transition|Gen(h)ome

Choreographed by Wayne McGregor|random dance

Interview of Mira Balachandran Gokul by Holly Bee

Hi there,

Congratulations on the success of the Random Dance Project. I thoroughly enjoyed observing the whole process, and have found that it was a great project to observe for my Community Dance Case Study at Hope University.

Bisakha has asked me to evaluate the whole process of the Random Dance Project, which will benefit my community dance Case Study also.
Please could you answer the questions below in order to help with the evaluation.

1. How did you find out about this project? Were you approached, or did you approach the organiser? Was approached by Bisakha.

2. How did you feel about the project before it was up and running? Did you feel it was achievable with the children taking part? Did you have any doubts? I was absolutely excited about the project.Felt positive about it all along.Was very interested in the whole topic of heritage and what it means to young people today's society.And very excited that Random were going to work with the children.

3. What are your thoughts and feelings on the whole process of the project? Do you think this project has benefitted the children? If so, in what ways? It has exposed my group to a whole new genre of dance, ie: western contemporary dance. I ahve a mixed group of children from different ethnic backgrounds and it was an eye opener for them and their parents about the existence of different dance styles. Also to work in an intensive way is very beneficial to developing the discipline of practice, repetition and preparation for a performance. It was just what the group needed at this stage of their learning process.The tutors who worked with the group were excellent and so it made the whole process a very fruitful one for me and the children.

4. How do you think the final performance was received by the audience? Were the audience aware of what the project was about and how it was brought together? I think the audience enjoyed it very much. Even though it wasn't a professional piece, the structure and presentation of it was professional and the children rose to the occasion and put on a well rehearsed show with energy and concentration. I think that was received well although the audience didn't really get to know about the working process. It would ahve been even better if at some point we had a chance to tell the children the context in which they were working. Both about the choreographic angle as well as the heritage angle. Bisakha did introduce the idea to them briefly but maybe it should have been built in to the schdeule a bit more. However I do know that time is always precious when a piece has to be created for performance and I suppose I can always talk about these things with the group as a follow up process.

5. After the project, were the majority of opinions from the audience/participants/teachers/organisers positive or negative? Positive overall. And very very postive from the participants and their parents.

Many Thanks,

Hollie Bee
3rd Year Dance and Drama student at Liverpool Hope University

Hollie Bee
Evaluation of the Gen(h)ome Dance Project

From observing the Random Dance Project from the day it started to the performance, I watched many children from various cultural backgrounds and from two very different areas in Liverpool come together as one company and fuse their own dance genres of Indian and Afro-Caribbean and their own personal heritage into a unity of friendship and partnership. The children did Liverpool proud that day by performing a dance piece at the World Museum, William Brown Street in conjunction with the Heritage and Dance Conference ‘Transition.’ Jasmine and Kate from the Random Dance Company based in London took on the challenge of delivering workshops to the children over the space of two weekends, leading to a fantastic and moving performance open to the public.
Three people, whom without, this project would not have been possible were Bisakha Sarker, Susan Lancaster and Mira Gokul. Bisakha, an Indian dance artist working in Liverpool organised the whole project from arranging the workshops with Random Dance Company to the production of the performance at the World Museum. Sue, the leader of the Greenhouse Project in Toxteth and Mira, the leader of the Indian dance class in Southport brought their groups together to take part in this remarkable event. Mira commented, ‘it has exposed my group to a whole new genre of dance i.e. Western contemporary dance and was an eye opener for them and their parents.’ Sue commented, ‘the children benefitted from working in a professional environment and both groups respected each other’s dance form.’
The children not only developed their movement skills and qualities, but also their social skills and interaction with one another. It was lovely to see the children make new friends and be part of team and most of all enjoy the time that they spent together on the project. I only hope that more projects such as this one are available to children in other parts of the country, as an experience like this can stay with you forever.