“DanceSyndrome’s ethos is that disability should never be a barrier to following your dreams.”
WHO: Sophie Tickle
WHAT: “Following the success of Orbit in 2017 and Lit aDrift in 2018, DanceSyndrome’s inclusive dance company returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to once again showcase the beauty and power of inclusive dance practice. In a Big Brother world where it’s easy to feel as though we are constantly being watched, are we ever truly seen? Sense explores humanity’s need to be seen, felt and heard.”
WHERE: theSpace @ Niddry St – Lower Theatre (Venue 9)
WHEN: 11:30 (60 min)
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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
This is DanceSyndrome’s third trip to the Fringe. We’re a small Lancashire based inclusive dance company made up of performers with and without learning disabilities. In 2017, we crowd-funded to bring our show “Orbit” to the Fringe as a “once in a lifetime experience.” Of course, our dancers absolutely loved performing at the biggest Arts festival in the world! The DanceSyndrome team had an amazing experience, learning lots about the performance industry, including successfully promoting their show, eventually achieving a sold-out audience! The success of the 2017 trip gave the dancers a significant confidence boost and, as a result, they fundraised again and returned in August 2018 with a bigger team and a new show “Lit aDrift” made especially for the Fringe.
During the Covid lockdowns, the one opportunity that dancers continued to say that they felt that they had really missed out on was performing in Edinburgh. Determined to make the dream of returning to the Fringe into a reality, DanceSyndrome ran a fundraising campaign in December 2022 to raise £10,000 towards the trip. It will be incredible for DanceSyndrome’s team to return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023 and present our work after the difficulties of the last few years. People with learning disabilities were hit hardest by the impact of pandemic. Performing at the festival gives our dancers; a platform to create work about issues and themes that matter to them and present them to a wide and eclectic audience; a chance to communicate key messages about inclusion, teamwork, and achievement; and to ensure people with learning disabilities have their voices heard. They can’t wait to return with “SENse” a brand new piece which is being developed for a 2024 tour.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
2022 was a huge year for DanceSyndrome as we finally regained a sense of normality after a prolonged closure as a result of Covid. We were fortunate to receive funding from National Lottery Community Fund which helped us to get our community dance offer back up to pre-pandemic levels. We then learned that we had been successful in our application to be an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) for 2023-26. This is enabling us to really develop our performance work and create a professional development programme for our company of dancers, whilst also encouraging us to think in greater detail about quality, sustainability and, of course, inclusion.
Tell us about your show.
DanceSyndrome is a multi-award-winning dance charity that was founded by Jen Blackwell, who has Down’s syndrome. The charity was formed because Jen found it difficult to find opportunities in dance that were accessible to people with learning disabilities. DanceSyndrome’s ethos is that disability should never be a barrier to following your dreams. All DanceSyndrome activities are disability led, with people with learning disabilities taking visible leadership roles to inspire people to see what can be achieved when we all become more inclusive.
DanceSyndrome’s performance company is made up of a collective of people with and without learning disabilities. “SENse” is co-produced in line with the ethos that having a learning disability doesn’t need to be a barrier to being a performer, choreographer and producer. During a period of research and development, the company of dancers decided on the initial concept for the show considering how people with learning disabilities often feel that they are not seen and heard by society in the same way that people without disabilities might be. The show is being produced by Sophie Tickle, DanceSyndrome’s Artistic Director, supported by DanceSyndrome’s other Dance Artists. The concept was brought to life in the rehearsal space where the rest of the team of dancers were supported to join in the creative process and development of the story in an inclusive way. The performances in Edinburgh will be the preview shows ahead of a tour of the North West of England in early 2024, which forms part of the Arts Council NPO project.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
Of course, our team can’t wait to see some other dance shows while we’re in Edinburgh! We’re especially looking forward to Beats On Pointe which combines Street and Ballet dance – two of our favourite styles! We’ll probably catch Showstoppers: The Improvised Musical too as that was amazing last time we saw them – improv is such an incredible talent!
Last time we were in Edinburgh our whole team took part in a Silent Disco and we had so much fun doing it! We’re definitely going to do it again, and we are going to try Boogie Shoes’ Silent Disco Walking Tours as they are based out of theSpaceUK @ Niddry Street which is our venue this year too.
We’re hoping to go and see Anton Du Beke’s show too. Anton is great mates with our ambassador Giovanni Pernice and they sent us a fabulous message of support. Anton said he’d come and see us so we’ll definitely return the favour!
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