Where do we go from here?

The news is out...
This month has been a time of contrasts, a series of fantastic workshops that leave me buzzing with energy and inspiration, an invitation to tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace in recognition of all that Blue Eyed Soul has done for young people. Then the news that the Company's short breaks funding from Shropshire has been cut for next year and yesterday the Arts Council axe came down on our heads.
We have 12 months to find a way out of this fix so that we can continue to dance with everybody.
I remain incurably optimistic but a little daunted by this next challenge.

miriam's last week!! boooooooo hoooooooo!!!

I have been dancing, facilitating and choreographing for seventeen years now and the large majority of my projects are with people new to dance, or at least most of the members of the group are new to dance. This is often a result of the trials of funding exploratory dance projects, alongside other beautiful art projects.

I have been blessed these last three months with the gift of working with dancers, where the majority have danced with, performed with, and some have even taught with Blue Eyed Soul Dance Company for at least ten years- I am not even sure how many! It might even be longer than I have been working for myself!!!

Below is a beautiful film of what happens when dancers are supported to work with each other over a prolonged period of time!!

This dance was improvised, an exploration during the Contact Group. As you will see... they communicate with each other in a split second. They choreograph instantaneously communicating without words, negotiating without votes.

Yes it's been a precious gift, and I am happy to share it with you....

The next video is the Contact Group's live per-formative evaluation of the ten week term just gone...... (starting off with our one week only special guest!! the group is just for adults really!)

Thankyou for having me! I hope to come back again soon :-)

sunshine and funtime

The sun streams through the window and The Bridge Youth Dance Company begin devising their performance for the BRJ dance festival at the end of May. Misha flies around the room like an inspired sculptor, picking movement tasks from the term that have most excited the group, and the dance picture comes to its most colourful, beautiful, energetic life. Here's a lovely pic of one of the sculptures they are making in their performance....

And then onto Contact. A humorous hysteria is starting to creep into the group as we all realise that we have only next week left. These sessions really have been so very magical, and last night we reached a new height where we had 3 new people, all who felt by the end of the night as if they had been coming for the whole term. Anna led a fabulous creative task around defining the space with masking tape, this led to a lovely section where members started to lead their favourite movement tasks- trees wrapping round each other from Mervyn, and a Paper, Scissors, Stone task from Nick.

Haughton was another absolute treat- we have two new members, Aysha and Aaron and they are fitting in beautifully. We started working towards some actual dance technique today, looked at rhythms and counting, we're working towards a short film for next week- watch this space!!! I just wanna end by giving a special big up to the whole group this week- they danced their socks off and engaged with all their being! Here's a few pics....

flying fun.

We had great fun swinging, turning and twisting. Fantastic balances and lots of smiles!

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Severndale day at the circus

Various circus skills were tried end explored, tight rope walking, juggling, hula hooping, but as the pictures show the acrobatic flying and balancing proved very popular even amongst the staff!

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technology

wow! sounds of sheer amazement and delight bombard my neighbours as i open the blue eyed soul blogs and see the pictures from the bridge youth dance company have made their way onto it. amazing! i took these pics during misha's fantastically creative and sensory session yesterday. i took them on the new company mobile phone and sent them straight from the phone to the blog! and here they are! amazing! (yes, i am over 30!)

in the light of the horrendous tsunami and potential leakage from the fukushima nuclear plant, it goes without saying that i can't help thinking about technology and its place in our lives, are we in control of it? are we safe? where is it all heading? do we really understand what we are playing with?

so i am now going to attempt to use more technology i do not understand and put some video on this blog from my own, also new, camera. it is from the contact group- i took loads last week and then realised it was all in svhs so my laptop can't open it. frustrating, yes. fatal, no.

hopefully this week i have worked out a different format. the footage is of a trio by mervyn, becky and wray, and i felt seriously honoured to have witnessed it. such is the beauty of a trio of improvisers who have a ten year dancing relationship. funders take note- longevity- this is my concept of the moment! oh no!! i haven't cracked that technology yet! some photos will have to suffice, the first is from anna's awesome 'warm up into creative task';

the second i have to thank diane amans for! i went to a training session with her recently, funded by derbyshire dance artists network, about leading dance with people over 50. it was fantastic and i have been playing with paper plates ever since!

sal came to watch for the last half hour and it was fantastic to see her out and about again. the group smothered her with hugs and kisses!

haughton school today was excellent. really focussed and creative. we learnt a travelling sequence- the group's concentration was intense and they all demonstrated an excellent awareness of rhythm and coordination. we then explored stillness and travelling and putting it all together performed for each other. a very satisfying session.

the bridge school youth Dance company

Pathway of charcoal feet

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50 ways to lead a workshop

A sunny Sunday in Ludlow dancing and learning with practitioners from throughout the West Midlands. The possibility of an inclusive dance network seems real.

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dancing in Telford

Daisy, Delphine and Elizabeth danced beautifully at the Telford Dance Festival tonight.

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the Who Club

Dance Anim team in Bridgnorth

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Spring is here!

Well Spring is definitely here and all the dance sessions this week have truly reflected the high energy that brings!

Here is a picture of the Bridge Youth Dance Company who have really bonded since the half term workshops. So much fun!!!

In the week of half term I got to dance with a choreographer called Rong Tao, from Yuwudance in China. I had an incredibly beautiful and inspiring week and I took some of his exercises back for the Contact group. We had an incredibly communicative time where we truly celebrated the wide potential of the non verbal landscape.

Finally, Haughton show us their fab wall balances and poses.....


I'm not about next week so I'm really looking forward to hearing back from Misha and Rachel about what they get up to.

I'm loving the ariel posts from Rachel Freeman- looks amazing. Can't beat seeing the world uspide down eh!!!!!

Adios dancing amigos!!