Friday, 15.07.2011, 6.30 a.m. A group of local youngsters begins to gather in front of Innsbruck’s Tivoli Stadium. Half an hour later, 40 bleary-eyed YOG Dancers stumble onto the bus heading for Vienna. While some of the youngsters and the accompanying adults settle down at the front to catch up on some sleep...

4.20 p.m. With the show well underway, the YOG Dancers are doing their thing to the sounds of Pitbull’s ‘Give me everything tonight’. Johnny and the Akro Boys bust some sick breakdance moves - and even Yoggl gets in on the act!

For our A-Level project we set ourselves the aim of increasing awareness in the local population about the YOG Dance project and developing a marketing strategy. Our work in the last few months has enabled us to increase interest in YOG Dance among youngsters from Innsbruck and the surrounding region. But what exactly is YOG Dance?

With modern dance forms such as hip-hop and jazz becoming more and more popular in Innsbruck and Tyrol, the Organising Committee of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games has created a unique dance project as part of the Games' Culture & Education Programme - YOG Dance! After all, dance reflects the vision of the Youth Olympic Games and is the perfect way to combine sport and culture. In line with the official motto of the Innsbruck 2012 Games, young dancers from the local region can very much "Be part of it!" as they work with a professional team to choreograph their own dances which they will perform at events such as the Opening Ceremony on 13 January 2012 in Bergisel Stadium as well as at the Medal Ceremonies which will take place regularly during the Games.

Julia Hornstein, Melanie Zenz and Regina Nössing