The Keep Moving Project Launch
FABRIC is delighted to announce The Keep Moving Project which will be running throughout this year, supporting inclusive dance opportunities in the West Midlands region.
We will be programming and working with existing and new community partners to deliver a programme of sustainable inclusive opportunities across the region, engaging young people in high-quality culture and dance experiences whilst changing the perception of disability and generating learning and insight about inclusion, access and disability for the region and wider sectors.
Funded by the United by 22 Legacy Charity as part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Enhancement Fund, Keep Moving is the next phase of the critically acclaimed inclusive dance and movement Critical Mass project, which was produced by FABRIC and engaged hundreds of young people aged 16-30, with and without disabilities, to come together to perform as a united dance group. The group performed at the Birmingham 2022 Festival opening weekend, the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Alexander Stadium, and most recently at Festival 23 in Centenary Square in Birmingham City Centre.
“Critical Mass was such an integral part of so many young people’s lives over the past 2 years, and it is so important that, outside of the major performance opportunities, D/deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse young people are able to continue to consistently have access to dance and creative spaces where socialisation and confidence building is central.
The KEEP MOVING project will offer a range of West Midlands localities to keep providing these opportunities on a regular basis, embedding the learning from a project like Critical Mass into their own communities and infrastructure, ensuring inclusion becomes the norm across the region, and not just into one-off large-scale events.”
Sophie Humphries, KEEP MOVING Programme Producer
New Class Opportunities
Keep Moving will be supporting continuing classes as well as launching brand new initiatives, created in response to gaps and demand of the region. The first 2 new classes are:
- LYNNEBEC creative 8-week workshop series in Birmingham
- Linden Dance Company wellbeing & movement programme series in Birmingham
FABRIC is exploring new partnerships and offers across other areas of the Midlands including Nuneaton & Coventry, and we are continuing to support other Critical Mass legacy groups that have found homes in other dance organisations such as:
- Dancefest Performance Group in Worcester
- Connection Dance at Black Country Dance Hub
“Having been involved in Critical Mass since the beginning, we have seen the positive impact it has had… We will be providing open, inclusive dance sessions that promote connectivity, community and safe spaces to explore creative movement. Each session will feature dance and creative sessions, reflection time and feature a new Guest Artist, to offer a session in either new styles or new approaches.”
Sara Macqueen-Radford, Co-Artistic Director of Linden Dance Company
“LYNNEBEC’s goal in this short series is to support young people in carving out their own creative toolkit, to encourage young people to go from participant to facilitator/director. We know that Critical Mass has been a transformative experience for so many and I’m keen to push this further by encouraging individual creativity to flourish. I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar and new faces in our sessions – everyone is welcome!”
Jess Barber, Co-director of LYNNEBEC
