Over the past few months, Yorkshire Dance has developed our connections with care homes in Sheffield and Leeds as part of the We Danced Project and Young at Arts. Aligned with this has been a commitment to developing training opportunities for artists in person centred care and dementia friends, exploring how this can relate back to delivery of an artistic project.

Over 15 artists and care home staff came together for a training day with Dr Richard Coaten (Creative Minds) and Nicky Taylor (West Yorkshire Playhouse) with a follow up artists exchange day due to take place in May 2017.

“Having the chance to get together with other like-minded artists, to share experiences, explore new possibilities and to celebrate the benefits of delivering arts / dance projects within a care home environment, is such a wonderful opportunity and fundamental to ensuring best practice with a person-centred approach, and a continually evolving artistic / creative offer to the homes. There are always new ideas and something to learn from each other, and an incredible wealth and depth of experience to draw from. It is such a treat to have the chance to collaborate with other artists in this way!” Charlotte Armitage

Both We Danced and Young at Arts projects continue to focus on care home delivery in the next six months exploring different ways of engaging residents and staff in movement, music and dance. The Young at Arts Project looks forward to welcoming Luca Silvistrini’s Protein in July 2017 to deliver in two Leeds-based care homes.