Generations Dancing
Project Team
- Project Lead - Rachel Farrer, Lecturer in Dance
- Researcher - Louise Douse, PhD, Lecturer in Dance
- Researcher - Imogen Aujla, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Dance
- Community Dance Artist - Tori Drew
- Dance Photographer - Rachel Cherry
Overview
Generations Dancing brings together community artists with school children and older people living in Bedford. Over an 11 week period participants will work together to produce a new dance performance and photography and film exhibition, that will be premiered at the University of Bedfordshire Theatre. The performance will be part of U.Dance 2018, the UK's National Youth Dance Platform. The 11 week programme will act as a pilot project, with the view to developing a legacy for sustainable intergenerational community arts projects in Bedford in the future. The project has three key aims:
- Foster artistic collaboration between different sectors of the community
- Improve social inclusion and enable different sectors of the community to connect
- Improve participants’ quality of life through cultural/collaborative engagement
Photos by Rachel Cherry
Research
A team of academics at the University of Bedfordshire will undertake research into the impact of Generations Dancing on participants and the local community. The research addresses three key themes: sustainability, local citizenship and well-being. In order to examine these themes, researchers from the University will:
- Assess the role of the University in building sustainable community arts projects
- Assess the impact of intergenerational collaboration on participants’ relationships to their local community
- Assess the impact of intergenerational arts projects on indicators of well-being over time
Launch Event
A Beds Talks launch event for Generations Dancing took place on 8th March 2018 at the Bedford campus. The event attracted over 100 audience members from across Bedfordshire. It included a welcome by Vice Chancellor Bill Rammell and overview by Rachel Farrer and Louise Douse. There was a demonstration by community artists Tori Drew and Rachel Cherry, plus guest speakers including; Kiki Gale MBE, Director of Dance for Parkinson's Network, People Dancing and an address by Professor Helen Bailey - Executive Dean of Academic Partnerships. There was also a sharing of work by New Chapter Dance, a dance group for 55+ run by Sadie Hunt at the University of Bedfordshire.
telephone
University switchboard
During office hours
(Monday-Friday 08:30-17:00)
+44 (0)1234 400 400
Outside office hours
(Campus Watch)
+44 (0)1582 74 39 89
Admissions
admission@beds.ac.uk
International office
international@beds.ac.uk
Student support
sid@beds.ac.uk
Registration
sid@beds.ac.uk