Throwing a mainstream spotlight on Leeds – an insight into Lisa Holdsworth's Dreamers

Channel 4's Dreamers is an ode to the “great tradition” of dance in Chapeltown.

- 

A coming-of-age dance drama centred on students who strive for success, the premise might remind you of the Kids of Fame, who Dreamers co-writer Lisa was an “obsessive” fan of when growing up.

Wanting to tell a story that will give younger audiences the same excitement the classic performing arts drama gave her, Dreamers delivers “amazing dancing, great emotional stories, and a little bit of joy”.

Dreamers' fictional dance troupe the Chapeltown Collective is formed of a “young authentic street cast” of people from Leeds and the surrounding areas.

When writing the show, Lisa recalled bouncing lines back with young dancers to get an idea of how they would say them alongside imagining detailed backstories of characters, whether they would have grown up in Osmondthorpe or Roundhay and how this would have influenced who they are now.