Waterworld: LPM Dance

Waterworld was a collaborative project with Newfield School and LPM Dance, emerging from a conversation with teachers about how the National Festival of Making could support their creative curriculum, in partnership with Blackburn’s Local Cultural Education Partnership.

Over 8 weeks, students took part in dance workshops that explored a magical and sensory world through movement, music, touch, and play. LPM Dance applied its expertise in inclusive practice to develop a person-centred approach, giving young people ownership over their creative journey and allowing them to realise their own ideas.

Drawing on themes related to water and the environment, the sessions built creative movement and dance skills and linked to the class curriculum for that term.

Students from across the school had the chance to join each session, while a core group attended every week to develop a performance over the 8-week programme.

Designer Katie Duxbury joined the project to create responsive, sensory costumes and props inspired by the theme. These were used to enhance movement possibilities and invoke sensory stimulation.

Teachers were invited to take part in the weekly sessions, developing their confidence and skills in delivering dance within the classroom and allowing them to continue leading creative movement sessions beyond the life of the project.

About LPM Dance

LPM Dance was established by George Adams and Helen Gould in 2011 through a joint ambition to create new dance initiatives for diverse audiences in a wide variety of settings.

As an artist-led organisation, LPM strives to place art, the artist, and the audience at the heart of our work.

They enjoy being responsive to new opportunities, enabling them to enrich and further the understanding of our work in a broad range of contexts.

Website

About Newfield School

Newfield School is a multi-faith school maintained by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council that provides high-quality specialist education for children and young people aged 2 – 19 years.

They pride themselves on meeting the needs of pupils and students who have a wide range of learning needs, including autism, complex medical needs and sensory impairments. 

They achieve this in partnership with families and carers, providing advice and support, and feel this is imperative to a positive learning culture.

Website

Partners and Funders

This project was delivered as part of The Creative Connection. 

The Creative Connection was formed as Blackburn’s Local Cultural Education Partnership or LCEP, and was created in response to the Arts Council England call to action for the arts, culture and education sectors.

The concept aimed to bring organisations together, collectively offering consistent, high-quality art and cultural education for all children and young people. The continued mission of LCEPs is to remove barriers to accessing arts and culture for children, young people and educators alike. 

I think it’s important to bring culture and art into the classroom because creativity is an essential part of being human. It allows us to communicate with each other in different ways, allows us to problem solve and gives further access to a larger education model.

George Adams, LPM Dance

As a teacher, I do feel more confident going forward teaching dance. It was always something that I wasn’t sure about, but now having access to these workshops weekly and speaking to other people who have also accessed them, it feels like it is not as daunting anymore.

Georgie Stephens, Newfield School

Photography by Beatrice Davidson and Emma Colbert-Mooring.

Film by Jake Owen Powell.