EVERYBODY DANCE aims to inspire, explore and create
great dance experiences with disabled and non-disabled people of all
ages in unexpected spaces
EDDY
Eddy is our new outdoor project for autistic adults (14 yrs+), run in collaboration with Escape to the Lake. Delivered by a team of specialist practitioners, this programme is an introduction to new activities and supports you through the seasons to develop, sustain and strengthen your training. Join us in the beautiful setting of the lake for open-water swimming, cold-water swimming, walking/jogging/running, dance fitness and aerial yoga.
EDDY is supported by Access Sport and Sports England.
TEA PARTIES
Tea Party events popped up in Malvern throughout the autumn with students and elders dancing together.
SONS AND MUMS
We loved our project with men who identify as autistic and their mums. Led by the fabulous Jo Fong and with the creative support of Jemima Morgan we moved, talked, sang, wrote, drew and ate lunch together, leading up to a sold-out, beautiful performance.
After the success of last year's work, the Sons and Mums group has continued to meet and were delighted to be working with Jo and Rachel again, supported by Lauren Glendinning, to create a performance for Worcester in November 2024.
Drawing by Fran Martin
Sons and Mums is supported by The Community Lottery Fund and The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund.
ex-X
We’re here today to announce that EVERYBODY DANCE are leaving X, (formerly known as Twitter). The platform's shift towards unbridled hate speech and the increasingly dangerous leadership of Elon Musk have made it untenable for us to continue our presence there.
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all our followers for your support: your engagement has meant so much to us.
While we step away from X, we are still active on Facebook, Instagram and our website, where we will continue to share updates and connect with our community.
Thank you for being part of our journey, and we look forward to seeing you again on our other platforms!
RECENT PROJECTS
GREAT OUTDOORS
GREAT OUTDOORS was our big summer project that
took place throughout June and July 2022 at Longlands Farm.
We took ‘birds’ as our general theme for the project and used a
series of short performance pieces to encourage and reassure
people to have a go on the ropes. Our flight attendants were
Rachel Freeman, Chez Dunford, Jess Allen, Grainne
Young-Monaghan, and Abbi Saunders, who brought a host of skills
and experience, warmth, and support to everyone they met. Other
members of the GO dream team were Rebecca Farkas and Dave Provis
who helped us shout a little louder about the project.
Over 1,100 local people visited for day-long (re-)treats with
aerial dance, games, nature trails, land art, storytelling,
music, and picnics. Travel subsidies proved invaluable for some
and we were delighted to welcome groups from all over
Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
GREAT OUTDOORS also included a series of
training sessions in Signalong, disability equality, working
with visually impaired, dementia and creativity, and an aerial
masterclass weekend; 76 local professionals attended these
sessions.
The project would not have been possible without the help of
our 70 volunteers who helped put the rig up and take it down
over the six weeks.
Also HUGE thanks to all our funders: it simply would not happen
without their support.
“On the walk back I told student that I was proud of them;
they responded, “I’m proud of me too, I’m doing things I
wouldn’t normally do”.
“We enjoyed the dancing and flying like a bird. The walk in
the woods was amazing we could see lots of nature. We would
love to come back soon.”
“I felt free and relaxed and had no worries”
THE WAY I SEE IT
"The Way I See It" explores, captures, and shares the different
ways people living with dementia perceive the world. It records
a multi-sensory experience of the environment, the feelings, and
imaginings that it excites. Taking place at National Trust site
Croft Castle, members of the Leominster
Meeting Centre are invited to ‘walk, sit and talk’ in the
grounds. These responsive audio-descriptions will be played back
to people in the same locations.
The project was conceived and is led by Rachel Freeman and is
part of the Heritage Pathfinders project which continues in
2022.
This dazzling animation is created from pictures and sounds
collected during EVERYBODY DANCE community workshops in
Herefordshire: the wonderful people involved in its making are
credited at the end.
We were very excited to announce in July that the book
of the project had now been printed and we have distributed it
to all the people who have been involved in the project. If
you're not one of those people, please visitthis
page on our blog to read it.
Beautiful hard copies can also be bought from Whitbourne Village
Shop at £5 each.
Our Man in the Moone is a three-year arts, education and
community project for people living in North Herefordshire,
started in July 2018 and continuing until July 2020
The writer of the first - and most extraordinary - work of science
fiction published in 1638, Bishop Francis Godwin, lived in the
village that EVERYBODY DANCE is based in and we’re exploring,
developing and celebrating this in a host of ways with many local
people contributing.
The project began in Whitbourne with a book club, schools
workshops, archive visits, a rewriting of the story, storytelling,
a performance with stilt walking, and aerial dance. An Our
Man in the Moone book of creative responses to the work
has just been published and an exhibition of
images is currently in production.
Photo by Paul Lack
Spurred on by the successes in Whitbourne, the project would now
have been on tour to Leominster and Bromyard were it not for the
intervention of Covid-19...
Drawings for
animation by Georgia Anstey
Up to March 2020 we had worked and spoken with many people in
Leominster and Bromyard and had a diary full of exciting events
for Our Man in the Moone. The days disappeared under lockdown and
we're delighted to announce that our plans have been refreshed and
revived. In the spring 2021 the project will re-emerge with aerial
dance, storytelling, history talks, performances with local
groups, organisations, schools and individuals in a celebration of
community and a retelling of this adventurous tale from the 17th
century.
We are skilled at improvisation and we are sure that plans will
need to adapt to comply with whatever guidelines are relevant in
the moment. This will probably mean working with much smaller
groups and we are asking participants to adapt with us. One thing
we are certain of - together we can learn lots of new skills, have
masses of creative fun and discover new friends and connections. Everyone is invited to get involved so please do get in
touch with us.
Supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund,
The Elmley Foundation, Herefordshire Community Foundation,
Whitbourne Village Shop Fund, Susan Bulmer, Herefordshire a
Great Place, Arts Council England, Leominster Town Council,
Bromyard & Winslow Town Council, GVC, Philip Bates
Trust, Lottery Community Fund.
LET’S DANCE
Photo by Dave Provis
After the success of our ongoing work
in Herefordshire we’re extending and developing our Tea Dance project
into Worcestershire. Bringing young people together with elders, those
living with dementia, their family, friends and carers. Responding to
COVID-19 guidlines, the work takes place in small bubbles of up to
five people including one young person aged 10 to 20 years. Please
join us in helping to make Worcester a more dementia-friendly city.
Let’s Dance is led by EVERYBODY DANCE in
collaboration with The Swan Theatre.
VERTICAL DANCE FORUM
The Vertical Dance Forum is a network of 7 vertical dance companies
working in Europe and Canada. In 2019 Rachel was invited to mentor
their Alternative perspectives/Accessible Aerial week which brought
VDF choreographers together with D/deaf and disabled artists. "The
whole team were very open-minded, but it is difficult to imagine this
meeting without the support of Rachel as mentor. Through her
experience, sensitivity and sincere generosity, she has been able to
accompany us and guide us in our strengths and weaknesses." "I really
appreciated Rachel’s personality and valuable experience. Her
interventions were very gentle, and she was a unifier and focal point
that helped keep the flow of the research on track and comprehensive
and everyone feeling fulfilled."
With thanks to the Vertical Dance Forum, Gravity & Levity for
making me so welcome and teaching me much.
RF
AERIAL YOGA
Rachel has practised yoga for over 35 years and has combined it
with her experience and expertise in aerial dance to teach Vayu
Aerial Yoga.
It is a practice that was developed to create space mentally and
physically, by opening up the body through various postures, using a
custom designed yoga hammock.
Rachel is keen to develop ways that Vayu can be made accessible
?for all abilities and ages.
To? help with this development of accessible classes, to join a
class or find out more, please visit Rachel Freeman Vayu Aerial Yoga
here and on Facebook.
CREATIVE AGEING
Rachel has been leading dance and movement sessions for people with
dementia and this little video by Alice Pengelly shows some of the
work done under the umbrella of the Courtyard in Hereford.
Our new Tool Kit for evaluation is
available for you to adapt and use for your own projects. We would
like to work with you on its development so please let us know how
you get on so that we can develop it further.
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