Candoco UK Inclusive Dance Company Back in Tbilisi with 2nd Training
The British Council, in partnership with the Tbilisi Kote Marjanishvili State Drama Theater, organized the second series of a three-day inclusive dance workshop led by the internationally acclaimed Candoco Dance Company from the UK. Candoco’s workshop, held 18 to 20 April, was called Dance Lab and was designed for dancers interested in inclusive dance.
The first training was conducted in autumn 2017.
Dance Labs are part of the British Council’s ‘Culture&Development: Unlimited’ program, with the Marjanishvili Theater as the program partner in Georgia. The aim of the program is to promote and develop inclusive arts by sharing the UK experience by involving people with disabilities in the arts and by supporting the creation of an accessible environment for them.
Jemima Hoadley and Welly O'Brien, Candoco dancers, shared their expertise with a mixed group of disabled and non-disabled participants of the Dance Lab, encouraging them to take the unique opportunity to interact, take risks, experiment, test new ideas and share practice.
"We want dancers to be creative and active and to become comfortable trying new and unfamiliar things," Hoadley said. "We want to encourage them to find the capacity to be creative to use all of their movements. We show them how they can use the space and how to design movements in the space in order to move with various dynamics, movement efforts and quality. we also try to make movements authentic and as teachers we should develop trust, responsibility and risk-taking between dancers.
Ketevan Zazanashvili, a professional dancer who has been supported by the British Council Georgia in her continued professional development once again assisted the British trainers in the planning and delivery of the Lab.
"We sent Keti to the Stopgap for the second UK inclusive dance company last September. We also gave Keti the opportunity to share her experiences with the participants of international conferences in Kiev and Manchester," said Maia Darchia of the British Council in Georgia. "We are proud with Keti’s latest achievement - the first ever Georgian inclusive show premiered on 14 April."
As Keti stated in her comments and posts, the establishment of the inclusive dance company and creation of the first performance was made possible thanks to the knowledge and experience she gained through the British Council’s Culture & Development: Unlimited program.
Training sessions by the UK inclusive dance company organized by the British Council will help the newly established Georgian inclusive dance company as well as all disabled and non-disabled participants to meet, establish new relationships and plan new cooperation.