Dorset SEN Dance Festival 2026: Putting 400+ SEN Students at Centre Stage
What began as a small pilot project in 2025 has grown into something truly remarkable. The 2026 Dorset SEN Dance Festival brought together over 400 young people with Special Educational Needs from 11 schools across Dorset, creating a bigger platform for young people to explore dance, express themselves and experience the excitement of performance. Following the success of the 2025 festival, this year’s project more than tripled in size, growing from a small pilot into a county-wide celebration thanks to the funding and support of Active Dorset and The Dorset School Games. The festival brought together young people with a wide range of disabilities and support needs, including autistic young people, those with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), young people who are non-verbal, and those with complex physical and communication needs. Each participant had their own way of engaging with dance, demonstrating that there is no single way to move, communicate or perform.
The 2026 collaborative festival film features students from Victoria School, Springwood Campus, Linwood School, Woodford School, Littlewood Campus, Langside School, The Forum School, Mountjoy School, Beaucroft School, White House School and Winchelsea School. Inspired by the beloved story Where the Wild Things Are, the project celebrated the creativity, confidence, imagination and achievements of the children and young people involved. Through movement and storytelling, they were given the opportunity to explore their ideas and share them with others. And the impact reaches beyond the young people taking part. The festival and film give families the opportunity to see their young person in a performance setting, to watch them take part, express themselves and be celebrated. Just as the Christchurch Dance Festival creates those special moments for families watching their children perform, the Dorset SEN Dance Festival offers that same sense of pride, connection and celebration to families of young people with SEN.
The journey from 2025 to 2026 demonstrates just how much can happen when an idea is given the opportunity to grow. From 115 young people in the pilot year to more than 400 in 2026, the festival is reaching more schools, more young people and more families across Dorset. Most importantly, it provides a space where young people with SEN can be recognised for their creativity, ideas, talent and achievements. The Christchurch Dance Festival also proudly showcased the Dorset SEN Dance Festival film during both Evening Showcases to over 650+ audience members.
Watch the 2026 Dorset SEN Dance Festival film to experience the energy, imagination and achievement of this year’s festival:
