Help us ensure that we can continue during and after Covid-19.
We want to share the innate power of dance with as many people as possible. We witness first hand how dance can be transformative, how it brings people together, improves how people feel physically and mentally and how it helps everyone to have their own creative voice.
We are now dealing with the very real possibility of folding
Like most arts organisations our work came to a stand-still mid-March due to Covid-19. This impacted performances, classes and our Dance & Parkinson’s programme. It also impacted future planned work as all programming was suspended and submitted grant applications are no longer being considered. Because we have no premises we are not eligible for business rate relief and our application to Arts Council Relief fund was unsuccessful.
We are now facing the very real prospect of closure. Despite our business model enabling us to keep all our overheads low, the costs of running a company with no cash flow makes the future bleak. The work makes a real difference to people's lives and we are seeking emergency support to continue at this unprecedented time.
Donations will go towards enabling us to continue. The emergency funding will allow us to cover essential costs whilst enabling us to stay connected to our groups, especially the most vulnerable, who have been particularly affected by Covid-19 through social isolation. We want to continue to find ways to engage with our participants safely as quickly as possible to ensure the negative impacts of isolation can be supported and improved.
Most importantly funding will support a cultural service for people whom need it most within our community.
Our Story
In 2010, as two freelance dance artists, our ambition was to develop dance experiences for those who might not otherwise have access. Fast forward to 2020 and our mission hasn't changed, we are just as focused and passionate about finding the best ways to give more people opportunities to move, create and heal through dance. We now have an established track record for leading innovative projects with many different groups with a wide range of abilities; from early years to university settings, to day-care centres to residential care-homes.
Helen Gould and George Adams, Dance Artists and Co-Directors of LPM Dance. They trained professionally at Bird College and Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance respectively. Both live in Lancaster, Helen with her partner and 2 young children, George with his partner and dog Poppy. The company is led by Helen and George and engages a freelance team.
We'd like to tell you about a selection of our work....
Dance and Parkinson's 'oop North
Our successful Dance and Parkinson’s oop North programme is now established in four towns in Lancashire where there previously was no specialist classes. Delivered by a small team of highly-experienced artists, dance helps ease some of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease whilst supporting overall well being. The highly popular sessions provide exercise, arts, and companionship for people living with Parkinson’s Disease and their family.
“[I feel] fantastic after class” says Peter. Craig explains that dance enables him to find “a new way to express myself in a safe, friendly atmosphere”and that “becoming more fluid in my movement is joyous”. These pictures are taken at our Preston class which is led by Mel Brierley and takes place at UCLan Dance.
Spectacles by the Sea
Last year we created Spectacles by the Sea a bespoke new dance workshop/performance with live music for people living in care-homes. We worked with Deco Publique and The Sands Carehome in Morecambe to develop an experience that was inspired by our conversations with residents. This person centred spectacle received overwhelmingly positive comments. We are really keen to develop the work for more care-homes and day-centres in our local community and beyond.
IF - Inclusive Dance Festival
With a rich programme happening in different contexts, often in collaboration with other highly skilled specialist artists, we became excited about the prospect of bringing different dance communities and professionals together. What 'IF' we help make connections between projects, participants, artists, health professionals, students etc, what could happen?! Bringing together areas of Dance & Dementia, early years movement & child development, dance & disability, integrated practice, integrated performance and, dance & Parkinson's IF became a flagship project for us. Please take a look at the video link to get a flavour of the festival. IF 2020 was due to take place in May 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid-19.
This project was supported by Lancaster Arts.
Partnership work
We work regularly with Lisa Simpson Inclusive Dance, a disability led dance company. This is one of a number of small dance companies and independent artists we support with fundraising, project management, or mentoring. We project managed Lisa's recent project Migratory which saw Lisa realise her ambition to develop her first piece of choreography work with a company of non-disabled dancers.
Neil Price and Adam Sloan are both professional dancers with Indepen-dance, an award winning dance company for disabled and non-disabled dancers based in Glasgow. George works with both dancers who have a learning disability regularly as mentor. In 2016 Adam was awarded the RSA fellowship and Neil Price was awarded best dance performer from Sunday Herald Culture Award 2017. Adam and Neil were part of the collaborative team for Oracle, our new touring show.
Community Classes
RetroSpective is one of our community dance groups. RetroSpective is made up of local mature dancers who are interested in making work for performances. The group provides a fun, social activity with creative purpose. We've enjoyed performing at many community events and regional platforms.
Supporting other artists
We also run a successful workshops which engage dancers from across the region. Weekly open sessions bring professional artists together for vital regular practice . Contributions from these session are put towards a termly residence day with a guest artists. This means we can keep costs as low as possible for freelancers and keep classes as accessible as possible. Below is a picture following our recent training day with Lewis Wilkins. Working with others is key to what we do. We are leaders in inclusivity advocation collaboration with people from diverse social groups. We believe this enriches our practice helping us find innovative new approaches to projects whilst learning more about the benefits of dance for the people within the communities we work with. LPM provides employment for other freelance artists. Last year we engaged 23 artists in our project work and we continue to grow our pool of trained professionals.
Performances
Over the last 10 years we have created professional performance works for a wide variety of settings. Our performance projects are fun and accessible. They have engaged audiences who might not usually watch dance. Below you can see some a selection of quite different projects.
Oracle: A dance theatre show that tells your fortune. Developed in 2019, this show with two performers was due to tour festivals in 2020.
You et Vous: Integrance.
You et Vous, a new integrated performance by George Adams was a European Programme between for integrated dance companies; StopGap Dance Company (UK), Indepen-Dance (UK), MicaDanses (FR) and Platform-K (BE). It focussed on strengthening EU artistic collaboration: sharing and developing knowledge and expertise between each other, promoting integration and cultural development, improving artistic skills and so providing high quality performances. The common theme of Integrance involved dancers with different abilities, cultures, ages and nationalities.
The Charnock and Lythom Dances. A promenade performance made for Astley Hall in Chorley. The piece tol the true story of two marriages in the 16th and 18th centuries. The show was created with students from Albany Academy and a cast of professional dancers.
Xtractor: A interactive dance performance on a cherry picker! The participatory show is inspired by reality talent shows.
Cabinet of Curiosities: An ethereal journey from dawn 'til dusk. A playful dance theatre show exploring relationships and identity. Over the development of this show we worked with students from Accrington Academy, in partnership with Accrington library to create a curtain raiser. Both shows were designed for unconventional venues.
Please help...
And so now it is up to us to write the next chapter of our story. We are reaching out to our community and beyond to help us survive the far reaching impact of Covid-19 and be able to continue to offer our unique talents to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Please consider making a donation to support LPM dance and share our story in your networks. We are a small company with ambition, heart and a desire to create health and happiness through dance, and with your help we can continue to do big things. Thank you.