Last week was a big week for DanceSyndrome Dance Leader Helen Cherry. She headed to Bristol to work on technical rehearsals for a touring show called Splash! which is a multi-sensory performance event presented by Extraordinary Bodies.
Helen, 29 years old from Merseyside, joined DanceSyndrome in 2017, taking part in our unique Dance By Example leadership training course. She really loved the course and when it came to a close she really wanted to continue working with DanceSyndrome and she joined the weekly sessions in Preston with our performance team. Helen has thrived in our inclusive dance sessions, taking the lead female role “Woman” in our 2018 Edinburgh Fringe piece “Lit aDrift” (pictured left).
Helen, who also dances with DaDaFest, another inclusive arts organisation, is a confident and ambitious dancer and she was keen to audition for Splash! when she heard about it and was thrilled to be offered the role of Flo.
Splash! follows the story of Flo, a young woman, and her grandfather on a ‘shero’s journey’. Lost in a magical watery world full of strange sea creatures and underwater perils, Flo learns to take risks, gains independence and confidence, until she finally finds her way back home.
In an interactive and sonic water world, the story is told through circus, physical theatre, comedy and puppetry. The show will communicate the story through spoken word, poetry, Visual Vernacular, BSL, audio description, sound boxes and audio technology for deaf audience members. An interactive soundscape surrounds the entire performance space, where audience members are seated, so everyone can be fully immersed, surrounded by texture, sound, movement and colour. A real multi-sensory experience!
Helen has been involved in performing art for a long time, having worked with Team Oasis, a dance and drama group in Liverpool for five years from 2005, completing a level 1 qualification in dance at Wirral Met College in 2008 and working as a performer and assistant peer educator at Pilgrim Street Arts Centre in Birkenhead. She has also worked as a TV extra for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, including 15 episodes on Coronation Street (pictured left)!
When she’s not dancing and performing, Helen loves swimming and other fitness activities, going to see live music and even playing the piano and violin. She’s a very busy lady and we feel very lucky to have her involved with DanceSyndrome!
Extraordinary Bodies present new show Splash!
Commissioned by the East Midlands Splash! Consortium and led by The Mighty Creatives.
Find out more here: https://www.extraordinarybodies.org.uk/our-work/splash
