Rebecca Benford
May 10, 2021
Dance Re:Ignite 2.0
June 9, 2021ARCHIVE: #TAG
(March 2020 to January 2021)
OVERVIEW
#TAG was an intergenerational dance programme taking place in three Hertfordshire Districts: Dacorum, Three Rivers, and Watford. It was a featured contribution by those Districts/Boroughs to Hertfordshire Year of Culture 2020 (HYOC). It explored ‘play’, gathering related stories across generations and cultures, exploring and presenting them through dance with the local communities in public spaces.
Covid-19: During the early stages of the project the country was placed in lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in the planned activity for this project to be reworked and/or delayed. Much of the activity was adapted to move online. It was anticipated the move to online would have some benefits, such as potentially increasing the reach of the project and enabling greater participation across some of the strands, it was a concern that it would also create barriers for some people to take part. This project did not have the resources to attempt to address this barrier, but it aimed to use this as an opportunity.
“I take pride in having been a participant in this project"
AIMS
BEEE Creative’s mission is to connect people to opportunities and challenge barriers to access to dance. #TAG aimed to support this mission by promoting a sense of belonging through dance and storytelling. In line with Hertfordshire Year of Culture (HYOC)’s objectives #TAG aimed to enable access and participation to new audiences and foster new partnerships and ways of working for the future. It aimed to celebrate creativity in the community and home. It was hoped #TAG would be the catalyst for the creation of a shared dance strategy for the three participating Districts/Boroughs.
HEADLINE FINDINGS
- The project had to make significant adaptations in response to the social restrictions imposed due to Covid-19. This entailed moving most of the planned delivery online, including workshops and the final celebration event. Despite this most of the project’s outcomes were achieved.
- The adaptations enabled BEEE Creative and partners to explore new ways of working that will inform future project planning and delivery. This includes a better understanding of how and why participants engage online. It enabled exploration of how this removes –and presents –barriers to participation.
- Anticipated reach to new audiences was not achieved. However, it did exceed anticipated reach numbers, and deepen engagement and strengthen relationships with those already engaging with BEEE Creative. Conversely, it did reach some new participants who were unlikely to have taken part had it not been for the restrictions of Covid-19.
- Factors for successful partnership working between the three Local Authority partners were identified, which can be factored into planning for future projects.
- The project did support BEEE Creative’s aim to develop dance infrastructure in Hertfordshire, through its successful mentoring programme, training webinar series, and Local Authority partnership.
EVALUATION
A full evaluation report is available for this project
FURTHER LINKS
- Play: https://vimeo.com/458942050
- #TAG Dance Film: https://vimeo.com/437226110
- #TAG finale: https://vimeo.com/490661158
- Oral Histories: https://www.herts.ac.uk/heritage-hub/oralhistoryarchive/beee-creative
- Seek and Hide introduction live broadcast: https://vimeo.com/462150345
- Seek and Hide community film: https://vimeo.com/476598443
- Online Exhibition: https://beee-gallery.vercel.app
PROJECT CREDITS
Artists
MakeAmplify
KAN Collective
Casson and Friends
Simon Richardson
Improvising Generation team
Think About it Films
