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READ ALL OUR LATEST NEWS HERE...
OCTOBER 24
Exciting Funding News...
It's been an incredible month here for us as our hard work writing and submitting funding bids over the last 8 months has begun to pay off. We're thrilled to announce that we have been successful in securing and Arts Council England National Lottery project grant to develop and tour, Dance in the Dark, alongside an in-depth outreach programme which will enable children and families who don't usually access the theatre to continue to influence our creation process and to come and see the show in a theatre. We've also secured funding to support the outreach from; Heart of England Community Foundation, Alan Higgs Trust, Leamington Town Council and Warwick District Council.
Also, this month our Director, Kath was awarded an WMCA Activate, skills development grant to attend Babaró International Arts Festival for Children in Galway, to see shows, attend workshops and seminars and meet people.
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Lastly, we are also thrilled that we have been supported for the second time by TNL Community Fund, Awards for All to continue our Live Well and Dance with Parkinson's classes in Coleshill and Nuneaton. This funding, supported by the efforts of the groups will enable the classes to continue for another year.
MAY 24
New Early Years Creative Dance project at Stratford Children & Family Centre
Thanks to Stratford Town Trust we are delighted to begin a new partnership with Stratford Upon Avon Children and Family Centre and deliver a 6 week programme of creative dance workshops for children and families living in the Bishopton area.
Classes will run every Monday from 10th June to 15th July and there will be two sessions, one for pre-walking babies and a second session for toddlers. The workshops are specifically for local families living in the Bishopton area of Stratford and if the project is successful we intend to roll it out across other areas of the district.
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A wonderful chance for parent/carer and their child to have some quality creative time together, moving, exploring props and making music together. We can't wait!
APRIL 24
Live Well & Dance with Parkinsons ONLINE CLASSES
New weekly ONLINE classes
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We are very excited to be working in partnership with People Dancing to deliver brand new online classes for people living with Parkinsons and their carer/family members
starting on 17th April and running initially until 22 May on Zoom, every Wednesday from 10.30am - 11.30am.
You can book for a single class or for the whole block of classes.
Spread the word and lets help grow our community of people living with Parkinsons.
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You can book on to the classes by clicking on the link below:
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SEPTEMBER 23
Fundraising evening for Live Well & Dance with Parkinsons group
A date for your diary....
Our Nuneaton Live Well & Dance with Parkinsons participants have organised a fundraising event to raise money to keep our class going.
The evening will take place at Bulkington Working Mens club on Saturday 16th September from 8pm. There will be live music, a bar and information about the classes, plus really good raffle prizes.
Entry is FREE of charge but we are asking for a donation on the door.
Come along for a fun evening and help support the group.
AUGUST 23
Sonrisa Arts secure Arts Council Funding for Research & Development
of new show for young children & families
We are over the moon to announce that we have been successful in getting funding from Arts Council England to support research & development for a brand new show for young children & families over the Autumn.
It's been a year of immense challenges, ups and downs and determination but the hard work has finally paid off for us. We are very excited to be working with Warwickshire Children and Family Centres in Lillington, Leamington, Nuneaton and Bedworth as well as, Edgewick Primary School, in Coventry.
We are also thrilled to be working with a fabulous new producer and an incredible team of performers and designers. We will be spending time in the studio, as well as out in the community working closely to co-create with young children and families. Through dance, music, sonic explorations and humour we will explore the theme of darkness, it's importance and our relationship to it.
JULY 23
New project in partnership with Arts Uplift:
Rewind:1970's - stories & memories of a generation through music and dance
We've teamed up with Warwickshire based organisation, Arts Uplift to deliver an exciting new project across Coventry and Warwickshire. Thanks to funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund, The Postcode Lottery and Barchester Charitable Foundation we are working with older vulnerable adults in 6 areas of Coventry and Warwickshire.
Kath and Ant have been delivering dance, music and reminiscence workshops in care homes, sheltered housing and at Age UK Friendship groups, where they have been collecting stories, anecdotes and memories from people who lived through the 1970's. We have had a wonderful time with singing, dancing and laughter in abundance. Our workshop participants told us,
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“It was fun, loved the people’s inclusion and I loved the music” and
“great fun, lovely to reminisce and share memories, please come back”
All of the fascinating and evocative stories and memories we have collected are now being collated into a beautiful dementia friendly 1970's scrapbook which will soon be widely available as a legacy of the project and to preserve the heritage of the 1970's. We're also using the stories and memories as a basis to make Rewind:1970's into a touring show, which will tour to community locations in Coventry and Warwickshire, including to the places we delivered the workshops, in late Sept 23 (watch this space for dates coming soon).
JUNE 23
North Warwickshire Live Well & Dance with Parkinsons classes up and running
Sonrisa Arts Director, Kath has been working with People Dancing to deliver Live Well and Dance with Parkinsons classes over the last year. Two successful classes were launched in Nuneaton and Coleshill, quickly filling up and proving the huge demand for dance for people living with Parkinsons. Whilst Nuneaton continued to run full with a waiting list, Coleshill took a pause in March as we needed time to raise more funds to support the group. In partnership with People Dancing, Sonrisa Arts has now taken over the running of both classes and we have secured funding from Awards for All to support both classes to continue, starting again on 3rd August.
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The Nuneaton group were also thrilled to be invited to the People Dancing Summer School to be a part of the Live Well and Dance with Parkinsons training programme so that delegates could experience a 'real class with real participants'. Everyone had a wonderful time in Leicester and we were so pleased that we got to share this very special group with other practitioners.
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Check our Mature Movers page for more info and how to book onto classes.