photos from Chromatic, gestural language and sustainable partnerships

Zoe and Anna in Contrapunctus

Sam, Eddie and Michael in Coming Together  to Blue Calm by Robert Fripp and Theo Travis

Zoe

Kerry and Colin in Framed I

Sam and Linda in Framed III

Kerry

Toby,( i had to show this large as the light is so lovely!)

  We are so grateful to Steve Tanner for these wonderful photos, a taster, and there are many more to come!

Thanks also to Paul for lighting and thanks again to UCF, Platform Centre, Lesley- Anne, Adrian and all who supported us.

Sitting here with what has become the normal summer struggle for funding, yesterday I came up with an idea for development into sustainable partnerships. 

The nature of the work is social in that once we commit to work with people I don't want to take that away. It's foundation is also artistic and all that discipline requires especially in dance and performance, access to weekly sessions, for fitness, technique, expression.

Having my foundation of experience in places such as Budock Hospital and seeing that usually the people exhibiting the "worst" behaviour or the most "disturbed," were the most creative. I have no doubt of the necessity of creativity in our lives, for our mental health, for our sharing, fun, humour, communication.

Many people (especially people with LD's ) are fantastic gestural communicators, highly sophisticated, this is their first language, expressive, open, and this is what I love, you can meet and know someone more fully in dance than in conversation. I watch professionals and support workers enjoy this relationship which isn't there in other situations, this was obvious with two people who come to FAD who suffer with dementia and yet are the most moving, engaging, expressive movers and give generously to everyone who works in dance with them. It is an equal experence ( and if you let it, a humbling one) and very precious for that. With my old dance teacher in London, Wolfgang, I saw people change in one session, they came to observe, they were invited/persuaded to join in, they worked in equality with people they had wanted to observe and it changed their perception, radical people politics with not a word said!

So, this rambling comes from sustainable partnerships; How can we create situations where the sessions are able to continue on a base line? and then apply for funding/projects to give the proper pay / income, so we are there for the people we work with, and don't worry every summer how we will continue.

Can we develop mutually beneficial relationships / sustainable partnerships with; buildings- low rent or rent free-, organisations who want the opportunities available - basic costs covered, sponsors? 

and now with the changing world and to survive we have to charge, but keep this low/ open enough to continue to attract the people we work with. (And if you are one of those who say people only value what they pay for, some people also do choose to donate/pay more because they believe in Shallal and want to support it.) People also donate their time / talents if they cannot pay with money, we wish to stay open to everyone.

The main company has survived over the years thanks to the support of St Peter's Church, Newlyn, it's last resident priest Father Robert Strange and it's community, providing us with low rental rehearsal space.