03.04.2023
2 min read
It’s amazing just how quickly another season comes around – and as we leap into spring, we’re reflecting on all the really great things that have been going on over the past few months at Cheshire Dance. We’ve been working hard to continue to amplify the creative voices of older adults, people with disabilities and young people, and have made some great strides in some of the initiatives that are closest to our heart.
Our Wanna Dance? Programme helping people with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) to take part in 1 to 1 dance activities at Vivo Care Choices is going from strength to strength. Our artists are working with each person in the moment, exploring communication and connection beyond words through dance with touch, sensory objects and music. A 12-month dance artist in residency programme, Wanna Dance? looks to not only explore how people with complex disabilities might like to dance, but to re-examine models of how dance artists can be embedded in adult social care teams, specialising in non-verbal communication and physical expressions. (Click here to discover more).
The Spotlight Project, our initiative for young people with low level mental health challenges in partnership with Youth Fed, the Mind Body Balance Academy, Winsford NHS Care Community and New Images Youth & Community Centre is forging ahead in Winsford. Thanks to additional funding from the Cheshire Community Foundation, the project is now set to run until at least the autumn and will continue to provide a safe and supportive youth-led space for ages 11-18 to take part in creative physical activity with specialist mental health professionals on hand at all sessions. (Read more in the Winsford Guardian here).
Our Wildfire Rising Artist Development Programme in partnership with Movema and in response to the #BlackLivesMatter movement is also steaming ahead. Not only are we providing artist development and support for five Global Majority artists, but we are currently busy with a number of activities that will platform and raise the profile of other Ethnically Diverse Artists in our 2023 Inquiring Bodies Series, amongst other events. (Read more on Wildfire Rising here).
And then there’s been Project #2 with young people in Chester exploring Queer Histories, delivering on the University of Chester’s pioneering Creative Health Placement with 500 nursing students as well as a HUGE host of other activity taking place for both participants and artists to complement an astounding 23 regular sessions running across the core Cheshire Dance programme. The last quarter really has been filled to the brim with everything we love most – we just haven’t the space to tell you everything here.
Despite our busy agendas, however, we’re determined to take some time out to go and see some dance ourselves too. There really is so much variety happening in the northwest and so many performances that are an ‘absolute must’ that we just have to make the most of what’s on offer. We hope you’ll follow suit and go and visit some performances yourself too. To help you out, we’ve just together a list of what’s on going where on stage this Spring/Summer. Click here to find out more.
