Our education and community work uses South Asian dance to create imaginative, enjoyable and artistically inspiring projects for people of all ages, ethnic origins, backgrounds and abilities.
We create workshops and residencies to suit the specific needs and interests of each group we work with. These take place in a wide range of settings - including schools, colleges, youth clubs, day centres, residential homes, hospitals and prisons - and are led by highly skilled and experienced professional artists. We supply written resources and other materials - such as videos, DVDs, CDs and CD-ROMs - to enable teachers, group leaders and participants to prepare for and follow-up the work.
We use South Asian dance and related arts as a resource for learning, creativity and well-being. Our education and community activities offer performance opportunities for participants and raise awareness of the diversity and richness of South Asian culture. A recent example is REACT , a creative learning performance programme for young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) supported by the Learning and Skills Council and the European Social Fund.
Not only do our dance programmes offer participation and creative, expressive learning, but they also deliver on agendas related to employment, educational attainment, health, and skills development.
Responding to government policy changes on skills and training and the emphasis on building skills for life, Akademi has adopted innovative creative learning approaches.
We have found that powerful artistic interventions built around South Asian dance can directly support people to succeed in other areas of their lives.
Reponsive to the changing social landscape, Akademi constantly seeks and finds the opportunity to build new, relevant dance education programmes linked to government policy area priorities.
So, Akademi's Education and Community work continues to address some big questions:
- How do we ensure that high quality professional dancers work directly with people least likely to have access to dance education?
- How can we contribute to the health needs of young and older adults?
- How can artist-led training reduce NEET figures?
- How can we help develop skills and provide routes to employment?
- How can we work with families to strengthen Community Cohesion and raise attainment?
