SPEAK WITHOUT WORDS. Finding Your Voice Through Movement.

What if students could tell a story, communicate an emotion or express an idea without saying a word?

Speak Without Words is a proposed school-based creative learning residency delivered by Ellenbrook Arts in partnership with RASA Australia and professional street-dance artists.

The project introduces students to movement, freestyle, storytelling, improvisation and embodied creative practices as alternative ways of communicating, creating and expressing themselves.

This is not a traditional dance class. Students will not be expected to learn and reproduce a set choreography. Instead, professional artists will guide students through a creative process of exploration, experimentation, reflection, collaboration and creation, allowing them to develop their own creative voice.

Students might explore questions such as:

• How can you communicate without speaking?

• How can your body show an emotion?

• Can you tell a story through movement?

• What happens when we change the speed, size or direction of a movement?

The focus is on creative expression rather than technical dance ability. Students will be encouraged to experiment, make creative decisions, work with their peers and discover their own ways of expressing ideas through movement.

What would the residency involve?

Each participating school would take part in a residency, developed in collaboration with teachers and professional artists.

The residency could include:

• freestyle and street-dance exploration

• movement and improvisation

• storytelling through the body

• exploring emotions, identity, place and belonging

• creative challenges and experimentation

• collaborative group activities

• developing original student-led movement pieces

• learning about professional street-dance artists and creative career pathways

• connecting movement practices with classroom learning

• opportunities to share students’ creative work with other students, teachers, families and the wider community.

The program is designed to be inclusive and accessible, with no expectation of previous dance experience or technical ability. The emphasis is on participation, curiosity, creativity and student voice rather than performance perfection.

Why street dance?

Street dance is a globally connected and culturally diverse contemporary art form with strong links to young people and creative communities. However, students who are not already connected to dance classes, events or street-dance communities may have limited opportunities to encounter these practices.

By bringing professional artists directly into schools, Speak Without Words creates a familiar and supportive environment where students can discover a new form of creative expression.

The project is not simply about teaching students to dance. It is about giving young people another way to communicate, explore ideas, build confidence and connect with others.

An opportunity to collaborate

We want to develop Speak Without Words  with schools, rather than simply deliver a program to them.

We are interested in hearing from schools about the students, year groups, themes and learning areas that could benefit most from this approach. This will help us shape a residency that responds to students' needs and complements existing classroom learning.

Funding opportunity

Ellenbrook Arts is currently preparing a funding application to support the delivery of  Speak Without Words in 2027. The grant round opens on 8 September 2026 and closes on 15 October 2026.

We are looking to identify up to four local school partners who would be interested in participating if the application is successful.

The funding would enable Ellenbrook Arts to deliver the residency at no cost to participating schools.

At this stage, we are simply seeking an expression of interest from schools that feel this project could be valuable for their students. There is no commitment required at this point.

Your expression of interest would help us demonstrate school demand and partnership support as part of our funding application.

If you are interested, we would really appreciate a brief reply confirming your school's interest. A short response such as:

“We would be interested in exploring "Speak Without Words" for our students.”

would be greatly appreciated.

If the application is successful, we will be in touch to discuss the project in more detail and work with participating schools to shape the residency around their students, needs and curriculum.