issue based creative workshop vincent dance theatre

Issue Based Creative Workshops (in education)

Vincent Dance Theatre’s issue based workshops for schools and colleges, offer small groups, class groups, whole year groups or whole schools the opportunity to creatively explore the relevant and current  issues examined in Vincent Dance Theatre’s high quality work.

This is achieved both through staging and viewing long or short form film clips from productions and through VDT’s experienced facilitation of specially developed VDT student centered engagement activities.

 “One of the most thought-provoking experiences that I have seen in a school: our students benefited greatly.”Keith Budge, Head, Bedales School, Hampshire

“It was great watching the 13 year olds slowly submerge themselves in the work at very different levels. The support and open encouragement given to them meant that they all found their way in to the material effortlessly, thank you.”Jamie Wood, director in residence Bedales School

“I wish all our PSHE lessons were like this.Yr 10 Participant, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Brighton

The Focus

These workshops foster an interest and understanding of socially engaged art, creative thinking and some of the vital issues of our time. Outcomes and objectives can be mapped against PSHE as well as Performing Arts, Film, Art, Digital Media & Photography and Speaking, Listening and Writing objectives. The workshops encourage participants to become creative agents, making their own short piece of work, in response to the production or its themes.

Who

All workshops are devised and programmed by VDT and delivered by experienced VDT facilitators (who are DBS checked). Where productions have been developed in collaboration with other artists VDT can offer workshops that include them. For example we have recently developed a workshop package which includes input from rap artist Jon Clark from AudioActive and from spoken word artist Potent Whisper.

Timings

VDT engagement workshops usually take the form of 2 hour sessions. These can be individual experiences or be offered as a series to form part of a whole school day or several days of workshop activity.  Workshop sessions can be delivered once a week or over several weeks. VDT understand the need for workshop times to be flexible to match timetables.

Age Groups

VDT’s issue based creative workshops are largely for secondary school students over the age of 11 but can sometimes be adapted for younger students. VDT can work with large or small groups of students and  are experienced at working with the spaces available in your school or college.

Where

Creative workshops can also be delivered alongside a performance or film installation in a venue but largely they can also be delivered in schools, colleges or other existing community or arts venues.

Fees

A 2-hour workshop is £250+ VAT + travel

A day of activity starts around £350 + VAT + travel

A full installation plus activity over several days starts around £2,000 +VAT + travel

Examples of Recent Workshops

Most recent workshops have been devised in relation to VIRGIN TERRITORY & SHUT DOWN. Both works investigate the pressures, contradictions and confusions of being a  young person in a highly gender stereotyped digital world. They particularly inquire into how digital devices and social media are impacting the social skills, mental health and relationships of young people.

The Norwood School London:

Both SHUT DOWN and VIRGIN TERRITORY film installation were staged and 90 min workshops run throughout 3 days of ART WEEK. Years 8, 9 & 10 were split by gender to see each production and take part in creative and physical workshops. Group drawn life-size sketches of Toxic Masculinity and Instagram girls were used to gather ideas that were then turned into spoken word pieces. Both groups came together at the end of the day to see each other’s work and experience a whole group movement session.

“It was a great idea to split the years by gender, the levels of collaborative, creative, engagement achieved by both girls and boys was amazing. Big thanks to the Vincent Dance Theatre team who’s detailed planning made the whole experience particularly delivery for the staff easy.” Jessie Nicolas Deputy Head The Norwood School, London

 

The Norwood School Art Week 2018

The Connected Hub Brighton:

A regular weekly 1 hour workshop was run over 6 weeks in The Connected Hub a Brighton PRU for Yr 11 boys. Issues around toxic masculinity were discussed and written about resulting in a collaborative piece of spoken word performance that was audio recorded with the young people and made into a short film clip.

“Wow!! What you have put together is amazing! It has been brilliant seeing the boys so engaged. Using the issues and rap to get them to work together on writing and talking about masculinity has really worked.” Rebecca Stadames, The Connected Hub, Brighton

 

The Connected Hub SHUT DOWN workshops

Bedales School Hampshire:

A full staging of VIRGIN TERRITORY film installation in Bedales Olivier Theatre was accompanied by a week-long residency of 2 hour creative workshops. The workshops were bespoke to meet the needs of different school years and departments from Y7 exploring body image for PSHE to A Level Art students doing research. VDT also devised bespoke workshops for Performing Arts students from other local schools and colleges.

 “We are always looking for genuine cross curricular themes for our Fine Art Course, and this installation has all the aspects to generate a depth of conversation and meaning from both a conceptual, artistic, technical point of view for our A-level pupils. It has given them the confidence that complex issues can be treated in a multi-media presentation using technology that they all have access to.”Simon Sharp, Head of Art Bedales School, Hampshire

VIRGIN TERRITORY Bedales School Workshops Nov 2017

Cardinal Newman Catholic School Brighton:

VDT devised a pair of separate 1 hour workshops for year 10 girls boys creatively exploring gender constructs for PSHE. The workshops took place over 2 days in a collapsed timetable with 5 x 1 hour workshops being run a day.

“Wonderful creative workshops today from VDT,  working with all our year 10 students to explore body-image and social media.Christine Mathews Cardinal Newman Catholic School PSHE Lead teacher, Brighton

VIRGIN TERRITORY Enrichment Workshops July 2017

Digital Outcomes

VDT host a Youth Collection of digital outcomes made through or alongside our workshops.

To see our Safeguarding Policy click HERE