DOODLE DANCE – THE WORKSHOPProject
This project researched the development and delivery of a creative workshop based on Anatomical’s show ‘The Doodle Dance Show’ https://thedoodledanceshow.com/. Set around an enormous piece of paper, the participants explored elements of the company’s artistic practice through drawing, storytelling and dance. This practice centres around creating an environment that encourages connection through collective play, allowing participants to inhabit a carefully curated imaginative space with others. Anatomical (Anna Williams and Tom Roden) usually do this through the framework of a narrative piece of theatre. We wanted to explore how to create an experience with these principles but without the theatrical elements. If we set up a more open space with time for discussion, reflection but including the ‘doing’ elements, what value/understanding might we gain as participants and artists and could this lead to further presentations of our ideas in different formats?
During this workshop, we shared our principles around inclusion and accessibility – from the practical set up of the space that encourages tolerance to the devising and presentation of artistic content – how the process of creating (in this case moving and drawing) collectively is a joyous one. Anatomical’s work has played in venues as diverse as the Royal Opera House to youth clubs to former retail spaces on high streets. We discussed our experience of adapting our work to such spaces – and what we continue to learn about the value of social engagement through this work. We talked about our practice whilst the participants drew and moved – the lecture happened alongside the doing.
Findings
The workshop was attended by seasoned practitioners, HE lecturers and NSCD students. The openness of the workshop offer seemed to allow people to meet the ideas in a reflective and thoughtful way which was supported by the practical participation. The creative space we constructed allowed each participant to find a relevance within their own experience and they could reflect from their individual perspective. There were many suggestions as to how this work could be applied to different settings e.g. one participant wanted this experience as a creative practice for their dance students, another saw how valuable this workshop could be to teenagers in supporting their mental health. A musician reflected on how they had not been in a space that encouraged creative play for a long time despite being in a creative profession. The dance students enjoyed the communal and cross generational aspect to the creative space and how it reminded them how creative it can be to fail in a supportive environment.
It seems the environment, the invitation and the activities themselves hold significant value without the frame of the narrative show. We provided a space for creative thinking, communal bonding, ideas exchange, problem solving and play. This workshop helped us understand the potential impact this work could have when adapted to different community settings and groups of people.
