Birmingham Dance Network
CORDINATOR
What You Need To know (WYNTK) was a programme for young dancers aged 18-25 years old in the early stages of their careers. And started on November 2022- March 2023, the workshops delivered covered topics such as:
How to work with a producer - Mark Mallabone
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How to make a showreel - Dan Lukehurst
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Contracts get a grip - Lottie Stables and Ian Bayes from Equity
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Ethical practice for choreographers - Karen Wood and Rosa Cisneros
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Funding applications tips and tricks - Ash Bowmott The Uncultured
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Inclusivity in the studio delivered by Rebecca Randall and Maiya Leeks
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Understanding your tax return - Cathy Waller
The sessions gave the participants, great knowledge, context and information which will support them with their future careers.
Administration
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Designing and producing the student work booklet and resources
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Collating all the details of the program and producing a schedule
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Scheduling the program and periodically updating it and informing the team and the students
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Building relationships and networking
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Collaborative working with local schools and community organisations
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Presentations
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All the other finer details
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Risk assessments,
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Problem solver
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Comms
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Strategic planning
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Evaluation of the programme
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Lots of patience, being very flexible and adaptable
Engagement
Once the proposed images and ideas were compiled, they needed to be presented to and approved by local community groups and leaders. This was done to ensure they would not cause offence to anyone and that they truly symbolised the community. Some images came into play purely by chance or accident such as the image of the Muslim girl on a skateboard, Bunny saw her skate boarding in George's Park and he went up to her parents and explained to them about the project and asked if he could take photos of the young girl whilst she skated on the board. During the process of it being painted many women who walked past were glad to see an image that represented something positive about them, stating how inspiring it was to young women in the area. While Bunny was working on the image a nurse called Joanna who lives locally spoke to him and told Bunny her story about being a nurse in the NHS, after emigrating from Ghana in the late 50's. She said she would bring Bunny some photos and she did the next day luckily I was there to witness this, she then became one of the features of the last mural which Bunny would paint, the NHS wall.
As part of community engagement for the project I facilitated introductions with Bunny and the Punch team with local schools, community organisations and community leaders in Lozells to make the community aware of the project. From this Bunny was able to connect with organisations such as Aspire and Succeed, Friends of Georges Park and Cllr Waseem Zaffer.
It was very important to continue communication with the community groups and local businesses throughout the whole process, who would benefit from the journey and process, to gain their support for the arts trails and get the word out across the ward as to what was happening.
