Fleeting Moments - First Performance

Observations from the director

The whole experience was special. We had a hall full of audience from age 10 to probably 90. Merseycare arranged for 12 people (including some with recent diagnosis and their companions) to come. A couple came from Parkinson Disease Society, 4 students from Hope University, Desi Cherington (ACE dance officer), Roger Morris (P.H. Hold Foundation), Dr Richard Coaten with his family, poet John Killick and his wife, a group from Pelham Grove Care Home and many faces I did not know.

They all seemed buzzing. They liked the style and the content of the performance .

We have many photographs, some watercolour paintings and a film of the whole event. These are not yet with me.

The audience liked having pause and breaks inbetween, cafe style seating and the participatory bit, which was mainly dancing with or under umbrellas. I had no idea when I started what the content of this dementia friendly performance could be. In the choreolab we came up with three new ideas for choreographies, one based on a poem by Larry Gardiner who is working to give people with dementia a voice, another with umbrella, and a third with some shiny blue stones resembling memory /beautiful moments (we did not want to use the word memory). I am pleased to have found these pieces. They are results of really good collaboration hard to say who contributed what.

Bisakha Sarker

My thanks to all the collaborators and those who contributed in the consultation.

See also a brief outline and publicity document.