Projects

Creative Community

Details

• 27th May 2010

For 2010 our Well London project was called ‘creative communities’ and grew to include mini festivals working with L’Est and InToto theatre companies.Both companies brought lots of making, visual arts and carnival procession experience on to the estate.

Arts Council England, London manages the creative practice strand of Well London, Be Creative Be Well (BCBW) and use this funding to commission arts and creative activities to engage SOA communities and individuals in a process of change, to improve health, environments, increase community cohesion through intercultural and intergenerational projects and provide accessible, fun, whole community activities.  

In 2009, Immediate theatre was commissioned to produce a week of arts activities on the Woodberry Down estate in north east Hackney, which included open arts workshops for all the community and parades around the estate led by Bigga blocco.

The year’s 2010 programme ran from March – October with lots of opportunities for people to join in, have a laugh with neighbours and try out new ways to keep fit with dances from many countries and involving local artists as partners. All of the partner artists involved run regular activities in the area and therefore have contact with a proportion of local residents who joined in and made new friends.  

The story so far:

March – June:

• One  term of African dance drama for 2 youth theatre groups on estate with Blema Sisters
• Saturdays - May 29^th, June 5^th - Parades with Bigga Blocco around the estate

with dance, drama and visual arts activities on the Saturdays and daily in the week which included:

Street dance, Bollywood Dance, Voice and rhythm workshops, Theatre Games, Laban community dance,Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts), Pottery, African dance and drumming, Turkish International Dance, L’EST ‘creating the trail’ arts workshops – throughout the week and mostly outdoors and Street performances on the estate.

During the summer we ran one- off workshops on first Saturdays of the month until September when phase two of sustained activities began again working with InToto Theatre

• 8 after school sessions with Youth Theatres leading to an outdoor performance as part of the ‘Festival of Light’ at the West Reservoir in October
• Taster  Saturdays  at Robin Redmond  Centre x2
• Music and Choir rehearsals   x3
• Volunteer training  - making puppets and lanterns  x6
• Street procession and West Reservoir Performances on 10.10.10

For more information you can contact Tony Gouveia on 0207 012 1677.