Over 12 weeks children and families from local school Hannah More primary took part Trinity’s ‘Art Club’ project, in partnership with Take A Part. During one session we headed down to Hannah More to chat with the children and families to ask them what they thought of 'Art Club', press play above to hear what they had to say!

"When I was their age, we didn't get the possibility to draw - we couldn't afford it" Baktiar and Asenat's Mum

In total 25 children and families came along to ‘Art Club’. During the sessions they explored different art-forms, such as clay making, model making using with different types of art materials.

The group also went on ‘go see’ visits to arts organisations and museums in the city. This included a trip to see the Grayson Perry exhibition in the Bristol Museum and a visit to the newly established arts organisations 'St Anne’s House' where they met resident artist Rachel Clarke.

‘Art Club’ is a Trinity commission, delivered by Take a Part in partnership with Hannah More Primary and made possible through funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund

Trinity believes that the best art is created and experienced by the 67 million voices that make up UK society today. This is why we support and nurture creative communities, creating opportunities for artists and communities to co-create and experience culture together.

"I can't tell you how much we enjoyed it. It was perfectly pitched for this age group. This is exactly what we need more of” - Head Teacher from school’s audience group

Collaborating with communities

In March 2021 we launched an ambitious community arts project, 'What I Want To Be, What I Want To See' that asked communities to share their hopes and dreams for the future, post-pandemic. From this initial idea we commissioned community arts practitioner Michelle Roche to collaborate Newton Network and the local community to programme a series of ‘creative happenings’.

Throughout 2021 Michelle, Newtown Network and local residents created a programme of activities including a weekly 'coffee morning and lantern making' session that culminated with a mid-winter Dolphin Parade. Residents also took part in a series of collective actions – a community painting day and a public playlist of their favourite songs – sharing the unique identity of this vibrant corner of Bristol.

Creating opportunities for children and families to access and shape culture

Spilt Ink Theatre Company was awarded the Young Audiences Commission, which was introduced following a consultation, to offer more young people and family activities. Through our on-going partnership with local school St Nicholas of Tolentine, the company delivered a series of workshops collaborating with over 60 children to devise a new work, ‘Home’ that culminated in a public sharing in May 2021.

Trinity joined forces with Take a Part and Hannah Moore primary school to deliver 'Art Club', a project for children and their families to explore what culture they enjoy and what issues matter to them. Art Club took place for 12 weeks after school and included group trips to visit organisations such as Spike Island and The Bristol Museum, meeting staff and volunteers and having an opportunity to ask questions and see behind the scenes of some of the biggest cultural venues in the city. We will also be hosting a pop-up exhibition of artworks created by children and families who took part in the project.

Supporting the development and sharing of new and exciting work

In the summer we welcomed a range of performances in our pop-up outdoor venue, in the community garden and, for the first-time since Mar 2020, inside the building. This included a Trinity ‘take-over’ by associate artist Roxana Vilk, The Vilk Collective and immersive tech-artists Squid Ink with their 'Lullabies Celebration' celebrating the culmination of Roxana’s Lullabies project. The project collected and responded to songs from the many languages spoken in Bristol and beyond. Roxana is continuing to develop her creative practise including performing at St Georges Hall and through her residency at Watershed’s PM Studio.

Through micro-commissions and subsidised space we continued to support the creation and development of new work, including Houston Dance Company who devised Like Mercury in the Fyfe Hall. The show was selected to be programmed as part of the spring season of theatre and dance in 2022 and premiered to sell-out audiences. The show explored gender, sexuality and identity and positive feedback from audiences included people commenting that the show ‘taught me to embody and celebrate my sexuality’. The company will be touring the performance in the UK throughout 2022.

Roxana Vilk's Lullabies Celebration Day. Photo credit Khali Ackford

The past few years have been a testing time for our industry. Looking to the future, we want to change how we work together in Bristol and the South West — as a small group of venues, we have started thinking about how as a collective we might find moments in the year to link our pathways and programmes for artists, celebrating and sustaining them alongside platforming their work in the places they call home.

Throughout March, join us in exploring what a connected city offer for theatre-makers might look like. Co-delivered by Trinity, Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres and The Wardrobe Theatre and with input from many others, Connecting the Dots is a joined-up initiative piloting how we can work together to present and cross-promote shows, free workshops, meetups, residencies and open forums for artists and audiences here in the South West.

This is a pilot – a work-in-progress, even. It’s the beginning of an idea pulled together at pace with a want from all of us to build for the future. The initiative will have events that take place in-person and a small digital programme. We want to know what you think of it and to hear your feedback and your ideas for what this could become.

With love, Trinity, Bristol Old Vic, The Wardrobe Theatre & Tobacco Factory Theatres.

Important information

We will gladly book interpreters and/or captioning for any events as needed. If you have booked for an event and require interpretation, captioning, or another access adjustment, please email and we will book it.If possible, please give us at least 5 day’s notice so we can ensure captioners/interpreters are available.

All rooms are wheelchair accessible via lift and have access to accessible and gender neutral toilets.

These workshops are offered for free but if there we have a limited number of stipends available for those that might experience financial barriers to attendance. This could go towards travel, your time, etc. To request one, drop us an - stipends will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Find out more

Head to Bristol Old Vic's website to find out more about the programme of activity by following this link.

Photo: Apple N Spice

Head to Trinity this Spring to get involved with a new season of theatre and dance featuring shows that amplify stories from across the UK and beyond, creating a picture of life in modern Britain.

From shadow puppetry inspired by Indian culture to spoken word, this season is one of highs, laughs and - as always - conversations.

"I loved this from the moment I read this two cultures mixing together with singing and dance and audience participation, great one for the children to get involved in" Forum member feedback on Apple 'N Spice, showing 17th Feb 22

Launching with Apple 'N' Spice (17 Feb), an interactive dance and theatre show inspired by Snow White and Ramayana (an ancient Indian story).

On the Inside (25 Feb) by Untold Theatre transports audiences to a dystopian world where four people are trapped inside and forced to live together and their morals and values are thrown out of the window when their true selves begin to emerge...

Dry Season (06 Mar) is a spoken word show that takes a candid look at the impact of experiencing the menopause in your 30's.

Like Mercury (12 Mar) is a powerful new dance and music collaboration by Emma Houston and Bellatrix. Developed with support from Trinity, the show explores the idea of identity through a queer lens.

The Big Trinity Picnic (26 Mar) is a family show hosted by poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko who will perform alongside a very special invited guest poet and is perfect for children aged 7-11 and their families/carers.

About Trinity Presents

The shows where selected following an open call for artists and companies responding to the theme, 'art of resistance'.

Trinity's programming forum made up of community members and independent representatives chose six shows to feature as part of our latest season of in-house programming.

This work is part of Trinity's commitment to amplifying the diverse voices of groups and communities who make UK culture today. To read more about what this means, see: #67MillionVoices.

All tickets are priced as 'pay what you can' starting at £7 + bf and all shows will feature a BSL interpreter.

Like Mercury residency, Bellatrix and Emma Houston Dance Collective. Photo credit Khali Ackford

We are pleased to announce that we are looking for exciting new work to present as part of our programme of shows in Spring 2022.

We are keen to hear from artists and companies whose work responds to our current theme of Art of Resistance in exciting and innovative ways, work that is timely and relevant for our diverse local audiences and work that will inspire and engage.

What we’re looking for:

• Performance ready Theatre, Dance, Spoken Word and Cross-art form, work that responds to the themes of arts and resistance and social activism.
• Work that can be presented across two seasons: 1) between January and 31st March 2022, 2) between 1 April and 31st June 2022.
• Small-medium scale work to be programmed as single shows (on occasion we may programme more than 1 day of a performance).
• Work that can be presented outside of a traditional raked seating format. Work that is relatable and exciting to our community whether that be our local residents in inner-city Bristol, service users who regularly meet at the centre or a community that we might not have met yet but who will benefit from experiencing live performance at Trinity.
• Work that has not been previously presented in Bristol in its current state.
• Work that involves wrap-around activity that can engage our community (Q&A, workshops etc)
• At least 2 of the performances we select will be created by Bristol based artists who are based within 15 miles of Trinity Centre.

We will provide:

Between £750 and £1500 in fees to include performance fees, travel, accommodation and expenses. (Please note that you must have a bank account in your organisation’s name or be registered as self-employed) Technical support for get-in, show and get-out. Advice and guidance from relevant members of staff at Trinity and relevant partners on developing your audiences.

Pay What You Can tickets for audience members and free tickets for community participants

How to submit:

We’ll ask you to submit a tour pack of no longer than 4 pages that includes show information, engagement/wraparound activity plans, a tech specification and marketing strategy.

We’ll ask you to answer a question about how you’ll work with us to engage with our community and to tell us which season (1 or 2) your work is available for.

We’ll ask you to complete an equal opportunities form, so we can make sure these opportunities are reaching the right people, but this won’t be used in the decision to programme your show.

How we decide who to programme:

At Trinity we believe that the most important decision makers are our community. Therefore we programme our Trinity Presents Arts Programme using a Programming Forum made up of local artist and community members and people who use our building on a regular basis.

Deadline: The deadline for submissions is 9am 04 Oct

Click here to submit your tour pack and information

S.U.S.A.A.N the socially distanced robot toured the local area and collected responses from residents

Deadline for Proposals: 9am Friday 25th June

Earlier this year we asked the people of Bristol to respond to the sentence ‘What I Want to Be, What I Want to See’.

Over two weeks we programmed free-online workshops with Vanessa Kisuule, Rider Shafique, Gerry's Attic - plus more - to inspire people to creatively share what they wanted to see for themselves and others in the world around them, post-pandemic.

S.U.S.A.A.N, a socially distanced robot, toured the local area collecting responses from members of the local community. In Trinity's community garden Artist Amy May-Ellis welcomed people to take part in a socially distanced workshop to share their hopes and dreams.

On our social media platforms we shared videos from groups who use Trinity regularly, including Misfits Theatre Company and Dance for Parkinsons.

Responses came in from across Bristol - from wanting to be a marine biologist to hoping to spend more time with family, wanting to see more bikes and less cars and much more. People responded in many forms including poems and drawings.

We are now looking for an artist or collective of artists to creatively interpret the responses, capturing this moment and continuing the conversation with the many communities who connect with Trinity.  This is a paid commission with a fixed fee of £9000.

The call is open to a Bristol based (within a 20 mile radius of Trinity Centre) artist or collective that is reflective of Trinity’s diverse communities.  We’re open to people working in any art-form but you must have experience of co-creating with communities.

Please note:

All work carried out as part of the commission must adhere to current Covid-19 regulations and guidelines.

Timeline:

• Deadline for Proposals: 9am Friday 25th June
• Artists Selection Panel Meeting with Programming Forum: w/c 28th June.
• Successful applicant receive notification by: Wednesday 30th June.
• Residency Period: 1st July – 31st December 2021

How to apply

• Download the full artist commission brief here
• Download the application guidelines here
• When you have read the guidelines you can submit your application online here

You’ll need to attach or link to examples of your work and a budget detailing how you will spend the available commission (each question can be submitted as a video or audio recording if preferred)

We held an informal Q&A session about the commission and you can view the recording of that session here.

If you have access needs in order to join the Q&A session. Please let us know in advance by emailing info@trinitybristol.org.uk or telephoning 0117 935 1200

What I Want To Be, What I Want To See is supported through funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund

Trinity is thinking about the future, & we want to hear from the people that matter - you.

From March 25 we are asking the people of Bristol to share their hopes and dreams for the future as part of What I Want To Be, What I Want To See. To inspire you, we have teamed up with our extended Trinity family of artists and community groups to create 11 days of free activities, content and workshops.

#GetInvolved

Online - follow us on our Social Media channels for scheduled activity and a daily TikTok challenge. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Sign up to a daily Assembly Monday - Friday by heading to the Facebook group here.

Sign up - click through below for our free workshop programme:

25 Mar - Writing Workshop With Vanessa Kisuule,

29 Mar - Intergenerational Dance Workshop,

30 Mar - Body Percussion Workshop,

31 Mar - I-Dentity Workshop.

Take part - join us on site for our Socially distanced community artwork, Mobilise, in Trinity Community Garden

If you live close to Trinity look out for our freepost leaflet, along with a free, specially created, print by Andy Council, coming through your letterbox. Please add your own responses and post them back to us.

If you live in Newtown or St Judes, keep your eyes open for the newest team member of Trinity - S.U.S.A.N.N the socially distanced robot - who will be out on the streets collecting your responses.

Want to share your dreams for the future? Click here to find out how.

The project is supported through funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund helping Trinity still #behereforculture

Trinity is thinking about the future, and we want to start by hearing from the people that matter - you. We’re asking the people of Bristol to respond to the sentence ‘What I Want to Be, What I Want to See’.

We are asking you to get involved writing, drawing, making or recording something as a way to share what you want to see for yourself and the world around you, post-pandemic.

From 25th March our extended Trinity family of artists and community groups will be sharing their responses to help inspire you including Misfits Theatre sharing their ambitions for a utopian future and top tips on getting creative with artists Grove and Pete Warner.  We’ll be running a series of free workshops with artists including Rider Shafique, Vanessa Kisuule and Gerrys Attic to help you get creative in response to the theme. There will also be an opportunity to take part in socially distanced workshops in our community garden with artist Amy May Ellis to create an art-installation.

Find out more about the project and the events coming up by visiting trinitybristol.org.uk/arts

Ways to #GetInvolved

• Share any content you create with us by emailing info@trinitybristol.org.uk
• Get in touch by emailing info@trinitybristol.org.uk to find out how to drop off any physical responses at Trinity.
• Submit your content online
• Share with us directly on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
• Share on your own social media using the hashtag #WhatIWant

If you’re located in BS2 look out for our freepost leaflet, along with a free, especially created, print by Andy Council, coming through your letterbox and post them back to us.

If you live in Newtown or St Judes, keep your eyes open for the newest team member of Trinity - S.U.S.A.N.N the socially distanced robot - who will be out on the streets collecting your responses!

Once we've gathered enough content to represent the diverse communities of the city, we’ll be working with talented local artists to create their own responses inspired by you, to be shared as part of a celebratory event later in the year and to build a lasting legacy of our shared ambitions for the future.

Image: Nathalie Codsi in Arnold's Big Adventure by Tessa Bide Productions, photo by Kai Taylor

Spilt Ink Theatre Company have been awarded Trinity’s Young Audiences Commission to develop a new piece of work for 3-10 year olds. The £6,000 commission has been made possible through the support of the Cultural Recovery Fund.

Spilt Ink are a physical theatre company who create playful, joyful and fun work with and for communities and children. During their development commission they will be exploring the themes of home and identity.

“We will create a fantasy ‘home’ rooted in real stories of our multicultural community. It will explore both the physical sensation of home and the cultural meaning of home.  We will question what home means to ourselves, as diverse artists, and to the multicultural local community of East Bristol.”

They will work with Trinity and local community partners to deliver creative and playful workshops with local children and families; sharing and exploring the stories of the many communities living in Lawrence Hill and Easton.

Spilt Ink were selected for the commission following an open call out that received 20 project proposals. Their project, Home, stood out to our parent-led selection panel - made up of staff, volunteers and community reps - for the way it placed co-creation at its core and young people at the centre of deciding where the project journey would take them.

Between its members - Lebanese/Italian actor and theatre maker Nathalie Codsi, Bristol-based international theatre director, community arts facilitator and performer Hester Welch, and British actor, puppeteer/ theatre maker Sarah Cribdon, Spilt Ink have a wealth of experience of working with diverse communities across the world and we look forward to seeing where Home will take them.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to get involved with the Young Audiences Commission as it emerges, please get in touch or sign up to our mailing list.

Deborah Baddoo MBE is the Producer for Bristol Dance Future’s Moving Bristol project. The project focuses on developing dance practice for new and existing audiences and developing an ecology of dance across Bristol.

Drawn to the opportunity by a desire to galvanise action and create a legacy for Dance in the city, Deborah brings her extensive experience in the dance sector to the role.

Passionate about her long-term vision to raise the profile and support the development of Black choreographers nationally and internationally,she was awarded an MBE for service to dance in 2010. In 1986 in partnership with musician Steve Marshall, she set up arts production company State of Emergency. The company produces shows, projects and events and works with world-class artists and creates opportunities for emerging artists. The charitable arm, State of Trust works to use the arts to promote social cohesion.

Deborah has also worked as an Arts Council Agent for Change with Bristol Old Vic and Sailsbury Playhouse, was Diversity Consultant for Bristol Museums and has worked with many renowned dance and arts organisations across the UK including Rich Mix, DanceXchange, Stratford Circus, Swindon Dance and East London Dance.

As well as a planned programme of industry events - such as the upcoming Dance and Health Conference 2021 - Deborah has collaborated with the Dance Futures Steering Group, independent artists and organisations to select the Dance Connect residencies. The residencies are an opportunity for practitioners, organisations and communities to collaboratively develop a programme of dance activity. Artists will explore and develop ways that dance can be enjoyed and experienced by new and existing audiences and participants across the city.

Deborah has also supported the creation of three Dance Hubs across the city to focus on the development of Dance for Health, Young People and Audiences. Organisations on board are Arnolfini, Creative Youth Network and Trinity. Trinity will be working with dance practitioners Lerato Dunn and Rachel James to programme activity in our role as the Arts & Health Dance Hub for the project.

Find out more about Moving Bristol here.

About Bristol Dance Futures

Bristol Dance Futures, is a consortium of Bristol organisations and independent artists, that nurtures talents and provides professional development opportunities for dancers, with an aim to create a vibrant dance ecology, so people of all ages can engage with high-quality dance.

Dance Connect is supported by funding from Arts Council England

Uchenna Dance deliver a dance workshop at Trinity in 2018. Photo @Khali Ackford

Trinity is pleased to announce that, as part of the Bristol Dance Futures ‘Dance Connect’ programme, five Bristol-based dance practitioners will be funded to undertake year-long residencies in organisations across the city.

The residencies are an opportunity for practitioners, organisations and communities to collaboratively develop a programme of dance activity. Artists will explore and develop ways that dance can be enjoyed and experienced by new and existing audiences and participants across the city.

'It was great to see such high-quality applications and be part of the selection process with a different perspective from the health sector'

Karen Lloyd, Active Ageing Bristol

To ensure a wide range of voices and perspectives helped select the Dance Connect Residencies, the project's Producer Deborah Baddoo invited Karen Lloyd from Active Ageing Bristol and Zannah Chisolm, Artistic Director and CEO Pavilion Dance South West to sit on the selection panels, alongside members of the Dance Futures steering group including independent artist Deepraj Singh.

With the COVID-19 pandemic likely to exacerbate impacts of pre-existing health conditions, two projects will look at the importance of using dance to improve and support good emotional wellbeing and health:

Lerato Dunn will work will work with Southmead Development Trust and Sirona Care to explore how dance can contribute to the physical and emotional health, with the aim to develop a ‘Dance on Prescription’ model that can support vulnerable people.

Rachel James, who leads Dance For Parkinson's at Trinity, will be working with Fresh Arts to create a high-quality dance programme supporting the recovery of elderly and frail patients, designed to help them to get home quicker.

Trinity will be working with both Lerato and Rachel to programme activity in our role as the Arts & Health Dance Hub for the project.

The following collaborations will see artists connecting with new communities strengthening dance participation beyond the city centre:

Penny Caffrey and Helen Wilson will be collaborating with Filwood Community Centre to create a number of different ‘dance happenings’ to promote a positive sense of place within communities.

Katy Noakes will be working with Knowle West Media Centre explore ways to bridge the gap between street and contemporary dance in Bristol.

Dance Connect is an initiative by Bristol Dance Futures - a consortia of Bristol arts organisations and independent artists, that aims to create a vibrant dance ecology across the city, so people of all ages can engage with high-quality dance.

Dance Connect is supported by funding from Arts Council England

Applications are now open for a brand-new £6,000 Research and Development commission

Thanks to the Cultural Recovery Fund we are inviting Bristol based organisations or artists to apply for a new commission  to support a Young Audiences Research and Development project. The successful company/artist will work toward creating a live performance or experience made for Young Audiences aged 3-10 years. We welcome artists of any practice and working in any art-form to apply.

Trinity is a cultural-hub for the city, where people of all ages and backgrounds come together. As well as hosting 600 capacity live music performances we also programme theatre and dance in our flexible studio space.

Our building sits at the meeting point of three distinctive and diverse Bristol wards - Easton, Ashley (St Pauls) and Lawrence Hill - whose residents make up Trinity’s local community. In these difficult times, we believe that the arts can bring together communities and we want to commission a piece of work that will do just that.

We’re looking for a Bristol based (within a 20 mile radius of Trinity Centre) artist or organisation, who will Research and Develop/ Create an experience for young audiences that is welcoming and accessible to people from all walks of life including young audiences who may not speak English as a first language and young audiences with disabilities.

The Research and Development period must take place before 12th March 2021.

This commission is for R&D but we expect that the results of the R&D will be shared or showcased in some form.

We will provide:

-£6,000 commission fee (Please note that you must have a bank account in your organisation’s name or be registered as self-employed)

-Opportunity to use our Trinity building space as in-kind support to develop the project

-Advice and guidance from relevant members of staff at Trinity and relevant partners

-Opportunity to share progress of the project with community members, industry professionals and other artists. We particularly welcome applications from artists whose experiences are less visible in 'mainstream' arts programming.

Please note.

All work carried out as part of the commission must adhere to current Covid-19 regulations and guidelines.

We will be hosting a Zoom call on 8th December at 4pm for an informal Q&A session around the commission.

This opportunity is now closed

Lady Like by Ella Mesma, programmed as part of IGNiTE at Trinity.  Photo @Jessica Bartolini

Bristol Dance Futures are offering £8,000 for four Dance Connect Artist residencies. The residencies will see artists work in collaboration with Bristol based organisations, with the aim to see how dance practise could enrich a working environment and to exchange learning.

Dance Connect is an initiative by Bristol Dance Futures and aims to nurture talent, provide continuing professional development opportunities for dancers, and create a vibrant dance ecology so people of all ages can engage with high quality dance.

The Dance Connect initiative will embed four dance artists in Bristol’s arts, cultural and community organisations for 40 days, over a period of up to 11 months from November 2020

To apply now* please complete the Full Partnership Application form addressing the aims and the assessment criteria below.

(*Please note applications will only be accepted from those who have completed an Expression of Interest form. You can also download the Full Partnership Application form as a PDF here and the Guidelines and Assessment criteria here)

For more info please contact Deborah Baddoo - dancefutures@theatrebristol.net

Dance Connect Aims:

• Raise the profile of dance within individual organisations and more broadly within the cultural sector
• Embed the value of dance and the contribution dance artists can make within and across organisations - strengthen Bristol’s dance ecology and lever more support for dance
• Better equip organisations to work with dance artists
• Create opportunities for critical dialogue between organisations, dance artists and audiences
• Provide opportunities to test, grow and change the practice of individual dance artists, people working within organisations and the wider sector
• Create models of working which can be sustained beyond the period of this initiative

Criteria for Assessment:

• Experience in working within their chosen field of activity
• Imaginative and ambitious nature of the application
• Specificity of ideas
• Potential for impact of the residency
• What difference the residency will make to the artists' and organisations' practice
• Potential for legacy after the residency has ended
• Ideas on how they might share the impact of the Dance Connect residency

Full Partnership Application deadline 5pm 13th November 2020

Sound on for this film of Let Us Dance....

Back last year we teamed up with Arnolfini and young female dancers to takeover institutional spaces. Running alongside the ‘Still I Rise’ exhibition, a large scale exhibition that documented women’s experiences and acts of resistance in the last 150 years, Let Us Dance invited young dancers from across the city to take over a space with Flash Mob style dances.

We will be continuing to programme dance activity throughout 2020 as part of the #MovingBristol Dance Hubs project. Keep an eye out on our website for activity you can get involved in, including Dance Classes for Women who have experienced or currently experiencing cancer.

Rise Youth Dance take part in a workshop with Uchenna Dance at Trinity as part of IGNiTE. Photo @ KoLAB Studios.

Arts Council England have awarded a grant to Bristol Dance Futures - a consortia of South West arts organisations and practitioners - to develop the city’s dance offer. The group is working together to grow investment in dance, and includes Mel Scaffold (Theatre Bristol), Rhiannon Jones (Trinity Community Arts), Kieran Swann (Arnolfini), Nic Young (Circomedia), Helen Cole (In Between Time) and independents Laïla Diallo, Katy Noakes and Lauren Scholey.

The partnership is pleased to announce Deborah Baddoo has joined the project as Producer to lead this development and develop Bristol’s regional and national profile as home for dance. Deborah is a performer and choreographer, also artistic director of State of Emergency productions - a performance and production company supporting the development of Black dance, choreography and performing arts nationally and internationally. In 2010 she was awarded an MBE for services to British dance. Talking of her appointment as project lead, Deborah said:

“I am delighted to take up the position of Producer with Bristol Dance Futures and to help to develop the impact of dance in the exciting city of Bristol. As an experienced producer in dance working nationally, but based in the South West, I have been aware of the breadth and quality of dance in Bristol for many years and of all the hard work that has gone before in order to reach the point we are at now. Dance in Bristol is now at a pivotal point and I embrace the challenge of working with Bristol Dance Futures Steering Committee to raise the profile of dance in Bristol and to deliver the exciting Moving Bristol dance programme” Deborah Baddoo

Mel Scaffold, CEO of Theatre Bristol who helped to launch the project said, “It is a joy to announce that we are working with Deborah Baddoo to deliver this exciting project. The city is home to a huge community of talented dancers, along with thousands of people who watch and take part in dance every year. Moving Bristol will build on the passion and commitment of these communities, and the organisations who nurture them, with the aim of creating a city where every body can move and be moved by dance.”

Through a two-year funded project, the partners will work together to develop a wide range of dance activity across Bristol. This will include the announcement of three focused Dance Hubs to support Dance & Health, Young People and Audience. There will also be opportunities for dancers to take on residencies in a range of cross-sector settings in 2020-2022.

Watch this space or get in touch with Deborah Baddoo on: dancefutures@theatrebristol.net for more information