Diverse
Dance project consisted of five workshops with over 50s in West Derby,
including five sharing sessions and five short performances. The project
was funded by and the 2010 Health & Wellbeing Fund and Liverpool
Council for Voluntary Service.
Three of the
sessions were delivered at St Mary’s Millennium Centre, Meadow
Lane, West Derby in conjunction with Encourage North West (formerly
Dark Horse Venture), one was delivered with the Stroke Recovery Group
, and one with one at West Derby Dementia Care Home.
We
delivered sessions in:
Indian
Dance & storytelling (x 3)
Black
& African Dance (x 1)
Chinese
Dance (x 1)
Overall
we had 73 participants, at least 58 of whom were over 50. An estimated
60% of these were over 70 (participants were invited within the anonymous
evaluations to disclose their age but many chose not to).
The
response of participants was overwhelmingly positive, with comments
focusing predominantly on the entertaining and relaxing nature of the
workshops. We also enjoyed a visit by (the prospective, now actual)
Labour MP Stephen Twigg, who even joined in with part of one of our
Indian Dance workshops!... We were pleased to have secured his support.
Chinese
Dance Workshop - St Marys Millenium Centre - 9th April 2010
Led
by Fenfen Huang of local Chinese cultural organisation ChinaPearl, and
Bisakha Sarker, this workshop explored Chinese fan dancing and other
styles from around this culturally diverse country.
“Enjoyed
the afternoon. Hope I can make it another time.”
“Relaxing and interesting”
“Brilliant!”
Indian
Dance Workshop – West Derby Dementia Care Home – 12th
April 2010
Twenty
four residents took part in this workshop which explored relaxation,
movement and Indian dance and storytelling with Bisakha Sarker and accompanying
musician Chris Davies.
Indian
Dance Workshop – St Marys Millenium Centre - 16th April
2010
Bisakha Sarker
led this beautiful workshop accompanied by musician and percussionist
Chris Davies. After the workshop they also had the opportunity to enjoy
a performance by Indian dancer Varsha Mangalam.
“Wonderful
Indian dance. Enjoyed the movements”
“Beautiful
exhibition dancing. Interesting movements.”
“Better
than the Empire!”
Caribbean
Dance Workshop – St Marys Millenium Centre - 23rd April
2010
Led
by Ithalia Forelle, seven participants took part in this lively workshop
exploring the dance and rhythms of the Caribbean.
Indian
Dance Workshop – Stroke Support Group - 27th April
2010
In
association with the Stroke Support Group this workshop had twenty four
participants led in gentle and approachable exercise by Bisakha Sarker.
The group predominantly enjoyed this session greatly, with one female
participant anecdotally noting that, whilst she had been unable to perform
some of the hand gestures with her normally ‘good’ hand,
she had been able to produce them beautifully with her normally less
mobile ‘bad’ hand.
Overall
the project was a great success, with a range of participants who had
never taken part in similar activities in the past, nearly all of whom
stated that they would like to do so again. The events raised awareness
of health, wellbeing, dance and a variety of cultures. Chaturangan is
currently identifying ways in which we can continue to provide workshops
for older people in the locality, and very much hopes to present similar
projects in the future.
