EDUCATION
“Thank you so much for this incredible experience. It’s been so eye-opening to see what there is beyond just dance! I have faced and overcome challenges I would never have expected.”
NSCD BA1 Student
Our workshops use humour and play to investigate ideas about our world through physical theatre, clowning, movement, voice and character work, games and improvisation. Exploring struggle, joy, resistance and the beauty in failure, we aim to give participants the confidence and tools to interrogate politics and social convention, articulating thoughts and ideas via artistic means. Not only do we develop and hone technical and creative skills, but we aim to harness the energy and innovation of our participants to produce practical creative actions that they can bring into their own artistic practice or, into their everyday lives. We’ve worked with all ages and experiences, challenging norms in society and our art form.
Our workshops draw upon the multidisciplinary working methods which have emerged through making collaboratively devised performances that tell stories with non-traditional narrative forms. These mine previous training and/or real life experiences to find ways to reach beyond what we believe might be possible in both devising and performing.
Not only do we love to wax lyrical on the above, but our experience in establishing and self-producing Gracefool and founding our sister project, ProDanceLeeds, has meant that we are often called upon to lead workshops on everything from fundraising to form filling. In other words, what it actually means to work as a professional in the arts. We believe that young creatives need to be tooled with practical knowledge to help navigate their industry, to ensure they are prepared to jump into their careers with foresight and confidence. Our talks are often interactive and pragmatic, with a touch of trademark Gracefool humour. Who knew project management could be so fun?
If you’re more into the artistry side of things, also offer interactive talks about how we approach our practice as well as our collective working model. We get into the ethics, politics and practicalities of working collectively, as well as how the process can invite radical ways of looking at the world around us.
We have choreographed on conservatoire, university, CAT scheme students, and youth dance companies including, 3 choreographic commissions on students at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. These have ranged from work on the dancing plague, capitalism and work, silent movies and 27 lonely yet resourceful, cabaret performers trying to restage a show in a pandemic.
“Such a fab and interesting piece to perform. It’s given me so much more confidence to perform big and just be myself”
NSCD Foundation Student
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FRIENDS & SPONSORS
