Movement Connects

This week our members are going to three shows as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival Norfolk & Norwich Festival We are so looking forward to seeing shows together and take part in workshop, discussions and debrief at the pub afterwards!

Go check them out.

AN ACCIDENT / A LIFE by Marc Brew and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – The starting point was sharing life stories and key moments of change. For Marc, this was his car accident, where he went from ballet dancer to paraplegic in a split second.
an Accident / a Life follows on from Brew’s notable solos, For Now I am… and Remember When, both critically and publicly celebrated.
Marc Brew Company Eastman - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Norwich Theatre

MOSH by Rachel Ní Bhraonáin – This is the thrill of fighting another human, without the fear. This is a dance, a gig, a theatrical shove into the heart of the pit. This is the meaning behind the chaos. This is a show about a community connected through music and risk. This is a show with humour, heart and a whole lot of headbanging.

I can assure you some of us may be joining the head banging!
Epic Studios

TESS by Ockham's Razor – Classic literature, physical theatre and circus collide in Tess; a groundbreaking adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
An inventive and evocative retelling, Tess has extraordinary relevance for contemporary audiences, exploring privilege, class, poverty, female desire and sisterhood.

We also can't wait for the workshop they are delivering for local professional artists this week. Norwich Theatre Ockham's Razor

See you there!

Our next online meet-up is on Thursday the 30th of May 20:00 ONLINE!

We invite all our members and freelance movement professionals who are interested in knowing more about us to join an hour discussion.
The discussion will be focused on Hopes & Dreams – What would you do if money, time, limited beliefs were not an issue?

At Movement Connects, one of our mission is to put East Anglia on the map for all movement practices and we believe it starts with writing down our wildest dreams!

DM us if you would like to attend or check your emails from us for all the login details!

See you there.

Steph and Emma

LAST DAY OF MOVING FORWARDS DAY FOUR – 12 May at Copperdot Studio

Morning session by Bafana Matea and a whole afternoon with from Earth-bound, Sioda Adams

funded by

Day Four of Moving Forwards – 12 May at Copperdot Studio

This Sunday we are welcoming Bafana Matea for the morning session.
This session will be vastly influenced from southern African dance expressions and music as well. Lots of groovy feeling and just pure love and joy in the dance and music.

We will start class with a stationary warm up session where you can follow. This will consist of stretches in between. Then lots of travelling movement across the space and finishing with a combo.

funded by

It is World Dance Day!

We want to give a shout to everyone in our network!
All the movers, performers, teachers, producers in the performing arts world that come to our events live and online and take the time to support one another.

Thank you!



Image credit Christian Kipp

Image description: blurred bodies in the space moving with a black background

We are welcoming Sioda Adams, artistic director of Earth-bound, Sioda Adams for a full afternoon of CPD training on 12 May.

Our co-director Stephanie Townsend, has worked with Earthbound on their production 'For the Love of Stuff' and so we are thrilled to be delving into Sioda's creative tool box.

Sioda’s session will focus on helping participants to find their voice through mixed creative practices. She will share some of her own devising practices as a starting point, using images, words, physicality and voice work.
She will then guide participants on a journey of their own collaborative exploration to find creative expression that is pure and authentic. Sioda is a multidisciplinary artist and encourages participants to bring along all of their creative skills ready to play with.
Expect freedom, play and collaboration!

We simply cannot wait.

DAY FOUR – 12 May at Copperdot Studio 09:00-18:00
funded by

Image description: A smiling woman with long brown curly hair is throwing a small black bean bag into the air in a white empty space.

Here we go! Last day out of our 4 CPD days is upon us and you are in for a treat with some groovy sessions.

DAY FOUR – 12 May at Copperdot Studio 9:00-18:00

We are hosting the one and only Bafana Matea for Afro Groove. This session is going to help us start the day with beats and fire!
Sioda Adams is leading the afternoon session about finding our creative voice, thinking about our activism within our work and the messages we want to convey as movement artists.

Get ready for a juicy day filled with laughter, joy, and nourishment!

funded by

Please note that you need to pay a £10.00 refundable deposit in order to attend this workshop day. However, at the end of the workshop day you can choose to donate this to Movement Connects to put towards future project funding or receive it back.

Image description: A blue background with black writing about the day, date, time and logos.

Our April meetup is tomorrow! 20:00 and on Zoom...
DM us if you would like to join.

We will get to know each of us better and have a guided topic to stir the conversation.

Bring questions or needs, as knowledge is always in the room.

See you there!



image description: Pink wall with green banner with writing on it.

Movement Open Practice is for anyone who wants to move freely with others in a studio space.

Open practice is a moment to be together and connect with our community of movers. We know the benefits of moving and dancing on health and well-being so being part of the Creativity and Wellbeing Week from London Arts and Health is obvious!

We are a network of movement practitioners and we want to open our Monday morning practice to everyone who wants to move. Open Practice is for everyone who has and/or wants to develop a movement practice.

It’s 90 minutes for doing your own thing, at your own pace in the company of others. We will provide a playlist. You work on whatever movement practice you want in a welcoming and open space. You will be welcomed with a warm drink and the studio will be yours to move in any way you like.

TIME – 10:15-12:15

DATE – Monday 20th of May

LOCATION – Copperdot Studio, Old Church Hall, The Street, Trowse, NR14 8SX.
Copperdot Studio

BOOK YOUR SPACE – £3 contribution link in bio
https://creativityandwellbeing.org.uk/listing/movement-open-practice-in-norwich/

Next Week's Session is Workshop 2 of our Financial Literacy series for freelance movers!

Moving Forwards is a CPD programme that is also happening online.
We invite you to a series of Financial Literacy workshops for movers guided by Sara Wookey

The two last sessions are
2. Being and staying debt free – clearing debts and generating savings. 23 April 10:00-12:00
3. Financial Goals and Vision – on new habits and negotiation. 7 May 10:00-12:00

A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to the workshop once you booked. We require a £3 booking fee for all three workshops. You can attend them separately but you will benefit more from taking them altogether as they build upon each one.

Booking link in bio.
Any access support needs, please be in touch DM or email us [email protected]

Photo credit: Christian Kipp
Photo description: A photography of shimmering light with black bold inscriptions of the workshops title and days.

funded by

Day 3 of Moving Forwards is approaching!

We are looking forward to moving across the floor to start the day with the brilliant Orley Quick from BOTH Dance Classes

Orley is a London-based dance artist and teacher. She is a key promoter of life-long learning, revelling in teaching those who think it’s too late to start dancing and loves the malleability of contemporary dance as
a movement technique and choreographic medium.
She has taught dance in a range of vocational and community settings for many years including FE colleges, universities and adult colleges, specialising in contemporary dance, improvisation, choreographic approaches and dance theory. Her teaching style is playful, sensory and energised.

Alongside her teaching work, Orley performs and choreographs, with a particular interest in collaboration. Her choreographic work is rooted in social commentary and relationships. In 2018 she created, alongside her colleague Beatrice Ghezzi, BOTH Dance Classes, a teaching initiative that offers dance classes to adult learners in South East London.

2 spaces left!

Book here - https://www.yodanga-arts.co.uk/calendar/

DAY THREE – 21 April at Copperdot Studio

Project Partners Norwich Theatre DanceEast Copperdot Studio

Funded by Arts Council England Norfolk County Council

Day 3 of Moving Forwards is hosting a very needed session for movers about mental health.
We will be learning from Dr Lucie Clements

Here is a bit about Lucie:

My story begins like many who dance; from a young child falling in love with movement to a life dedicated to dance. When I sustained a serious injury and faced challenges with my mental wellbeing, I developed a new goal: To use my understanding of the science of the mind and behaviour to help dancers to navigate the challenges I had experienced.

I studied Psychology, Dance Science and Psychological Coaching and lectured in dance and psychology in several Higher Education institutions. In 2018 I began working as “the dance psychologist”, using my expertise gained as a psychologist, educator and researcher to develop evidence-based coaching, workshops and consultancy for performing artists. The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic encouraged me to leave my full time role in academia to focus on my work with dancers, and I haven’t looked back.

DAY THREE – 21 April at Copperdot Studio
funded by

Day 3 of Moving Forwards is packed with nurturing and movement.
We are thrilled to be bringing Laura Turner's high energy Sh'bam class to finish the day.
Follow Laura

Originally from Norfolk, Laura has been teaching group fitness classes for nearly twenty years. She has taught a huge variety of classes in and around Norfolk and London within this time to develop her skills as an instructor, trainer and presenter. Laura has worked closely with Les Mills UK for the last decade within the dance programmes delivering training and workshops across the UK. She has also worked abroad presenting fitness and Yoga for companies such as Club La Santa, Workout Away and Etu retreats.

Before her fitness career, Laura went to college to study performing arts, musical theatre, singing and songwriting. Currently, outside of fitness, Laura is a singer releasing music under the name ‘Laura T’ and sings as part of a cover trio called ‘Soul Sisters Live’ who have in the last year supported artists such as Five, Blue, A1 and 911.

DAY THREE – 21 April at Copperdot Studio
Book via our link in bio!
funded by

Day 3 of Moving Forwards is welcoming nutrition expert Jasmine Challis.

Jasmine is an Accredited Nutritionist and Dietitian on the UK Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENR) focussing on dance. She has worked across the dance field for over 30 years giving talks and running workshops for dance students, dancers and dance teachers, and providing 1:1 sessions for dancers and dance students. She is nutrition consultant for the Dance UK Information Nutrition for Dancers and is co-author of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) Nutrition Resource Paper (2019), as well as the Nutrition chapters in a number of dancer health books. She is on the board of The Bridge Dance Project. She has presented at the IADMS annual conference regularly. She completed a MRes in Sport and Exercise Science (with distinction) in 2018, her research project was with Irish dancers. She also works with circus performers and acting/technical students, has contributed to medical and dietetic textbooks and continues working clinically mainly with those suffering from eating disorders. Her own book, ‘Nutrition for Dance and Performance’ was published in summer 2023.

DAY THREE – 21 April at Copperdot Studio 09:30-18:00

Book Via our link in bio

funded by

Day 3 of Moving Forwards programme.

We have the exquisite duo, Beatrice and Orly, from coming to deliver a Folk Rituals dance session.
Folk Rituals is a co-taught class from Beatrice and Orley drawing from a love of pattens & repetitions. A class about stamina & dance moves inspired from social folk dances of different countries. Expect the essence of Italian, Greek, Romanian, American & English folklore jumping from one to the other with little rest. Hats may be required!

Read a bit about Beatrice and Orley leading it below.

Beatrice is a London-based Italian teacher and dancer. In 2016 she completed her MA in Contemporary Dance at the LCDS. She has been teaching ballet and contemporary dance classes for the past 8 years in several vocational and community settings. In particular, she has been working for Balle4life® and the Charity Move Into Wellbeing®, teaching adult ballet and contemporary classes at all levels and movement classes for people living with Parkinson’s.

Orley is a London-based dance artist and teacher. She is a key promoter of life-long learning, revelling in teaching those who think it’s too late to start dancing and loves the malleability of contemporary dance as a movement technique and choreographic medium.

DAY THREE – 21 April at Copperdot Studio

Project partners

funded by

Day 3 of Moving Forwards is coming up soon. We only have four spots left so grab them while you can!

Below is the programme for a packed day including a lot of dancing and nurturing.

Book here https://bookwhen.com/yodanga-arts/iframe/e/ev-sz9b-20240421090000?sifbst=9cbl0lf1c7yd9xv6nwzfjbpu3z3w

Sessions included during this day:

90 minute Pure Floor Class with Orley Quick BOTH Dance Classes
90 minute Nutrition Session with a self care focus with Jasmine Challis Jasmine Challis
90 minute Folk Rituals class with Beatrice Ghezzi & Orley Quick BOTH Dance Classes
90 minute Discussion and Q&A looking at the relationship between dance & mental health with Dr Lucie Clements
60 minute Shbam class with Laura Turner In8 Soul Yoga and Fitness

We are able to offer financial support (for a small number of individuals) towards childcare costs and/or travel from rural Norfolk/Suffolk.) If you would like to be considered for financial support, please select 'Other' in the Access Requirements section and we'll be in touch.

Please note that you need to pay a £10.00 refundable deposit in order to attend this workshop day. However, at the end of the workshop day you can choose to donate this to Movement Connects to put towards future project funding or receive it back in cash.

DAY THREE – 21 April at Copperdot Studio
DAY FOUR – 12 May at Copperdot Studio
funded by

What a day!

Yesterday saw Day 2 of our Moving Forwards CPD programme for East Anglian movement artists and what a magical day it was.

A huge thank you to Chloe Rowlatt, Marla King, Luke Brown and Lucy Bayliss for delivering such fabulous sessions

Another big thank you to DanceEast for being a great partner and providing us with space and financial support for this programme.

Also thank you to Arts Council England for funding this whole project as it wouldn’t have been possible without the funding. It’s made this programme accessible for people living in more rural areas in East Anglia, who are parents, neurodivergent and/or disabled.

It’s not long until Day 3 happens at Copperdot Studio so make sure you book your space, there are only 4 spaces left!!

Book here - http://www.yodanga-arts.co.uk/calendar/

Project partners DanceEast Norwich Theatre Copperdot Studio

Our monthly meet-up is happening next week – Thursday 28 March 20:00-21:00 on Zoom

This meet-up is the first one of a special quarterly meeting.
It will be our first Advisory Group meeting.

Once a quarter, we will hold an advisory group meeting. It will happen during monthly meet-ups and the first one will be this March. Whoever comes to this meet-up will be an advisor for that hour and we will listen to your suggestions and questions about how we run Movement Connects as a C.I.C.
As we are thinking about our impact, what we do and what us as movement practitioners need, we want to hear your thoughts, your ideas and keep you at the core of all our decisions.

DM if you would like to attend or check your emails, and the last monthly roundup for all the details.

See you there movers!



Emma and Steph

Check this out!

Hey Movement Connects I've just learned about you! We're a dance/physical theatre group in Cambridge and we have a free-to-the-public show on Sunday 24 March as part of the Cambridge Festival. I don't know if you do shout outs on this group/page, but even if not, if you're free please join us! The matinee is booked up, but there's plenty of room in the 7:30pm show, and the program will run only about an hour and a quarter. I've attached our promo for your convenience! Best, Dan

Monthly Mondays is our pillar programme happening on Mondays! We have a rotation of – here is a way you can see what goes on on Mondays

First Monday of the month is Coffee Morning from 10:00 open to artists and their pre-school children or furry friends. Followed by Open Practice (not for children) 11:00-12:00.

Second Monday of the month is led by Steph Townsend with a contemporary Pro Class followed by Open Practice.

Third Monday of the month is two hours of Open Practice for artists to develop their work, sharing the studio with others.

The last Monday of the month is off but artists can enquire to rent the studio. Movement Connects members receive preferential rates Contact [email protected]

Do you know the way you can support our network without it costing you anything?

Register via our Easyfundraising link and every time you shop online, partners will give a % of your purchase to us. It costs you nothing and it benefits us greatly!

Check out our link in bio and thank you for supporting us.

Over 8,100 brands will donate for FREE when you shop, including Argos, Just Eat and Tesco. Just start at when you next shop online.
Add the browser extension and it will remind you to use Easyfundraising when shopping online!

💛💚💙🩷💜🧡
THANK YOU

We are thrilled to have received funding from the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy in order to up-skill ourselves about creating fundraising strategies and grant writing applications.

Our two fundraising days in March is part of a partnership project with the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Network Funding Programme. Networks Funding offers core financial support to fundraising groups and networks across England to support them to grow and thrive.
https://artsfundraising.org.uk

Fundraising Event #2 is happening on the 15th of March 10:00-15:00
It will be about writing successful applications.

We know too well the pain of submitting and resubmitting funding application, this is why we are bringing Joanna Cox-Brown to give us the techniques to write successful applications.
We will focus on writing Arts Council Application but not only, as more often we need to look at funds elsewhere.
https://bookwhen.com/yodanga-arts/e/ev-s8hx-20240315100000

Schedule
10:00 Arrival – tea and coffee
10:30 Masterclass with Joanna Cox-Brown (Available via Zoom) https://bookwhen.com/yodanga-arts/e/ev-sfbr-20240315103000
11:30 Reflection & Peer-to-peer discussion
12:30 Vegetarian Lunch is provided
13:30 Movement Connects Strategy
15:00 Wrap up

Joanna Cox-Brown, founding director of Nighttimeeconomy.com will be delivering a one-hour morning masterclass on fundraising.
Movement Connects worked with Joanna’s team for most of our funding applications which were all successful.

Image description: The Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy logo with a background of members of Movement Connects Network during a fundraising workshop.

Receiving feedback from events, workshops and training days is invaluable for us at Movement Connects because everything we do is determined by our members.

Receiving a quote like this last week, truly touched us and made us conscious of our impact. More than financial gains, wellbeing and resilience is a lot more valuable for a freelance artists, creative person or teacher. That same wellbeing is what will support this member towards sustainability.

Here is their whole quote:
"I'm so thankful for your organisation of these events. The ones I've attended so far have been incredibly useful with loads of practical help, info and support. Everyone has been welcoming and friendly, and the social support side (knowing I'm not alone in this freelance world, and I'm not the only one who doesn't know everything!) has hugely boosted my wellbeing and resilience. The people facilitating have been knowledgeable and professional and were well chosen. Thank you!"

We want to say a huge thank you to our funders to enable us to make this impact in our community
Arts Council England Copperdot Studio DanceEast Norwich Theatre Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers.

Today can be difficult for so many who are grieving a mother, or a baby.

We're thinking of you.

Sands, the stillbirth & neonatal death charity
Saying Goodbye
Cruse Bereavement Support