This paper describes a dance education project within the school curriculum of a hospital child psychiatry ward. It highlights the successful and innovative collaboration between artists, teachers and medical staff. The article examines the role and benefits of dance education for children and young people experiencing psychological illness or distress. It describes in detail working methods including the use of boundaries to create a safe, containing and enabling space as well as strategies for involving children with restricted movement in dance. Structure and content of sessions is described in detail, highlighting the use of different dance and movement forms, props and live music. Case study examples illustrate how children with various disorders respond to and make use of dance. Finally the article reports on how the work is evaluated and valued by teachers, medical staff and children.
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