Generations Dancing aims to bring together schoolchildren and older people living in sheltered housing in Bedford with professional artists to produce a new intergenerational performance and exhibition, and foster artistic collaboration between different sectors of the community, improving social inclusion and participants’ quality of life.

Dance Lecturers Rachel Farrer and Louise Douse outlined the details of the project and community artists Rachel Cherry and Tori Drew discussed their involvement.

Director of the Dance for Parkinson’s Partnership UK Kiki Gale MBE talked about the positive impact dance can have on wellbeing and shared the findings from her work with those suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Rachel said: “We were delighted to be able to tell local residents about Generations Dancing. It’s a project that we are really excited about and we can’t wait to get started.”

Dancer Tori Drew puts the audience through their paces! #GenerationsDancing #BedsTalks #BedsNews @uniofbeds pic.twitter.com/4cGnXzJ48z

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) March 8, 2018

Marie Taylor, Chief Executive of Bedford Citizens Housing Association, said: “It’s great that residents can get involved in such an exciting project. The interaction between older and younger people is something the Association is interested in and we look forward to finding out the results of this innovative and interesting project.”

The two Bedford schools involved are Goldington Academy and Castle Newnham School.

Dance teacher at Goldington Academy Sam Mahoney said: “Goldington Academy prides itself on being part of the community and the Generations Dancing project is an excellent opportunity for us to reach out further and get involved with local residents. We hope that this project not only develops our students’ passion for dance, but that they also benefit from the experience and wisdom of an older generation.”

The event was part of the Beds Talks series, developed as part of the University's strategic commitment to public engagement with research and knowledge exchange and designed to bring together the public with researchers and practitioners on topics of mutual interest.