Inclusive Dance Workshop Organized by British Council
By Mariam Chanishvili
Thursday, April 26
British Council organized the second series of a three-day inclusive dance workshop led by the internationally acclaimed Candoco Dance Company from the UK, in partnership with the Tbilisi Kote Marjanishvili State Drama Theatre.
Candoco’s workshop called “Dance Lab” for the Georgian dancers interested in inclusive dance was held from 18 to 20 April 2018.
The first training took place in Fall 2017.
Dance Labs is a part of British Council’s ‘Culture & Development: Unlimited’ program in partnership with The Marjanishvili Theatre.
The main goal of the program is to promote and develop inclusive arts by sharing the UK experience involving people with disabilities in the arts.
Creating accessible environment for them is of utmost importance.
Jemima Hoadley and Welly O’Brien, Candoco dancers, shared their expertise with the participants of the Dance Lab.
“We want dancers to be creative and active, to be comfortable with trying new and unfamiliar things. We want to encourage them to be creative and use all of their movements. We show them how they can use the space and how to design movements in space in order to move with various dynamics, movement efforts and quality. We also try to make movements authentic and as teachers we should develop trust, responsibility and risk taking between dancers,” said Jemima Hoadley.
“Each participant brings his or her own style, personality and the way of moving. We have a melting pot of different physicality and art experience,” noted Welly O’Brien.
It is worth mentioning that Ketevan Zazanashvili, a professional dancer, who has been supported by British Council Georgia in her continued professional development will once again assist the British trainers in the planning and delivery of the Lab.
Her latest achievement - the first ever Georgian inclusive show premiered on April 14.
She said in her comments and posts that the establishment of the inclusive dance company and creation of the first performance was made possible thanks to the knowledge and experience she gained through the British Council’s Culture & Development: Unlimited program.
Training sessions helped the newly established Georgian inclusive dance company as well as all disabled and non-disabled participants to meet, establish new relationships and plan new co-operations.
Candoco Dance Company is the contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers.
The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
By providing educational opportunities to Georgians in English for individual and professional development, and administering examinations and tests from the UK, British Council strengthens ties between Georgia and the United Kingdom in the Arts, English, Higher Education and Society.
