Growing up in Bedfordshire, I always felt like there were never any opportunities, facilities or access to dance. I also felt like there was no one to look to or a figure advocating for the arts in the area. Because of this, I felt like I needed to take classes and venture outside of the county to access opportunities. For a really long time, I had taken work in other areas, cities and regions while still remaining in and commuting from Bedfordshire all because I felt like there was nothing around me.
As amazing as these experiences outside of my base have been and continue to be, about two years ago something was calling me to investigate exactly who and what is around me because there had to be someone and that I needed to find out. It was less about securing work in the area and more about finding people to connect with as the freelance world can be a very lonely place and sometimes having a community of people who understand your world makes you realise you shouldn’t navigate everything alone.
Through my search, I did in fact connect with individuals, companies, groups creating some really great work and projects. In and amongst all of this, I found and met Carrie Washington of BEEE-Creative a small arts charity working across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire who connect artists, practitioners and cross-sector partners to optimise opportunities for people to access and benefit from dance. Then, through Carrie, I was introduced to Louise White of Dacorum Community Dance. Both were so kind and supportive and were willing to listen and offer advice.
I ended up covering a few classes here and there for Carrie and Louise for some of their lovely participatory work, but realised that I felt in some ways unprepared to work with community groups, over 60’s and inclusive groups.
I love learning and always seek out any additional training, classes, workshops etc. I remember asking about any training Louise had done or could recommend. She had previously attended the People Dancing Summer Intensive and had said the workshops and learning were always brilliant. I said I’d look into it as I had heard of People Dancing and the intensive but had never thought it was for me. I wasn’t sure about the intensive nature of it and couldn’t comfortably afford to go to the training workshops as well as pay for travel and accommodation as it takes place in Leicester.
A few hours later, on the same day, Louise emailed me that People Dancing had announced the Mel Horwood Bursary for dance artists in the East of England region. Louise encouraged me to apply as she thought it might give me funded access to training courses and workshops as well as being compensated for my time to be there and have travel and accommodation paid for too!
I applied a little nervously as, actually, it was my first ever funding/bursary application! I wrote what I would like to use the bursary for: to attend two in-person workshops at the People Dancing Intensive and one online course on the People Dancing website. I also had to write a budget and explained what I would gain from the experience. For me, it was about continuing to educate and challenge myself, apply and bring back what I learn from the intensive to companies and communities I work for and with, explore new avenues of work and connect to other like-minded artists and practitioners. I sent off the application and hoped for the best.
"...the freelance world can be a very lonely place..."
When I read the words by email ‘your application has been successful’… my reaction was, in a word: ”AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I felt so proud of myself and had such a feeling of accomplishment to be one of two recipients of the bursary.
So, Wednesday 23rd July comes around and I walk into the PACE building at De Montfort University to be greeted by the staff welcoming and congratulating me. I joined in on the optional morning warm up by DMU lecturer, Pete Shenton, which was great to have a little morning move before entering into my first workshop, Introduction to Dance with Older People with Diane Amans.
I had so much fun in this workshop! Diane emphasized dance for older people should be fun, engaging and creative. A big revelation in this workshop for me was the use of props. I never would have thought to use props such as scarves, feathers, tea lights with older people as this was something I had only really associated with younger people.
The next day’s workshop was Inclusive Practice with SLIDE. Again, so much fun! I really enjoyed SLIDE’s method and approach with the use of games to create work. I noticed that I’m a really playful dancer, so using games in some way unleashed my inner child and was very useful when thinking about incorporating these into my own work. I came away really inspired from both workshops.
I’m so grateful for this experience and would really encourage anyone to apply for the bursary – even if like me it’s your first time! You never know and, for example, this experience has given me the courage to make my first Arts Council England application. Another thing I would encourage, is to connect and support other artists around you as this should be an industry where we’re here and cheer for each other and work together to create impact and change little by little in our own parts of the world.
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Photo credits: Top and bottom images - People Dancing Summer Intensive 2025. Photographer: Andrew Moore. Second image - Credit: Kelly Horne.