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What experiences have you had of community or participatory dance before coming to LCDS?

I don’t have any prior community dance experience which is making me feel slightly apprehensive towards the community commissions. Although I have some worries about the project, I am hoping that the community I get to work with will teach me valuable knowledge and hopefully I will learn new things about myself also.

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My reflections on the reading.

Reading this article has helped me gain more of an understanding of what community work is actually about. It has made me think about how working with a community is about collaboration (perhaps with people that we don’t usually encounter in a dance setting/ people that don’t usually have access to dance). It is not necessarily always about the end result of the dancing, but more about the process of sharing the space together and the benefits that come with that.

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What does the author think the "self-interest" of cultural organisations is when they choose to engage in co-creation?

Phrased differently: Why might cultural organisations want to do this for their OWN interests?

I feel that artists may want participants to co-create with them because it gives them the opportunity to have other perspectives imputed into their own creative vision. It can offer the organization’s new approaches when co-creating with a variety of people with their own individual experiences.

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My understanding of the difference between community and participatory art is that they have different ways of approaching collaboration during a creative process. Community art to me is the idea of a socially engaged practice that takes place in a community setting where artists and community members collaborate without hierarchy. There is no one person that makes decisions for the group, allowing members of the community to have full participation in the creation.

Participatory art, as I see it, involves the artist taking the role of directing/ giving instructions on their creative vision, and then allowing the participants to have full autonomy over how they choose to react/ interpret these ideas. Therefore, the process involves co-creation, whilst having a power dynamic involved in the orchestration of the piece.

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I think that co-creation with non proffessionals for an artist is beneficial because it requires them to utilize their skill set in a different way depending on the environment that they are in. I am not totally sure what makes a “quality” artwork in a co-creative process, but I feel that the main intentions should be focused on the discoveries made in collaboration with each other, rather than the ‘artistry’ of the end result. I think that the artistic product taking unexpected directions is a desirable outcome because it means that the artist is committing to taking an empowering role rather than a dominant one. This allows true co-creation in the space where everyone can learn from each other, rather than an artist coming and only teaching.

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I found the taster session with Lucinda quite inspiring. Coming into the session I didn’t know what to expect and I felt a bit unsure how to interact with the members of the community. I found the set up slightly awkward as there were a lot of us and only three of them making it hard to talk to each other, which is something I wanted to do. During the session, we did some improvisations which focused on the sensations that we were feeling and bringing awareness to all our different body parts. I could see that dance seems to clearly be something that helps them bring movement into their bodies again and seeing that was quite an emotional experience for me. We also did some creative tasks which involved creating movements based on a picture of a galaxy we were given. The intention of all the group tasks was to co-create movement with each other, which I think will be the main intention for the whole project.

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Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this taster session, but I read through the description of what the project would entail. The community that Lizzie has been working with, is a group of Vietnamese women and my impression of this project is that the time spent with each other will be very much about exchanging knowledge and culture. I feel that it will be heavily focused on collaboration and seeing what everyone brings to the space.

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Amici dance theatre is a dance theatre company that includes a combination of able bodied and disabled dancers. They are focused on inclusivity, and welcome anyone that would like to join. In my opinion, I would say that Amici dance theatre leans quite heavily towards co-creation during the project. The intention for the project is less about the result and more about the process of creating it together. In the taster session (which was led by Ingrid) I felt a strong sense of community within the group, and everyone had things to input. We did some improvisations during the session, and I found it very enjoyable to meet everyone through dancing.

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Damn fine dance/ Luke Birch and Molly Wright 

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Damn fine dance/ Luke Birch and Molly Wright 

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Damn Fine Dance is a performing company that is co-directed by Luke Birch and Molly Wright. Its members include dancers that are aged 60+, and their aims are to challenge how people perceive older dancers. Their objective is to prove that older people can perform dance work and have the energy to be creative, regardless of their age. They meet once a week and usually rehearse for an upcoming performance, or they spend their time improvising together. Having already been taught by Luke before, I was already looking forward to the session we had with them. In the taster session we did a few different creative tasks which included writing a letter of complaint to our bodies. We then went into groups and made some movements based on what we wrote in the letters. The intention was to bring everyday life ideas to the table that everyone experiences, so that we could bond over that when creating together. Although there was a lot of space to create and bring our own ideas into the space, it was made very clear that Luke and Molly already had a vision of the piece and would be the ones controlling what the end result would look like.

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The story garden project involves participatory practice where members of the community benefit from spending time taking part in improvisations, meditating, and free writing in nature. The group was formed as a social space for women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds aged 50+ that tend to live alone, many of them having suffered from mental and physical health problems. The group has made a significant impact on some of their lives as it has also supported some of them through dealing with trauma or grief. In the taster session, we did some meditative exercises that felt very grounding in the serenity of the garden. I really enjoyed getting to spend some intentional time in silence, surrounded by nature, as it’s not something that I get the opportunity to do very often living in a city. I feel that co-creation is not very present during this project because the structure of the session was based on following instructions for specific tasks, rather than creating things together.

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The project with the Baked Bean Charity focuses on bringing together two groups of people that wouldn’t necessarily usually find each other in a dance setting. During this project we would be working with people that have learning disabilities, bringing us the opportunity to use dance to socialise and connect. Francesca uses a lot of the idea of connecting with our lineages to guide us within our artistic expression. I feel as if this project will include a lot of co-creation, as it seems the intention is focusing on mutual connection through dance.

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My preferred three artists to work with are:

Alejandra Gissler / Story Garden

Damn fine dance/ Luke Birch and Molly Wright

Lizzie Fort

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I would love the opportunity to work with the story garden group because I found the taster session to be very impactful. I really appreciated the therapeutic approach that Alejandra used, and I think I would find it very beneficial to spend time on that in the garden. I left feeling very peaceful and I think I would enjoy meeting the women from the community and getting to dance with them. Socializing and connecting to nature through dance/ movement seem to be goals for this project, which are things that I find very important. Focusing on the environment around me as a form of self-regulation is something I find very effective.

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Opposing the energy of the Story Garden, I also felt quite connected to the idea of working with the Damn Fine dance group. While I would find the story garden to be a very calming, therapeutic experience, I would also like the opportunity to work with a group that is a bit more theatrical. I found the taster session with them slightly challenging as acting and using my voice is something I find quite hard; however, it would be a good opportunity to push myself. I find the idea of connecting different generations very important, and I really like the fact that there are possibilities to do that through dancing.

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Although I could not attend the taster session for this group, the idea of working with this community seems like something I would enjoy. Similarly to the story garden, I feel that the social aspect is quite important in this community. I think it would be very exciting to learn about Vietnamese culture and hopefully I would be able to bring new things to the table through movement and dance.

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Reflections on 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST – NOT OF THE REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER COMMUNITY- LOOKING TO WORK WITH OUR COMMUNITY. By Tania Canas, RISE Arts Director / Member 

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Reflections on 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST – NOT OF THE REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER COMMUNITY- LOOKING TO WORK WITH OUR COMMUNITY. By Tania Canas, RISE Arts Director / Member 

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This is some of the things I took away from reading this article:

Communities can very easily end up in situations where they are being used by artists. The idea of taking people's lived experiences and turning them into a project is selfish and dehumanizing and doesn’t have any benefits for the community. Making sure that your practice is ethical and beneficial for both parties involved creates an environment for healthy co-creation and collaboration.

Realizing when to step back and only listen is very important because the intention for you being there should be to empower the people around you. Everyone should be able to learn things from each other and so listening is very important.

Making sure you are not approaching working with a community with a savior complex. Treating everyone as equals and not seeing them as ‘other’ or lesser, therefore in need of help/saving.

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I will be working in Lizzie’s group with the Vietnamese community. This week in the preparation session, we watched a short video of the women and talked about the dynamic of the group as to get a better feel before actually meeting them. We made some mind maps about what we could bring to the group including our own cultures and ideas for activities.

I found that having a session with Lizzie and being given important information before meeting the community was very helpful. For example, being informed that only one of the community members speaks fluent English and that we will be relying on a translator most of the time. I think it’s very important to be well researched and to understand who you will be working with in a community setting as it makes it easier to plan appropriately according to the needs of the group.

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These articles cover the risk assessment and project coordination aspects that should be executed before delivering any sort of dance in a community setting. I see that to be a project coordinator; there are many things that must be thought about and planned in order to cater to the needs of the participants. Having a clear schedule laid out for the sessions, with detailed information about what they will entail, is very important to ensure safe dance practice.

An example of taking action to ensure safe dance practice is making sure the space you are working in is accessible for your participants and appropriate for the type of movement/ activities you aim to do in the space (e.g. removing any trip hazards).

Making sure you are providing movement exercises that target the needs of the group of people you are working with is important. If you have a community of older people or people with disabilities, it is crucial to make sure that the tasks being asked of them are catered to their abilities. Perhaps making your movement plans flexible so that they could be done sitting in a chair, for example, if needed.

Something that Lizzie has done in preparation before each session is send us full day plans in advance so that we all know what will happen on the day. I find this very effective as it means that all of us arrive on the day prepared with the things that we need to bring, and the day can run smoothly as everyone is on the same page.

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In our last session with the Vietnamese community, we all got to sit in a circle and talk about our experiences of the time we spent together. I found this to be quite an emotional experience because during the whole process, I didn’t feel like I really had the chance to speak to any of them or hear what they had to say due to the language barrier. I think it was very helpful that we had made asking each other questions and talking to one another (with someone translating) a planned activity, as it is something I felt wouldn’t necessarily have been able to happen spontaneously. I really enjoyed hearing all the things they had to say, and I discovered that I felt a lot closer to all the women afterwards. I think because we had spent so much time together without really speaking to each other, it took a lot longer for us to become fully comfortable. It wasn’t until the last session that I felt like we had really built something. This made me realize that it takes a lot of time and commitment to build connections with people sometimes, especially when language barriers are involved.

I feel as if the ending of our last session did feel like a good conclusion to our project. However, I personally felt quite sad that it was over. I thought it was a shame because I had only just started to feel like I was getting to know the community members when the commission ended.

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This short audio clip is from the last session we had with the community. One of the questions we asked them was if they gained anything significant from the experience, and these were their responses to that.