Gem’s Dance Academy celebrates its inclusive dancers as the 2026 IDTA Nationwide competition season gets underway
As dancers across the country prepare for the start of the 2026 IDTA Nationwide competition rounds this October, one Great Barr dance school is looking back with pride at an extraordinary year for its additional-needs dancers — and wishing this year’s competitors the very best of luck.
Gem’s Dance Academy, based on Paper Mill End in Great Barr, prides itself on being a fully inclusive dance school, welcoming dancers of all abilities into its classes.
During the 2025 IDTA Nationwide season, dancers with additional needs from the academy achieved top-five national placings across all of the school’s core competitive genres: Freestyle, Street, Ballroom & Latin and Classical Sequence.
Among those celebrating remarkable success was Orin Clarke, who was just 15 when she became a triple Nationwide champion, taking first place in Freestyle Fast, Freestyle Slow and Rock ’n’ Roll in the Under-16 Additional Needs categories at the Nationwide Finals in Blackpool.
Orin has danced at Gem’s Dance Academy since she was three and lives with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), which can affect her mobility and means she sometimes needs to use a wheelchair or mobility aids.
This has not stopped her progressing through dance examinations and medals in multiple genres, competing successfully around the country and even receiving a nomination for an IDTA Freestyle Scholarship Award.
Fellow GDA dancer Amy Anderson, 21, who has severe learning needs, also became a Nationwide champion, taking first place in the Street Dance Nationwide Finals in the Additional Needs 21+ category.
Meanwhile, Jessica Cowan-Jones, then 14, achieved second place at the Nationwide Ballroom & Latin Finals in the Additional Needs 16 & Under category.
For the academy, however, the achievements represent far more than trophies and places.
Academy principal Gemma Welch said:
“Of course we are incredibly proud of the results, but what matters most to us is that every dancer is given the opportunity to take part, progress and be taken seriously as a dancer.
“Inclusion shouldn’t simply mean allowing somebody to be in the room. It means finding ways for them to learn, perform, compete and achieve alongside everybody else.
“Watching our dancers represent Great Barr on a national stage across so many different styles was incredibly special. As the 2026 Nationwide rounds begin, we are so excited to see what the next year brings and wish every dancer taking part the very best of luck.”
Gem’s Dance Academy welcomes dancers who may require additional support throughout its mainstream timetable, with staff adapting teaching where necessary to help individual students participate and progress.
The academy also runs Dance Without Limits, a dedicated class for children with additional physical, learning, sensory or emotional needs, every Tuesday from 5.15pm–6.15pm.
Several members of the teaching team have professional experience and additional training in supporting children with SEND, and the academy aims to provide a welcoming, supportive and family-focused environment where dancers are recognised for what they can achieve.
As a new generation of dancers prepares to begin the road towards the 2026 Nationwide Finals, Gem’s Dance Academy hopes its previous competitors’ achievements will show other local families that additional needs do not have to mean limited opportunities.
