DANCE is coming to the Yorkshire Dales with a special performance featuring both able-bodied and disabled people.

Dancing the Dales is a project funded through a £6,312 grant from the National Park’s Sustainable Development Fund, as well as with money from Arts Council England and a crowdfunded Kickstarter campaign.

It aims to produce a high-quality film within the National Park that will be screened at local festivals and schools and will be used online as marketing material.

The authority’s champion for promoting understanding, Judith Donovan, said: “The National Park is there for everyone to enjoy and the main objective of the project is to show that it is just as accessible to people with disabilities.

“The project will help raise awareness of this by creating a site-specific dance film located in the National Park that celebrates equality and diversity.”

The dance film will include both able-bodied and profoundly disabled dancers, alongside groups of disabled adults, including a team from Northallerton.

However it will not show any items that denote disability such as wheelchairs or walking frames – just moving bodies in the natural landscape.

A free live public performance, using the green areas around the National Park Centre at Malham as the backdrop, will take place on September 2 at 3pm after several days of filming.

Producer Amy Manancourt said “This project is extremely important to me. Working as a dancer I see fantastic inclusive work – however there are not enough dance and employment opportunities for the disabled community.

“As a result, so many individuals are isolated and unable to enjoy the simple things that can give us so much pleasure. Dancing in the Dales is taking a risk and tackling this head on with this new and innovative creative project.”

The authority’s engagement and learning officer, Catherine Kemp, said “I am truly impressed by this exciting project.”

She added: “We will make the most of the opportunity to learn how the National Park Authority can help people with disabilities visit the National Park.”

The film of Dancing in the Dales will be available for all to see on YouTube from September 16.

Anyone wanting more information about the project should contact Amy Manancourt at amymanancourt@live.co.uk