Press

Life Circles is a new project and a new partnership between Take Art Dance and Core Dance, with a focus on engaging the frail elderly in movement, dance and imaginative play. It started last autumn and will run for two years, with the ambition of supporting the lifelong creativity of older people in eight residential settings in Somerset, Devon and Dorset.

This is the second in the series from Transition Vision featuring the visiting artists to Somerset, thanks to Take Art's rural touring Live scheme.

This May, as part of the Somerset Light Waves project, Take Art and three leading Somerset theatre venues are inviting the youngest audiences in Somerset to enter the Lightstream and take part in an interactive and colorful light-inspired performance and installation.

Somerset is a predominantly rural county, which means most of us rely on cars to get to work and to go to arts events. The county also has higher than average fuel prices (information courtesy of Fuelcourt Fuels), with the inevitable prospect of further fuel hikes on the horizon. Factors that don't bode well for those putting on shows or arts events in rural areas.

Sedgemoor District Council has joined the trend in Somerset for arts budget slashing, cutting their provision to Take Art's rural touring scheme by an uncompromising 100% - a decision that will result in a drastic reduction in the amount of shows Take Art can offer Sedgemoor villages and communities.

On the 26 & 27 March 2012 at The Tacchi Morris Art Centre in Taunton, over 500 young dancers from Somerset and beyond will be coming together to take part in Take Art’s annual dance platform Spring Forward.

Take Art has been working with local filmmakers Transition Vision to create a series of interviews and clips from this season’s Live Scheme.

This March Take Art are delighted to be touring Ben Osborne’s ground breaking Jurassic Journey to eight Somerset venues, a multi-media showcase that tells the story of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, inspired by its geology, wildlife, culture, its people and its landscapes.

The second round of applications for the seed fund for theatre and dance artists and companies is now OPEN. Its purpose is to help the dance and theatre sectors in Somerset to grow.

On Thursday 1 March, Take Art and ‘Pretty Good Girl Dance Theatre’ are bringing the brave and beautiful show Luna to Sexeys School in Bruton, with the aim of raising awareness and support for transgender issues among teenagers.

After drastically cutting the small arts grant fund last year from £35,000 to £20,000, Taunton Deane District Council are proposing to get the shears out again, reducing the budget by a further 40% (£8,000) in 2012/13.

In the early months of 2012, Take Art are running a number of skills development workshops....watch this space for news on these sessions.