Devised as an interconnected series of work running over two years, Over the Bridges involves Dance United NI partnering with two European dance organisations on the delivery of the following projects.
Exile – Rehearsals & Performance/ March-April 2010
Following an extensive development programme involving nearly 100 young participants from across Northern Ireland, Exile was performed to a public audience at the Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey. The piece was choreographed by Royston Maldoom and facilitated by young choreographers from Northern Ireland, Vienna and Detmold.
International Choreography Course/ June 2010
For professional dance and community artists and practitioners who want to extend or explore their choreographic practice, this five day residential course will held in Clandeboye Courtyard, Bangor, Co.Down, 7th – 11th June 2010. Facilitated by award winning choreographer Tamara McLorg, the course will focus specifically on the artistic challenges that arise when working with community dance groups.
Dance and Intercultural Exchange, Detmold Community Festival/ July 2010
In July 2010 two dance facilitators and ten young people from the Exile project will travel to Detmold, to take part in the Detmold Community Dance Festival.
Dance Training, Detmold, Germany/ Autumn 2010
Three dance facilitators from Northern Ireland will be teamed with the facilitators from Detmold and Vienna and, as small teams, will assist in the delivery of a community dance performance project which will include migrant groups, unemployed young men and young people with physical and cognitive learning difficulties.
Workshops and Rehearsals, Belfast/ Spring 2011
Working with local community groups in Northern Ireland in spring 2011, the dance facilitators from Northern Ireland on the Over the Bridges programme, assisted by local dance volunteers, will begin working together on a large scale community dance performance project. The facilitators will take responsibility for devising, choreographing and delivering the work supported by DUNI. The performance of this work will take place in summer 2011.
Continued Development of
Over the Bridges Project Website
A website was developed in autumn 2009 to act as a point of contact, enabling learning to be shared centrally. The website currently acts as a blog and on-line forum where ideas and experiences can be exchanged by participating artists from the three countries involved. It will be developed to include a background to the project, information on the participating companies, countries and artists and will act as a repository for documentation on the project.