Dad Dancing For Ages: Everyone
- Touring October 2014 – May 2018
- Running Time: 60 mins
Dad Dancing is a contemporary dance project in two parts, eachreflecting on growing up into a daughter and growing up into a dad.
The show is created and choreographed by Rosie Heafford, Alexandrina Hemsley and Helena Webb and performed alongside and in collaboration with their dads Adrian, David and Andy. The project uses idiosyncratic, embodied movement, humour and storytelling to explore father-child relationships. We champion the care, the embarrassment and love of those unique smooth moves born out of fatherhood.
The project also invites other dads and their children to join in through a variety of activites. We offer movement and storytelling workshops for dads and their children to spend quality time together, moving in thoughtful, fun and non-judgemental ways. We will also be developing a community cast of dads and children to join us for a scene in our show.
Both strands aim to coax men into the field of contemporary dance (as audience members or as participants), increase time fathers get to spend with their children and challenge traditional expectations and aesthetics of performance within our contemporary dance field.
To find out more about the project and participant experiences, please check out our blog: https://daddancing181904154.wordpress.com
Creative Team
Directors & Choreographers: Rosie Heafford, Alexandrina Hemsley and Helena Webb
Performers: Adrian Heafford, David Hemsley and Andy Webb
Performed alongside a supporting cast in each location.
Reviews
Touching, awkward, funny and revealing
The Observer
A warm-hearted evening of gentle send-ups and recollections which celebrates how dancing together brings us closer and keeps us together
Guardian
A charming show, full of warmth and humour
Everything Theatre
Beguilingly good fun
There ought to be clowns
The quality time spent with my own dad at this performance not only triggered interesting discussion all the way home, but was an eye opener for him to see what the hell people see in Contemporary Dance
Danceground
Partners
Dad Dancing is co-produced by battersea Arts Centre. Originally commissioned by South East Dance and Battersea Arts Centre, with support from Arts Council England.
