Activating participation
Activating Youth ¦ Big Dance ¦ CYDP ¦ Cultural Hub ¦ Dance Bytes Back
Activating Youth
As the Activating Youth programme comes to a close, following a successful training programme with artists including Tim Chaundry - Director of Candid, Katie P - a dancer with Jonzi D, playwright Nicola Baldwin and Child Protection Training with Lorna Rees, we have started making plans for the next phase of support for youth theatre and dance.
Already funding applications have been submitted to continue the county youth dance programme, following the recruitment of Carly Reader as the new dance leader for Portrait the youth dance company based in Dorchester and the success of their performance at Elevate.
Big Dance
5 – 13 July 2008
Big Dance is a national initiative funded and supported by the Arts Council. It first took place two years ago, and now it’s back and ready to take the UK by storm for yet another fantastic fun filled week! This week-long celebration of dance in all its styles and forms is open to everyone to join in! Make sure the dates are in your diary now!!!
Big Dance aims to get as many people dancing as possible in the lead up to the event, throughout the week itself and also to encourage people to keep dancing year round.
Two years ago: Dozens of fun and unusual dance events took place in streets, parks, schools, museums, theatres and cultural centres across the UK . Everyone could join in, without needing special kit or to be super-fit. From lambada to lindy hop, ceroc to capoeira, Bollywood to ballet, this was a fantastic chance to discover that dance is diverse, dynamic and world-class.
How can you get involved?
Any organisation, community group, school or individual can organise a Big Dance event and Activate and Dance Southwest will be able to promote your event providing you get information to us in time.
Big Dance is big - Big Dance is all about making a big splash about dance, so although events range in size from the tiny to the enormous, it is important to think about how your event can encourage more people to get dancing and how you and your organisation can promote dance to more people. We want lots of organisations/groups to get involved, so join in and together we can put the 'Big' in Big Dance!
Big Dance is fun - It is time to think creatively. You might attract people by trying to break a dance world record, or target a certain group and inspire them to dance, perhaps older people, children, office workers or boys and young men. Dance groups may just want to perform to new audiences by dancing in the street or teaching a free class in a local park. You may even just be running normal classes or workshops during this week, and therefore can use Big Dance as a promotion tool to target new people.
Registering your event
All you need to do is email Leanne at Activate and register your event. leannedesmond@activateperformingarts.org.uk
Tell us what you plan to do, what date it is taking place on, who it is for, where it is taking place and at what time. Please don’t forget to leave your contact details and a telephone number.
Activate will then share the details with Dance South West and the event will be publicised through a Big Dance brochure for the South West region.
Activate will be making the most of Big Dance week by also organizing their own events and supporting your ideas by sending out regular e-news flyers and press releases to the local papers, as well as having a Big Dance link on their website, highlighting all the events taking place in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole. Promotion through the local radio station is also being sourced.
All this is FREE so all you need to do is take the time to decide on what you are doing and register your event, workshop etc by TUESDAY 29 APRIL 2008
For more information on Big Dance nationally please visit: www.artscouncil.org.uk/bigdance/
Community Youth Dance Practitioner
Active Dorset said goodbye to Leanne Desmond and is now recruiting to replace Leanne as the sports partnership’s Community Youth Dance Practitioner, line managed by Activate. Leanne has done a fantastic job in the first of a three year programme of work funded through a unique package of arts, local authority and sports funding.
Leanne has worked across Christchurch, Purbeck, Bournemouth and Poole, promoting dance to young people in and out of schools with the aim of strengthening youth dance and setting up new community groups. The benefit of this programme crosses arts, sports, health and education.
Cultural Hub
The Remix
The new integrated performance ensemble made up of pupils from four
local schools: Victoria Education Centre; Linwood School; St. Peters
RC Comprehensive and Corfe
Hills have named themselves ‘The Remix’ and are planning the next
stage of their development following two successful residencies with
high profile companies CandoCo and Graeae Theatre Company during school
half terms recently. The group comprises 19 disabled and able bodied
young people from these four local schools.
Horseplay
We are supporting Niki McCretton, associate choreographer at Lighthouse,
with the creation of Horseplay, an interactive theatrical event recreated
at each ‘performance’, in the
moment, by the participating children through their play. It will
be created with children in early years settings, as well as offering
placement opportunities for other artists. When
created it will return to each local setting to be performed with
the children who created it and then tour nationally and internationally,
being recreated by new children each time,
alongside its sister theatre piece, Hoof!.
The children involved will see their ideas taken forward by the professional artistic team to create Hoof, a new theatre piece for age 3+ that will tour nationally and internationally.
Unlocked
Unlocked is a regional initiative that we are exploring locally on Brownsea Island. Regionally it is a partnership between the National Trust, Dance South West and a range of cultural agencies across the South West.
Unlocked is a series of creative projects based in and around National
Trust properties from Cornwall to Wiltshire that make it possible
for communities, groups and schools in
the South West to be able to engage with these properties in a range
of creative interpretations and celebratory events inspired by the
sites. We are hosting an exploratory weekend in July to gather inspiration
from the site and plan for a project in 2009.
Hubworld: Cultural Hub Finale
We will be involved in this midsummer celebration creating a spectacular two-day arts festival at Alum Chine in Bournemouth with all the Hub partners – thousands of children will be taking part.
Hubworld will take place in the exotic wooded valley and sandy, blue-flag beach of this popular holiday spot from Friday 20 to Saturday 21 June 2008 to mark the completion of the Cultural Hub.
Involving key cultural providers in the area;
eighteen local schools; over ten professional artists and performers;
and led by producer Antony Waller, the free festival will present
a vast array of artistic activities including a procession, art installations,
award ceremonies, competitions and performances. The Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestra’s resident composer, Stephen McNeff is creating a special
Hubworld Theme for participants to perform.
For more information on the Cultural Hub see: www.waveartseducation.org.uk
Dance Bytes Back
Mission Statement
To engage Young People in a healthier lifestyle by offering
a range of educational dance activities that are high in quality,
safe and affordable
What they do
They provide a safe place where young people can come together
to explore their talents, learn new skills and share skills. They
use child friendly spaces, school halls, dance studios and youth centres
to run their regular programme of events. They encourage parental
involvement to support practitioners in the regular classes and include
parents in decision making for future activities.
Over 70 children and young people take part in activities every week.
