Reflections at Moulsecoomb Place

VDT and Audio Active were invited to take part in the launch event for Cooley‘s work so we adapted a short section of material from our 2020 production In Loco Parentis, to work around the sculpture on Moulsecoomb Lawns. We entered into the event in the spirit of collaboration – to support Cathedral Group, who commissioned Cooley’s epic work 5 years ago, and to show up for East Brighton Trust, whose team worked incredibly hard to host the event.

We also took part to place dance firmly on the map in East and North Brighton and to showcase one of our young performers, Tia, who represents the groups of young people we are currently working with here.

VDT has a long history of working with, and employing, young people in our production work. 17 year old Tia, who performed last night with our brilliant Participation Producer Antonia Grove, is a shining example of a young person who has grown with the company over the past 6 years, taking part in our last 3 touring productions and now studying A-Level Dance in Brighton and attending our regular classes and Sunday intensives at the neighbouring Moulsecoomb Hall.

Our inclusive approach is increasingly encouraging neurodivergent, learning disabled, care-experienced and adopted young people to find their creative voices and to join in our classes.

VDT’s work is about depth of engagement, not always about reach. Our creative process is non-linear, physical, collaborative. Our inclusive practice actively invites and tolerates complexity, so unlike many ‘single narrative’ arts and dance organisations, the different strands of VDT’s work sometimes makes it difficult to define.

In our participation work VDT invites people who wouldn’t ordinarily define themselves as artists, to find a voice and confidence within themselves that nurtures their own creativity and curiosity. This can be transformative.

Our work involves a range of communities and is free to attend. It amplifies the voices and stories of young people and women at risk who may not otherwise be heard, working through a creative process that sits at the intersection of choreography, dance, theatre, text and trauma informed practice.

As well as our young Peoples sessions, we are also currently leading weekly movement sessions with women at Crew Club in Whitehawk ranging from age 74 – 17, with and without their babies and children dancing in the space with us, funded by Sussex Community Foundation We are also leading a weekly workshop with women affected by domestic abuse, in partnership with RISE, at The Skep at Moulsecoomb Place.

Radical intervention within communities takes time. In East Brighton, VDT is developing partnerships, offering quality opportunities and building trust to help shift the status quo. It is slow relational work. It takes persistence. It forces us, as creative practitioners, to presume nothing, to check our privilege, to work consistently and playfully and, most importantly, to keep showing up for the groups we work with here.

Working with East Brighton Trust brings this home to Moulsecoomb Place –  a place of shared values, collaboration and creativity.

As I watched Tia move around Cooley’s work last night, revisiting material  about care-experienced children, moving her way around these beautiful  large stone blocks, on uneven grass, with smoke billowing from torches placed to highlight Cooley’s work, and having rehearsed for only a few hours in the rain, it reminded me how movement connects us, how it can build resilience in young people to make them more sure of themselves and their own capabilities. Moving produces a more embodied, emboldened version of our selves.

Watching Tia dance last night, as a young person whose parents have held onto her though all kinds of challenging life events, so confident, holding her own, whilst also holding a large open space, I thought ‘Tia’s going to be alright’. In Loco Parentis is now part of her creative DNA, part of her journey towards a career in dance, part of her journey towards adulthood.

She’s found a version of herself that she can trust, with dance, and VDT, both playing a part in that. And knowing that makes me want to carry on making a difference, showing up, sharing three decades of work and practice with the next generation of young dancers.

Thanks to Tia and Toni for performing as a part of last night’s event. It was A Place for Reflection indeed.

Photo: Bosie Vincent

Sculpture: Simon Cooley