Reflections from our Recent Residencies | Autumn 2024
In October 2024, Candoco had the privilege of facilitating three unique transnational residencies: a two-day residency in Norway, a ten-day residency in Hong Kong, and a week-long residency in partnership with the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech. Additionally, we collaborated with Inspire Youth Arts and two of our Candoco Teaching Artists to deliver a week-long residency for a selected group of existing dancers from both mainstream and inclusive dance groups.
These opportunities allowed us to challenge non-inclusive perceptions of contemporary dance, using inclusive dance practices to model our vision of liberatory spaces and to drive cultural and systemic change internationally.
ELEFANTTEATERET, NORWAY
Our Teacher Training in Norway was a two-day workshop at Elefantteateret, a youth and family-focused company based in Stavanger, Norway, founded by Nils Christian Fossdal and Una Dybwik. Elefantteateret is dedicated to presenting high-quality performing arts and music experiences for the youngest audiences and their parents. Through this residency, we really challenged the values that we hold within virtuosity and explored what pedagogical tools provided the means to foster community while supporting skill development, nurturing artistic expression, and equipping dancers with the support on how to navigate challenges both within the studio and beyond. This experience was supported by our Candoco Teaching Artist, Kitty Fedorec. They are an experienced Candoco artist with over a decade of experience in facilitating a wide range of Candoco youth programming, including holding their own research and artistic practice.
Photo credit: Marie Von Krogh.
I got goosebumps hearing how a simple prompt during our discussion led them to completely rethink their practice and approach. It’s inspiring to share a new perspective that many practitioners may not have considered, helping them reframe their thinking and how they approach dance instruction. The personal teaching stories and their openness to explore and create brought me great joy.
Photo credit: Marie Von Krogh.
NO LIMITS, HONG KONG
The ten-day residency in Hong Kong was hosted in preparation for ‘No Limits 2025‘. Established in 2019 by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, ‘No Limits’ celebrates inclusivity and promotes understanding through the creation of accessible performances and events. This residency offered an opportunity to collaborate with both beginner teaching practitioners and established teaching artists, focusing on equipping them with tools and methods to create an inclusive environment. This approach aimed to ensure that both disabled and non-disabled participants could fully engage and benefit from the teacher training sessions as well as develop a broad range of skills. The participants delved into the creation of their own lesson plans, explored co-teaching and peer mentoring, and deeply steeped into experimentation – which allowed us to introduce some of Candoco’s learning principles.
Photo credit: No Limits, Hong Kong.
During my residencies in the United States and Hong Kong, I had the privilege of collaborating with Paulina Porwollik, an experienced dance artist with an extensive record performing and touring internationally.
Photo credit: No Limits, Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, participants also began to consider the elements of their final performance showcase, which will be presented at No Limits 2025. It provided a community and cohort who welcomed Paulina and me with open arms and enabled us to also reflect and provide new experiences to integrate into the learning and participation strand of our company. The residency also allowed us to explore and gain insights into both Western and Eastern approaches to accessibility and cultural understanding. We critically considered various cultural contexts to provide another perspective and layer within our development of articulating Candoco’s teaching practice.
It was also amazing to connect with my translator and artist in his own right, Dominic (what are the odds)! He was so supportive to not only translate but to contextualise the various cultural differences and approaches to dance as a tap dancer himself.
Photo credit: No Limits, Hong Kong.
VIRGINIA TECH: MOSS ARTS CENTER, VIRGINIA (USA)
Our four-day residency at Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center included engaging discussions with both staff and students on campus. We shared our professional experiences, particularly how Candoco approaches advocacy and provides a platform for disabled artists to excel in their work. We had the opportunity to offer feedback, insights, and advice on challenges related to accessibility and inclusion that students and the faculty were navigating. One of the highlights of the residency was speaking on a panel during Virginia Tech’s Excellence in Access and Inclusion Awards.
It was a powerful experience to explore and reflect on critical perspectives of disability within the arts, drawing from both my American heritage and my adopted home in London, UK. These conversations sparked new ideas and offered valuable reflections for both Paulina Porwollik and me as teaching artists. We pondered questions such as: ‘How can we remain accessible without sacrificing challenge and growth? How do we address intersectionality within different cultural contexts? And, as we navigate difficulties, how do we keep joy intact with what we do?’
Photo credit: Candice Symone.
One of the activities we explored during this residency was The Embodies Brain Laboratory on campus, a large facility equipped with one of the largest projector screens I have seen. It was facilitated by neuroscientists and dance artists studying the effects of dance on neurodiverse brains. One of the highlights was the opportunity to wear a helmet (that reminded me of SCI-FI films) that mapped out Paulina’s brainwaves.
Photo credit: Paulina Porwollik.
INSPIRE, MANSFIELD, UK
In collaboration with Inspire, a charitable community benefit society dedicated to delivering a range of cultural and learning services across Nottinghamshire, Candoco had the opportunity to create a performance, exploring one’s personal relationship with time. Candoco has recently been exploring disabled people’s experiences of temporality, which informed the choice of this theme and was influenced by Raquel’s research in Crip Theory and our programmatic interests for 2024-2025. This 4-day exploration culminated in a final performance at the Unify Festival.
Participants from different dance companies (Square Peg, SANdance and Next Door Dance Youth Company) delved into the concept of time, working with Candoco Teaching Artists, Corinne Meredith and Ted Wilkinson, to develop a collaborative performance. Additionally, Candoco facilitated a teacher training that introduced some of our core learning principles, while also reflecting on how these can be integrated into various contexts. This training provided teaching artists from Inspire Youth Arts a chance to reflect on their own approaches and engage in dialogue with others facing similar challenges. The residency fostered community-building and allowed Candoco to continue to build national collaborations.
It was a pleasure to see some of the dancers from our 2022 collaboration, “You’re on Mute“, with Inspire Youth Arts, both performing and in the audience of the 2024 Unify Festival. It was there that we presented our 2024 performance of “How long will this take?”
Photo credit: Neil Pledger.
We gained an opportunity to explore and expand upon the modalities developed throughout Candoco’s 30+ year legacy, adapting them to the evolving landscape of disabled experiences in the dance industry. Through teaching, panel discussions, interviews, and connecting with diverse dance practitioners, we were able to tailor Candoco’s knowledge to a wide range of contexts. By sharing Candoco’s teaching methodologies internationally, we have created pathways for advocacy and cultural transformation on a broader scale.
This time was pivotal in strengthening Candoco’s international partnerships, while also deepening the integration of Raquel’s and my values, practices, and artistic vision. It enabled some consideration on how to bring our Learning and Participation strand forward – incorporating Crip Theory, African/Black diasporic perspectives, and cultural competency into our pedagogy. The exchange of knowledge is central to Candoco’s growth, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of conversations about inclusive dance practices for today’s dancers and dance facilitators. These experiences have also influenced my leadership within the company, guiding us in refining how we present Candoco’s history while introducing fresh perspectives from both Raquel and my expertise as Co-Artistic Directors.
Photo credit: Neil Pledger.
DEEP GRATITUDE TO:
Virginia Tech & The Moss Arts Center, USA
Paulina Porwollik (Candoco Teaching Artist)
Corinne Meredith (Candoco Teaching Artist)
Ted Wilkinson (Candoco Teaching Artist)
Kitty Fedorec (Candoco Teaching Artist)
Candice Symone (Support Worker)
Our Candoco Dance Company Team (a special thank you to Angie Goddard, Louisa Sutherland and Lucie Mirkova)
With this learning, we seek to develop even more programming to offer locally, nationally, and internationally. We are working on developing teacher training packages to offer in partnership with organisations that seek to work inclusively.
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