The Telford Culture Zone is now in Year 3!

The Telford Culture Zone is one of three Hubs in England, initiated by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), funded by Arts Council England on behalf of DCMS and managed in partnership with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).  The Telford Culture Zone is a partnership between The Birmingham Rep, DanceXchange, CBSO, Shropshire Archives, Telford and Wrekin Libraries, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (IGMT), and sixteen Telford schools. The Zone’s aim is to create more vibrant and cohesive cultural offers through providing wider cultural experiences.

Partners
In addition to DanceXchange, the following partners form the Telford Culture Zone:

Shropshire Archives
Shropshire County Council // Castle Gates // Shrewsbury
T: +44 (0) 1743 255350
www.shropshire.gov.uk/archives.nsf

Telford and Wrekin Libraries
Telford Library // St Quentin Gate // Telford // Shropshire // TF3 4JG
www.telford.gov.uk

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
www.ironbridge.org.uk

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
CBSO Centre // Berkley Street // Birmingham // B1 2LF
www.cbso.co.uk

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Centenary Square // Broad Street // Birmingham // B1 2EP
www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

Dance Classes for Adults and Teens in Telford !!!

Mondays
Contemporary Dance
Under 18s 4.30pm-5.30pm
Beginners // £3.00 per session
18 + 5.30pm-6.30pm
Beginners // £4.00 per session

Thursdays
Street/Hip Hop Dance
Under 18s 4.30pm-5.30pm
Beginners // £3.00 per session
18 + 5.45pm-6.45pm
Beginners // £4.00 per session

Where: Dance Studio at Hadley Learning Community,
Waterloo Road, Hadley, Telford, Shropshire ,TF1 5NU
How to book: Just show up and pay on the day.
Inquiries E: liisa.spink@dancexchange.org.uk // T: 0121 689 3191
What to wear: Something comfortable that you can move in, bare feet for Contemporary and
trainers or dance shoes for Street Dance

Past Projects

Bare Bones
DanceXchange’s very own dance company Bare Bones took up residency in Telford during a week in May 2006.  Various members of the company delivered workshops at Wrockwardine Wood Arts College, Abraham Darby Arts College, and Burton Borough Arts College.  Throughout the week they taught more than 200 secondary school students.  For many of the students this was their first experience with contemporary dance.  In addition to the workshops, Bare Bones also performed a matinee and evening performance of their critically acclaimed The 5 Man Show at Wrockwardine Wood Arts College.

Raising the Roof Roadshows
Over two weekends in May 2006, Key Stage 2 students from all the Telford Culture Zone schools were invited to an exciting day of Bollywood and Street Dance workshops and performances.  The Bollywood workshop was led by Hina Chavda and the Street Dance by Bboys Attic.  The goal of these days was encourage newcomers to both see and participate in dance, and it was an overwhelming success. 

Reading/Dancing Mission!
DanceXchange Shropshire DAiR (Dance Artist in Residence) Emma Goodwin, and Telford and Wrekin librarian Jane Baker delivered a series of groundbreaking workshops in the 2006 summer term.  The workshops combined elements of reading and dancing based around the Library’s Summer Reading Challenge, Spying Mission!  A resource pack of information will be published here in the coming months.

City of Fires
City of Fires is a collaborative project between DanceXchange, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, CBSO, Shropshire Archives, and Telford and Wrekin Libraries.  The project involves both school based workshops and a large-scale performance.  The workshops are an innovative blend of history, science and dance co-led by a member of the museum and a dance artist.  The performance was a cross-generational piece involving students of all ages from the Telford Culture Zone, staff and teachers, and professional dancers.  The performance included newly composed music by Barry Russell and featured new choreography by Lisi Perry.  The performance took place on 5 July 2007.  Please click on the video below to see a short film about the project.

Workshops
During Year 2 every school in the Telford Culture Zone was able to experience dance workshops in various styles.  In addition, teachers from each school had the opportunity to take part in Continuing Professional Development days – these gave them a basic understanding of the dance styles taught, and the skills to incorporate them into their own classes. To access the inset packs, please contact Liisa Spink (contact details below) to request a copy.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Day
In the 2007 summer term DanceXchange offered a CPD Day for teachers in the Hub at its studios in Birmingham Hippodrome complex.  This day focused on the Telford Industry Project and the Reading/Dancing Mission.  The experience and information gathered from these two pioneering projects drove the main focus of the day – teachers using dance workshops to support their national curriculum classes.  The day was an enormous success, and many of the teachers have incorporated the skills they learnt into their own teaching.  To access the inset packs, please contact Liisa Spink (contact details below) to request a copy.

Future Projects

DanSense
Throughout the 2007/08 School calendar, DanceXchange will be pioneering a new way of teaching the senses to primary schools.  The project will incorporate different dance workshops as well as a new commission by Enrique Cabrera from Aracaladanza.  Each of the classes involved will have a trip to Birmingham to see this new commission, based on the suggestions of Head Teachers during our Year 3 review.  A Gifted and Talented session will also take place for secondary school students, mixing sound beam technology and dance sessions to explore the senses as a choreographic impetus.

A Troy Story
DanceXchange is teaming up with the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust to deliver a 10 week project based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum topic of Greek Civilisation.  Three sessions will be delivered by IGMT, building towards an exhibition of Greek artefacts.  One session will involve going down to the British Museum and undertaking specific tasks based on the project.  The final sessions will be with a dance artist, leading to a performance from each of the classes based on the Trojan Story.

Afterschool Dance Project
The Adult & Children's Community Dance Classes Project aims to establish a varied programme of community dance classes in Telford. The project works in partnership with primary and secondary schools to provide the right training and support for Telford based dance teachers.  By pairing up local teachers with established community dance artists, and offering a mentoring scheme, we hope that the local dance teachers will feel confident in delivering a programme of community dance classes or after school dance classes at their school or college. So far the project has established a programme of community dance classes for adults and teenagers in Contemporary and Street Dance at Wrockwadine Wood Arts College and after school dance clubs at Redhill Primary and Queenswood Primary.

For more information on classes at Wrockwadine Wood Arts College contact Penny Jolley, life long Learning Coordinator on 01952 388 300.

TCZ Saturday Performance Group
A new youth dance group that meets up every Saturday at Wrockwardine Wood Arts College and devises dances to perform at different events around the West Midlands.  For the Spring and Summer Term, the groups will be able to: work with a video artist to create an improv dance video, enjoy a night of performance at a Telford venue, work with a dance artist from London, and much more.  If you know anyone who would be interested in joining this group, then please contact Liisa Spink (details below).  There are different groups for different ages of students.

Some of the other projects that we have been involved with as part of the TCZ include:  Mythstories with the Telford and Wrekin Libraries, dance workshops based on The Rep’s Mothership, Opera in a Week with the CBSO and the Birmingham Rep, Every Picture Tells a Story with the Telford and Wrekin Libraries, and See Sense with the CBSO, The Rep, and the Shropshire Archives.  For information on any of these projects please contact Liisa Spink.

Reviews & Feedback
Here are some reactions from teachers and children who have taken part in Telford Culture Zone activities:

Raising the Roof Roadshows
“I enjoyed everything so it's hard to choose”  11 year old girl

“I loved the street dancing and Bollywood.  I would like to come again and be one of them.  Thank you from Frankie xxxx”  10 year old boy

“I loved the workshops and performances. I really learned a lot”   9 year old boy

Reading/Dancing Mission
"I loved it so much that I don't want to leave"  6 year old boy

"It was very very big treat"  6 year old girl

“I liked the dance and drama, also I loved it when we heard the stories.  I thought the teachers Emma and Jane were very polite but it must have been hard to calm down the silly boys and people”  7 year old girl

“It has given me ideas on how to make dance lessons more exciting and use different stimuli for dancing”  Teacher, Crudgington Primary

City of Fires
"I have injoyed dacing with are amaginashon" 7 year old boy

"When you did the dance's with us it was fun and amazing" 10 year old girl

“Through working with everyone concerned, her confidence and outlook on life have changed beyond recognition” parent of a student participating in the performance

“The most enjoyable, challenging and inspiring piece of professional development I have ever undertaken.”  Teacher participating

CPD Days
“An excellent day. Lots of ideas to use in school and share with other teachers and introduce and develop with the children”

“This has given me confidence to try lots of new ideas. Looking forward to putting some of these ideas into practice”

“It broadened my mind to stimulus’s that can be used to create movement”

Contact
For more details about the Telford Culture Zone and how to get involved, please email Liisa Spink, Project Manager or call 0121 689 3191.