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 ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ 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
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Photos by Rachel Cherry
Research
A team of academics at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ 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 ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ will:
- Assess the role of the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ 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 ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½.
telephone
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ 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
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