COMMUNITIES AND PARTICIPANTS / VELOCITIES
This project advocates for dancing as a way of feeling close to ourselves and each other at the same time. We are developing a facilitation methodology that empowers individuals to honour their own needs while attending to those of others. This methodology is developed in close collaboration with community members, and is grounded in a respect for and receptivity to the multiple collectivities that already exist in each group.
“It felt so good to not have to talk if we didn’t want to and just play. ”
“I found it was freedom. Expression of liberation without any restrictions. The expression is real, and it is collective.”
“The activities made me feel like I could just be myself...”
2023: Community Commission: London Contemporary Dance School + Body & Soul Charity
The team tutored a group of BA2 students at London Contemporary Dance School on a new module introducing students to community dance practice. They worked at Body & Soul Charity to deliver a 6-week course to members of the Body & Soul community that looked at ritual and co-creation.
2022: “Shared Worlds”: Body & Soul Charity
The team delivered a 6-week course to members of the Body & Soul community exploring the dance, sounds and environments we hold in our bodies, using the Velocities practice of sound-making and creative improvisation.
2021: “Myself & Us” : 8 Week Community Programme
The team facilitated a community programme at Streatham Space Project, exploring themes of community, agency and identity. These workshops welcomed disabled and non-disabled adults of all ages.
2021: Here Together: Displace Yourself Theatre, Bradford
Considered a ‘creative sanctuary’ for adults experiencing displacement, this group welcomed Shivaangee and Takeshi to co-facilitate group work exploring themes of community, memory and witnessing.
2021: Radical Acts: Common Wealth Theatre, Bradford
This inter-generational group of women from Common Wealth Theatre explored themes of community, sharing and ritual by weaving together creative movement, chorus, touch and eating.