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Sue Blackwell is a Trustee at DanceSyndrome and co-founded the charity with her daughter Jen in 2009. The charity was started because Jen, who happens to have Down’s syndrome, was unable to find suitable dance training for a person with a learning disability and many other people were in the same situation. Sue has been there every step of the way as DanceSyndrome has developed and grown and she is incredibly proud of what the charity has achieved in recent years.

 

Sue wrote the following feedback in response to DanceSyndrome’s second performance of “Orbit” at The Met, Bury on Monday 23rd January:

 

I’m just back from the second performance of Orbit, DanceSyndrome’s Arts Council funded project and wanted to share my thoughts with you.

 

I’m no dancer, but it’s amazing in so many ways, not least the way that it has each and every member of the audience mesmerised and engaged in the ebb and flo of the action, from calm to energetic to dynamic or reflective. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop, such was the engagement of every member of the diverse audience.  It was interesting that over half the audience had learning disabilities and all were bound up in the spell of the dance so at no time was I aware of a rustle or sound or movement either voluntary or involuntary.

 

Orbit has evolved so much since it premiered in November, it’s almost a different piece.  The complexity, the intricacy and connections between every dancer are yet more amazing, more personal, more committed and confident.  The dancers adapted perfectly to the different space, constraining movements where necessary and showing their ability to be adaptable and professional dancers.

 

So, very, very many thanks to all the dancers.

 

Through their actions these guys are living proof of their right to be treated as equal citizens and afforded opportunities in the same way the rest of the population takes for granted.  There are not lesser mortals, just different with differing needs and abilities from which all in society can learn, benefit and embrace.  Together the dancers are demonstrably one organic body each entitled to be an individual but equally to converse with any number of others, and always coming together at the end as one complete whole.

 

To Sophie Tickle, our incredible Lead Artist, I must say this: You are achieving wonders, more than any training, college course, counselling, therapy will ever deliver.

 

I would love to find a way to portray the enormity of this journey.  It is being filmed, and we are looking forward to having some great quality footage that we can share, but that in itself will never convey the atmosphere and the focus that every dancer brings to their performance in that moment.  We now need more people to see our work and to understand the power in what we do. Our next challenge is to make DanceSyndrome more visible and to start performing at more high profile events – our dancers have proven they are more than capable of achieving this!

 

The final performance of Orbit is taking place at St Helens Library on Friday 3rd February and tickets are available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dancesyndrome-orbit-tickets-27931400571

 

 

Peter is a volunteer Dance Leader with DanceSyndrome and has recently taken on an administration role too, helping with our social media, collating research data and helping around the office. He has been heavily involved with DanceSyndrome since the very early days and he tries to join in with all aspects of our work, so we thought he was the perfect person to write a regular blog for DanceSyndrome! You can find out more about Peter in his case study https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/peters-story/

 

Here is Peter’s blog about his activity with DanceSyndrome in November.

 

18^th November 2016

I travelled to Preston to the practice for the Orbit show that night.  We rehearsed it 5 times. Then it come to show time, we had 41 people come and watch us! When we had finished the performance everyone was saying how wonderful and professional it was. We were all tired and in high spirits after the performance.

 

Image: Peter (right) performing a trio piece with David Darcy (centre) and David Corr (left) at the Preston performance of Orbit. Thank you to Simon Rich for the image.

 

Here are some of the great feedback we got about the show:

 

Wow the Premier performance of #Orbit by @DanceSyndrome tonight was totally magic! next performance details https://t.co/5SGZUS74hB

— Jane Fox (@Fired4u) November 18, 2016

 

https://twitter.com/DIsabilityNW/status/799720794335092736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

 

22^nd November 2016

I travelled down to Preston to run the Dance by Example training course with Sophie.  We did a few exercises, one with a chair and a scarf and the other was a museum exercise which worked well with the group. Then I got my train back to go and do my social night,  where I DJ.

 

23^rd November 2016

I travel to Preston to do our dance development day. It was a relaxing session because we work very hard on the Orbit show.

 

29^th November 2016

I travel down to Preston to run the Dance by Example training course. We did some group work and we recapped everything we covered in the last couple of months.

 

If you didn’t make it to the Preston performance of Orbit, there are more shows coming in the new year. Click here for more details about how to get tickets. If you would like a taste of what the show is like, visit our YouTube channel for some brief clips. 

Sue Blackwell is a Trustee at DanceSyndrome and co-founded the charity with her daughter Jen in 2009. The charity was started because Jen, who happens to have Down’s syndrome, was unable to find suitable dance training for a person with a learning disability and many other people were in the same situation. Sue has been there every step of the way as DanceSyndrome has developed and grown and she is incredibly proud of what the charity has achieved in recent years.

 

Sue wrote the following feedback in response to the premier performance of DanceSyndrome’s Orbit show on Friday 18th November:

 

“Last Friday was yet another step along an increasingly and ever broadening road leading to our rosy future when the world begins to understand the enormity of this purposeful journey.

 

“I have seen DanceSyndrome perform many times, but on each and every occasion I am in endless admiration for the enormous progress made since the previous performance. Every single dancer is incredibly committed and works so, so diligently to create the interwoven, mind blowing art which they are making their own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Images: Left -Dancers perform the piece “Passing Through #2”; Right – Dancers perform the piece “Ordinary Curve”)

 

“The dancers’ focus is almost palpable and has the audience entranced, probably wishing, like me that the trancelike state would just continue, continue, continue – it pulls the audience in, making them a part of the whole and pushing any other concerns in our personal lives to the back of our consciousness, making us totally engaged and absorbed in the present.

 

“‘Thank you’ cannot do justice to my sentiments, but none the less thank you from the bottom of my heart to Sophie (DanceSyndrome’s Lead Artist) and the dancers. They are creating magic, a magic which the world needs to recognise, embrace, celebrate and support. I hope that the dancers are aware of the incredible impact that they are having and the respect that we feel for each and every one of them.”

 

If you would like to witness the power of Orbit for yourself, there are more shows taking place in January and February. More information can be found in the News section of our website.

Peter is a volunteer Dance Leader with DanceSyndrome and has recently taken on an administration role too, helping with our social media, collating research data and helping around the office. He has been heavily involved with DanceSyndrome since the very early days and he tries to join in with all aspects of our work, so we thought he was the perfect person to write a regular blog for DanceSyndrome! You can find out more about Peter in his case study https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/peters-story/

 

October has been a very busy month for Peter as DanceSyndrome prepared for the first performance of Orbit, a series of performances based on our relationship to nature and the solar system. If you would like to know more about Orbit, you can read about it in the News section of our website.

 

3^rd October 2016

I travelled down to Preston to have a meeting with Sophie about the dance by example training course which starts on the 4^th October and then me and David Darcy and David Corr started to make our trio piece for our new performance piece called Orbit it is about nature and how we interact with it our life.

 

4^th October 2016

I travelled down on the train to Preston to run the dance by example training course with Sophie so dancesyndrome can train more dance leaders. We started with some name games and a focus game so we can get to the know the trainee’s names and the they filled in some paper work then Sophie have a talk with each of the trainee one by one so we can help them in the course.

 

5^th October 2016

I travelled on the train to Preston to start making the full cast piece for the orbit piece. We all had to make a solo dance up from work we come up with from a piece of music so I made mine from the words butterfly’s, angels, yoga and spiritual. Then we put our solo dances in to duets then Sophie start to put the beginning of the piece together.

6^th October 2016

I travelled on the train to Preston to help Sophie and Becky to do a mass participation dance at the Act of Kindness Day at Uclan. We did some high energy routines and the fun bit was when the Act of Kindness lion joined in. We did some songs inside and some songs outside and it was a nice sunny day with a light breeze.

Photo of Act of Kindness Lion courtesy of Sarah Berry on Twitter

 

10^th October 2016

I travelled down to the DanceSyndrome office to start helping Dawn and Sarah with little jobs and get to see some nice country side from the train and different train stations I not seen before.

 

14^th October 2016

I travel down to Manchester to start 4 days of work with a choreographer called Aya Kabayashi from London for our obit performance. We did the 1^st day in Nuffield Health gym at the Printworks. We did some exercises on how to mobilized our bodies like we are made of oil and our heads and tail bone in dance and how to lead with a body part.

 

15^th October 2016

I got the tram to Sale with Pauline, Christine and Aya to do the 2^nd day of dancing at the Waterside Art Centre. We started to do some duet work about how to do the duets with purpose and meaning to make them stronger. Then Aya helped me to stretch out with my tense shoulders and gave me some advice how to release the tension in my shoulders. When we had finished the 2^nd day we all got the tram back to Manchester.

 

16^th October 2016

I met Pauline and Christine at Piccadilly train station and got on the train to Preston and then got a taxi to the Media Factory at Uclan to start the 3^rd day with Aya. We recapped the last 2 days and added a bit more to the Orbit piece of work. Then me and David Darcy tried getting pulled around the dance studio on the back of Jodie’s wheelchair. Then we did some army crawling on the floor then when we all had finished the day Sophie drop me, Pauline, Christine and Aya back to Preston train station to get the train back to Manchester.

 

17^th October 2016

I travel to Manchester for the last day with Aya so we can put section 1 and section 2 altogether. We practiced it a couple of times then filmed it so we can watch it back when Aya goes back to London. Then I quickly get down stairs to watch the Olympics and Paralympic parade. It was cool to see the tiger at the front of the parade holding a baton of fire. When all the athletes and Paralympic athletes went past it moved me just because is showed me what a disabled person can achieve when you put the hard work in and it was a nice way to finish the 4 days with Aya.

Photo of the Olympic lion taken by Peter.

 

24^th October 2016

I travelled to Preston to practice the trio with the 2 Davids. We worked with props and added a bit more to the trio to pull it all together. We started putting a piece of music to the trio piece, plus started making an 8 count sequence.

 

25th October 2016

I got the train to Preston to help Sophie to run the DBE training course. We started to use words to make a short sequences and dynamics to make them stand out. When we had finished I got the train back to Manchester to go and do my social night where I am the DJ at Top Club Little Hulton.

 

26th October 2016

I travelled down to Preston to help Sophie to build a flat pack bench for our Orbit show, while she ran the workshop with Jodie. I started to make the bench at 10am and finish the bench at 12pm, then I had some lunch. After I had a break I started to go over the duet I made with Jodie and all the other pieces plus the new piece we made with Aya.

 

29^th October 2016

I travelled down to London with Jen and Sophie  to do a workshop called Danzability in Greenwich. We talked about DanceSyndrome and did some fun games. When we finished we got the train back to Wigan North Western – it was a long day of travelling.

 

31st October 2016

I went down to Preston to practice the trio and continue with the props. This time we had the bench and newspapers we are using in the Orbit show then we started to add stuff to the end of the trio piece.

 

Join Peter next time to find out how the Orbit premier performance went! You can keep up to date with DanceSyndrome news as it happens on Facebook and Twitter.