as team – hopefully they had lots of fun too. Everyone had to come up with a short dance as a team.

How easy was it to come up with a routine? Did people teach their team any dance moves they already knew? Maybe people knew popular moves such as the robot or flossing.

Everyone had to work together and communicate to come up with their routine. How well did the groups work together?

People could think about whether they listened to each other’s ideas, how they helped each other to remember the routine, and how they decided where each person would be.

Everyone danced to the same piece of music. Did the music change the dance people came up with?

If everyone did this activity again, what would people change? Some people may want to switch up the music or background, while others may want to edit their moves or how they used their LED wristbands and headbands.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Outdoor activities: You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.
Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
Dark: Provide some light, so the environment isn’t completely dark. Everyone must be able to see others and move around the area safely.
Phones and cameras: Make sure parents and carers are aware and have given consent for photography.
Chemicals: This task involves the use of potentially harmful fluids or chemicals. Make sure you follow all relevant safety guidance. Make sure you dispose of them appropriately too, in line with safety guidance.