The new year brings plenty of opportunities, events and festivals for aspiring film makers in Cardiff. Here is a preview of what is happening throughout the year, including the return of Cardiff’s annual independent film festival and this year’s Iris Prize. Cardiff Independent Film Festival (Friday 5th May-Sunday 7th May) Cardiff’s annual Independent Film Festival, […]
via A look ahead to Cardiff film festivals in 2017 — WelshBiz WordPress Blog
The lovely Hannah May – long term friend of Rubicon….Good luck with your adventures…..lots of love……
SO, you want to support Rubicon…….well this is how you go about it……and how you can see the results…..
Please find below extracts from Sam Kelland’s final report on her apprenticeship – an initiative co-ordinated by The Wales Wide Training Programme, Rubicon Dance and Artis Community, and funded by Arts Council Wales.
My journey with Artis Community began in July 2015 when I was given volunteering opportunities as well as chances to train with members of the dance team. This was an excellent opportunity for me to meet the organisation and to see the types of people I may be working with in my post.
This eleven-month apprenticeship came with different responsibilities each term and was tailor made to my individual interests and needs. This timescale was beneficial for me as my role increased in responsibility as the apprenticeship developed which meant I was able to progress steadily throughout each term.
My apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to work with a diversity of different people with vast range in movement ability. I have worked with children, youth and adults with physical and mental disabilities, elderly people with dementia, participants in the pathway dance provision ages 4-21, students in a dance in educational setting, hard to reach groups and people in deprived areas.
Working with such a diversity of different groups and highly skilled dance leader has given me a range of different tools that I can reflect upon. These tools have given me the opportunity to choose how I want to deliver and develop warm ups, dance phrases, creative tasks, structure session and choreograph dance pieces.
I’ve faced many different challenges during my time as a dance apprentice with Artis Community which has allowed me to develop and progress in my career path. One of the biggest challenges during my time as a dance apprentice was being open to improvised thinking and allowing myself to stray from plans. I have learnt how to deal with unpredictability in context to each group and not to panic if things begin to sway away from what I had planned for the session.
At no time in my apprenticeship did I feel unable to manage the amounts of responsibility I was given each term. This was down to the tailor made programme I had discussed and developed with the dance team and the strategic stages of the apprenticeship programme.
My time with Artis Community has resulted in me being offered further work on completion of my apprenticeship with established groups that I have been working with as well as the opportunity to develop potential sessions in my interest areas as mentioned previously.
Well done on the completion of your apprenticeship. Many thanks to all involved in the co-ordination and running of this programme. Sam, we look forward to working with you in the future.
tracey@rubicondance.co.uk
Jobs Growth Wales Funded Rubicon Dance Apprenticeship – Final Report
November 30 2015 – May 27 2016
Please find below extracts from Louise’s report on her apprenticeship:
With the support from Jobs Growth Wales I was able to start my six-month apprenticeship with Rubicon Dance at the end of November 2015. The time scale of six months was perfectly suited to my programme of development as I had previously completed the three-month Paul Hamlyn Funded Professional Placement with Rubicon Dance and Ballet Cymru earlier that year. This had given me the necessary experience of having shadowed community dance leaders in order to take the next step in my training.
Over the six months I have worked with very young children, both with and without learning and physical disabilities, sessions in primary schools, nurseries, adult and toddler sessions and intergenerational family sessions.
I have worked with adults with a vast range of ability throughout my apprenticeship training. The sessions have included dance for those aged 60+, adults with learning and physical disabilities, elderly people in day centre settings, adults undergoing stroke rehabilitation, and adults with dementia in a care home setting.
As well as having had Welsh Language training and gained my First Aid at Work certification whilst being an apprentice, I will be attending three CPD training programmes at Rubicon in July. The training days will be comprised of Foundation Phase Dance Day led by Anna Daly, Working with Challenging and Hard to Reach Groups led by Paul Kitcher, and Dance in Dementia Care led by Nicola Jacobson.
Throughout my apprenticeship I have received constant mentoring and weekly meetings with Tracey to discuss feedback, the problems faced within sessions, and how both the dance leaders and I had overcome these obstacles. The support structure set up within all aspects of my work with Rubicon was very nurturing and enabled me to really develop my skills and take advantage of my strengths when leading.
I am very grateful to Jobs Growth Wales for funding my apprenticeship and giving me such a brilliant opportunity. I am also thankful to the entire team at Rubicon Dance for all the time, wisdom and support they have given me and continue to share with me.
We are so pleased and proud that Louise has had a rewarding experience. Many thanks to all involved, and especially Jobs Growth Wales for their funding. For more information on training and apprenticeships, please contact Tracey at Rubicon Dance – 02920 491477 tracey@rubicondance.co.uk
Please find enclosed extracts from Luke Bafico’s report on his time at Rubicon:
I got involved in British Dance Edition (BDE) 2016, a massive event on the national dance calendar, which hit Wales in mid-march and brought a diverse programme of quality British dance to Cardiff and Newport. Through participating in the event I was able to see what is relevant and current in the contemporary dance scene, which had a hand in shaping my thinking on what kind of an artist I aspire to be and what types of work I am interested in pursuing.
It is always an honour being an advocate for Rubicon and the full-time course and I especially enjoyed our sessions with the Fusion and conFusion groups, from which we had a very positive and engaging reaction from the participants. What a great group of people they are and it was truly a joy getting the chance to work with them on this level.
I have been keeping my training up and continuing with technique classes and fitness sessions which needless to say are important to keep the body fit and in shape so I can be fully prepared for external opportunities. I have also been able to get in the studio by myself and have some solo creative sessions. Mainly, I have been discovering new ways of moving and how music can inform the body.
Another highlight from the past three months was attending Rubicon’s 40th Anniversary lunch with guest of honour Sir Matthew Bourne, where again I was able to act as a spokesperson and representative for Rubicon Dance and further understand the ideals and principles of the community dance industry’s working environment. This was honestly a fantastic afternoon of being able to celebrate everything that is good about Rubicon and I can easily say what a success the event was. It was one of those experiences that made me realise how lucky I am to have Rubicon in my life and how much it has helped me career-wise and how proud I am to be part of such a special organisation.
To sum up, I cannot say how grateful I am that the past six months have happened and how thankful I am for the opportunities that arose within my time as the Vocational Training Assistant.
Please find below some extracts from Catrin Wilson’s report following the award of her Bursary earlier in the year….
The Oxford Dictionary defines inspiration as:
“The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative”.
Lisa Dowler and her Small Things Dance Collective, in particular her ‘From Where You Are’ Dance and Health project, centred at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust was my inspiration for applying for this bursary.
From speaking with Lisa it has been realised that actually nor did she before the work on Alder Hey however, she had worked with children. She reminded me that everyday I work with a variety of different groups, all at different levels of ability and needs and in a variety of spaces which all provide good training for working in hospitals.
Furthermore, Lisa has helped me to recognise my confidence in inspiring people to move, in shifting moods and yes experience of working in hospitals is beneficial and more so for myself however; I am fully equipped with the transferable skills to be adaptable in this type of setting.
Having one to one meeting with Lisa was brilliant, inspiring and confidence building however, it would not have been possible but for the initial Wales Wide Training Day.
Many Thanks to all. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
A selected extract from Sam Kelland’s second term at Artis Community Apprentice:
The second term of my apprenticeship has allowed me to experience new groups and new responsibilities. My role for this term was to assist, participants, collaborate, observe and lead sections of different community dance workshops around RCT. The quantity of the session I would lead would depend on my relationship with the group, my readiness to take on more responsibility and discussions with mentors and dance leaders.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Lizzie Davies and the True Colours groups. During my time with them I have gained and learnt so much. I had the opportunity to lead warm up sessions and choreographed group sections of the dance pieces. I have had the opportunity to work with props, film and music. The highlight of working with these groups were the sharings that were held at the end of term. The progression of both groups during the term were visible and the end results were beautiful.
Insync is an inclusive dance workshop for participants ages 11+. The session concentrates on both contemporary technique and creative dance. The biggest challenge for me during this session was knowing how difficult to set exercises. I was unsure of how to approach contemporary material for an inclusive group and didn’t want members to find it too difficult or too simple. At the same time I wanted to push participants in order for them to improve technically as well as creatively. I had endless discussions about this with Sarah Rogers who was leading the session.
Working with such a diversity of different groups and highly skilled dance leader has given me a range of different tools that I can reflect upon. These tools have given me the option to choose how I want to develop and deliver warm ups, dance phrases, creative tasks, structure session and choreograph dance pieces. This opportunity has enabled me to experience hands on what it is like to work in the community dance sector. I have learnt from mistakes and have had many an ‘on the spot’ moments which I have learnt to deal with confidence. None of which would have been possible without the encouragement and guidance of such a supportive team.
For further information on placements and apprenticeships, please call Tracey Brown at Rubicon 02920 491477.
Louise Lloyd
Jobs Growth Wales funded Community Dance Apprenticeship with Rubicon Dance
Term 1 Evaluation: November 30th 2015 – March 25th 2016
What follows is an extract from Louise’s report:
I began my apprenticeship with Rubicon Dance on the 30th November 2015. The flexibility offered in the start date was hugely beneficial to me as it allowed me to complete the work I was doing with Artis Community as a Dance Support Worker before starting my apprenticeship. This then enabled me to devote full days to sessions with Rubicon.
Prior to the commencement of my apprenticeship I met with my mentor, Tracey Brown, to discuss the background of the apprenticeship scheme offered by Rubicon Dance and the future plan for the programme. We also looked at how this has lead to the Wales Wide Training Programme for apprentices in other community dance organisations across Wales.
Having workshadowed many of the dance leaders before, it was good for me to see them with new groups that I hadn’t been previously worked with to see how they use different approaches tailored to each session. I also began working with some dance leaders whom I had never work shadowed and it was very interesting to see additional methods and styles of managing a group.
Weekly mentoring sessions have really allowed me to reflect on and analyse my findings from the week’s sessions in a safe, supportive and informal setting. I meet Tracey for at least one hour every week as well as having regular conversations and e mail contact regularly and this is when we discuss feedback, my progress and how each session I am involved with was set up and is managed. It became very clear that constant communication with venue and organisation personnel, as well as selecting the appropriate dance leader for the session, were essential to the continued success of weekly sessions.
The apprenticeship with Rubicon Dance has given me a unique opportunity to develop my skills as a dance leader within a positively challenging yet very supportive environment. It has given me the chance to understand where my strengths and interests lie within the community dance sector and gain invaluable experience with a diverse range of groups.
Louise, it’s a pleasure having you around – we wish you continued success….
Rubicon Dance – April 5th 2016
rubicon dance 