Emma Mallam

Motion Control Dance is a registered charity that enriches lives through movement across the Vale of Glamorgan. We run around 20 weekly community classes for ages 5 to 90, plus school, community and care home outreach. Our EMotion programme gives children and young people fun, affordable classes in street, breakin, contemporary and creative dance, with LEAP, our youth company, for those ready to perform. Local Motion is our programme for disabled and neurodivergent children, young people and adults, from age 4 right through to adulthood, and for many families we are the only provider in the Vale. Our Mature programme supports older people through creative movement, Tai Chi, Menogize and Neurodegenerative Dance, helping with balance, confidence and social connection. What makes us different is that inclusion is not an add-on for us, it is the reason we exist. We are a charity, not a commercial school, so we keep fees low, offer pay as you go sessions and work hard to remove the barriers that stop people taking part. We lead with people rather than prestige, and we measure success by how many people feel they belong.

Motion Control Dance is so much bigger than me. Our senior staff hold the heart of our programmes: Sam leads Local Motion with real care and expertise, Lara leads our Mature programme for older people with passion, and Alex keeps everything running behind the scenes, like a true superstar. Our freelance tutors bring specialist skills and huge energy to every session, with Jamie teaching breakin, Marina leading hip hop and street, Jodi teaching contemporary, and Chris delivering Tai Chi across Barry, Rhoose and Llantwit Major. Alongside them, fifteen young volunteer leaders support our EMotion and Local Motion classes every week, and many of them started out as dancers with us before stepping up to lead. They make our sessions safer, kinder and more accessible, and they are the next generation of tutors. Our Board of Trustees give their time freely to guide the charity and keep it strong. Together this team welcomes people of every age and ability, and turns a dance class into a place where people are known by name and feel they belong.

Twenty-five years ago I moved back to Wales when my life felt like it had ended. My husband Rob, my childhood sweetheart, had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and we had been told we could never have children. Against the odds, we had our miracle son, and after losing Rob I raised him on my own. In the middle of that grief, I noticed that every region in Wales had a community dance centre except the Vale of Glamorgan, so I decided to build one. I had no business training, no core funding and no roadmap, just a love of dance and the belief that movement could help people the way it was helping me. Step by step, one class at a time, Motion Control Dance grew. Covid was a turning point, showing me how much rested on my shoulders and pushing me to build a stronger team and a more sustainable charity. Winning the Vale Business Award for Best Third Sector was a moment when I finally let myself see what we had built. Celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, I can see the hundreds of lives we have touched and I feel ready for the next chapter.