Let’s Dance is a project designed to support mobility and wellbeing, which has run in numerous community settings across Birmingham. Attendees enjoy gentle movements set to music in a relaxed and welcoming environment, perfect for all abilities.
In October 2023, Sampad successfully conducted a four-week pilot project in collaboration with Apna Ghar, a daycare centre for South Asian elders and Ghulab Ashram Housing, a sheltered housing scheme for South Asian elders. During this period, weekly dance workshops were led by experienced South Asian dance practitioners, introducing participants to the joys and benefits of dancing in later life.
Building on this success, as part of BEDLAM 2024, we offered year-long weekly dance and movement sessions at three locations for South Asian elders. Sessions were organised in three blocks of 10 weeks each and co-led by South Asian dance practitioners. The workshops featured movements from Bharatnatyam, Bhangra, Kathak, and Bollywood, and were tailored to accommodate different abilities and needs.
Each series of workshops was co-led by an experienced practitioner and a ‘shadow’ practitioner, providing an opportunity for an experienced dancer to gain insight and experience in working with elder populations, thereby helping to develop the future workforce. The workshops took place at Apna Ghar, Green Accord Ashram, and Kalyan Sheltered Housing locations in Birmingham.
Let’s Dance was also funded by The Big Give. Learn More about that here.
Photo by Irina Mackie
Let’s Dance Update 2025
The movement sessions return during Autumn 2025. If you are local to Apna Ghar Day Centre, you are welcome to participate. Go to the the events page link to find out more. Let’s Dance Autumn 2025 sessions
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