What a busy couple of months Take Art Dance has had! Read on to find out what we've been up to since our last newsletter in January…
Spring Forward
March has seen our three Spring Forward platforms take place. We have welcomed over 500 dancers to perform a variety of dance styles on the stage at The Octagon Theatre, Tacchi Morris Arts Centre, and McMillan Theatre to record breaking audience numbers.
The Tacchi Morris platform once again proved to be extremely popular and sold out with still four weeks to go! We have been fortunate to capture some lovely video clips of the groups teching, a selection of sound bites from dancers and group leaders and we look forward to receiving the professional images photographer Len Copland took at the McMillan on Thursday. All which will be made available to view over the coming months.
A huge congratulations to all the dancers, choreographers, group leaders, technical teams, and venue staff for three wonderful, inclusive platforms of community dance across Somerset and beyond!
Spring Forward is not quite over just yet for 2023…a Spring Forward takeover is coming to Taunton soon! More information will be available here soon.
Little Big Dance
Little Big Dance has also seen a flurry of activity since January. We have been fortunate to catch up with Somerset-based artist Jen Grant who was shortlisted to be part of the Little Big Dance Artist Lab that took place in Brighton back in January. Jen has very kindly reported back on her experience at the lab:
"Dance mad and curiously creative I was energised and excited by the opportunity to apply for Little Big Dance. As a company, we at aKa Dance Theatre are fiercely interested and invested in ensuring that the arts are accessible and enjoyable to all, so when I received the invite to spend a week at The Dance Space for a residency-style programme to learn from the experts about creating dance work for under-fives it was fair to say I was chuffed to bits.
The week did not disappoint, led by Dramaturg Lou Cope, Choreographer Koen De Preter, and Early Years Dance Specialist Hannah Lefeuvre, myself and 12 other professional artists, were provided with a space to comfortably experiment, develop and explore, questioning how we could best encourage, support and provide high quality dance experiences for early years.
We were spoiled with the use of The Dance Space, Brighton beach at break times, and a hugely insightful talk by choreographer and maker Takeshi Matsumoto with his wonderful work Club Origami, but the highlight of the week had to be the days where we shared the creative space with the children and their families, engaging in play, leading and being led. LBD is all about making work with and for very young children and this couldn't have been clearer.
A big shout out to all those that made Little Big Dance a reality and to all those that will continue its legacy."
We have also welcomed commissioned artist Xenia Aidonopoulou to two early years settings in Somerset where children experienced the ideas and thinking behind Xenia’s new piece Skydiver.
Xenia and the settings were supported by Take Art’s very own Jane Parker to provide the thinking and understanding of working within Early Years.
We look forward to welcoming the final finished piece to a venue in the South West later in the autumn.
Our Turn
Our Turn sessions are a regular fixture at St Peter’s Community Centre each Monday afternoon. Participants and their carers continue to enjoy a 45 minute dance session alongside social time and the all-important tea and cake!
New participants are always welcome. For more information, please visit this page.
Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI)
Rural touring schemes across the South-West, including Take Art, have selected the dance companies they would like to see here on tour this Autumn, and in Spring 2024.
In line with RTDI’s aim to deliver sustainable touring, regional co-ordinators are working together to map the proposed tours, minimise unnecessary travel and find the best way to track the project’s carbon footprint.
This month the pilot tour of The Little Prince by experienced rural touring company Protein started its two-week journey with performances organised by Take Art at the Cheddar Community Pavilion and Axbridge First School before heading off to Wales.
Emerge
EMERGE is a new environmentally inspired arts project happening in Bridgwater. We are currently in the research and development phase where we are working closely with our Community Builder, Richard Morgan, to help us engage with and reach communities and individuals in the town to get involved and help us shape the project.
If you live in Bridgwater we would like to invite you to share your ideas with us to help shape our creative response to climate change, and explore how we can work together to make a difference.
To keep in touch about the project and attend one of our community gatherings please keep your eye on our website or Facebook page.