In July 2008 Siobhan Davies Dance worked with two young people from Southwark to devise, plan and manage a dance event for young people. The Street Genius project aims to put young people at the heart of the arts as visitors, creators and advocates.
Nyia Hutchinson and Charlie Burt created Flash Jam, the first young people’s event for Siobhan Davies Studios. Aiming to challenge people's perceptions of dance, the free event presented an explosive mix of dance, film and music for participants; whilst also giving Nyia and Charlie an insight into the workings of a professional dance company. Highlights from the event included improvisational dance performances, live dj-ing and a head-phone disco ‘dance off’.
Hear from the Street Genius's Nyia and Charlie and watch footage from the Flash Jam event at Siobhan Davies Studios, an explosive mix of dance, film and music.
Nyia describes her experience:
“Over six weeks of summer, Charlie and I we worked alongside our peer mentor, to create FlashJam. The project aimed to introduce new dance genres to young people alongside the more familiar, as well as fitting in with the ethos of the building.
Siobhan Davies gave us three words to think about when planning the event: inventive, curious and inclusive. We presented a mix of music, dance and film and combined different genres of dance such as capoeira, contemporary and street. It was important for us to keep in mind how key improvisation is at the Studios.
On the actual night we were nervous, but it was a hit! When the lights went down and the mix of VJing, DJing and improvisers began I couldn't believe that we had achieved so much.”
The Street Genius project was facilitated by SOWF and Elefest, and was sponsored and supported by the South Bank and Bankside Cultural Quarter.
With thanks to dance artists Katie Pearson, Annie Lok, Jemima Hoadley, Erez Odier, William Thorburn, VJ’s yeastCulture and DJ i-Qui.
Flash Jam
