Here, we chat with Zoie about the challenges of directing inclusive, co-created dance at scale; the joys of working with Critical Mass Dance Collective (CMDC) for a second time; and why mass co-creation is a uniquely rewarding experience for all involved…
Tell us about the show – what’s it about?
The show is called Solara; Solara is no ordinary star.
She not only brings life, strength and protection to the communities who look up to her, but also provides energy for them to harness. Day after day, Solara arrives and the work begins. It has been like this for as long as anyone can remember, with Solara and the communities she powers relying on each other all living in harmony; all dancing to the same tune. When one day an unusual event occurs, it disrupts the universe they all know.
This is a story about interdependence and remembering that we are all connected and when change needs to happen coming together gives us the most power.
What do you aim to achieve by creating a show like this, on this scale?
We are striving to evolve what co-creation en masse can unlock for the individual. There’s an amazing group of people involved as participants and industry professionals working on the project and every contribution counts. The importance of being part of something, with a sense of ownership (the essence of the co-creation methodology) can be hugely powerful and enriching for the individual and the whole team.
Being part of something bigger, on this scale, can be daunting; but when you establish a sense that we are all in it together, people feel less alone – they’re braver to try new things and explore the unknown, making the creative process very playful.
The dancers’ desires are to feel proud of what they have achieved, show people the positive effects dance can have on our lives and share this with others. The remarkable achievements of Critical Mass 22 last year lay the foundation for an even more extraordinary journey this year.
We know the value, in principle, of engaging as an individual in the context of a team – feeling part of something. How do you make it happen in practice?
I’m holding myself accountable as the show unfolds – every idea and decision tracks back to a participant contributed. We came up with commitments to do with how we work together as a group. In some ways it’s a mass onboarding exercise! It comes down to working really hard on people’s understanding of what they’re doing as well as why they’re doing it. It’s about listening, responding and taking people on a journey so they see and value their place in the performance.
Why use dance as a way of creating those experiences?
Dance has a particular type of magic attached to it; it’s such an active thing, in which the body, mind and emotions are experienced all at once. When you are in the performance moment or moving with others you are fully present, not just within the individual, but collectively. The experience could not be more embodied, in that sense. Dance can be intangible unless you see it or do it.
What’s your favourite part of the co-creation process?
Feeding each other is how we do our best work. I love asking people what they want, hearing what they want to say and what’s important to them, and then navigating the collective through a creative process that results in high quality work from and for everyone. I love it because it means asking people to go further than they think they can, and holding that space for them to go beyond perceived limits. It’s about involvement and choice all the way through to inform what’s happening; the responsibility of decision making lies with me as a leader, but I don’t make all the decisions – I respond to the mass consensus and delegate, too!
What are the challenges of co-creation at this scale?
We’re constantly dealing with unknowns and curve balls – it’s not locked and loaded before everyone is in the room. My challenge is to distil down all the ambitions, responses and many ideas, without disempowering anyone, so that we end with a true representation of what everyone’s desires. The instantaneous nature of co-creation can be incredibly intense; you have to have a clear grasp on the direction you are going, but leave room for change. Cultivating an empowered team of people delivering the project is a must.
Your journey with Critical Mass Dance Collective is going full circle – you were involved in last year’s event as part of Birmingham 2022 Festival and Commonwealth Games. What’s it like this time round creating another show with the Critical Mass Dance Collective?
As an artist you have to stay incredibly open; I learned so much from last year and we all want to ensure this is not lost. My way of working has developed so much, with inclusive practice truly informing not just what I make, but how I make it. You have to get comfortable with having no idea how it’s going to play out and trust the process. I thrive in the risk element of creating with people in this way.
The opportunity to do this again is a gift and absolute honour. A year working together is a long time and I cannot wait to see all the participants again and hear what they have been up to. Funders and FABRIC have been amazing and it has been so great to bring the ZoieLogic team along for the ride this time too. There is so much trust and support and will to ensure we do our best: bringing big groups of people together with complex and varied needs, supporting them to truly shine, and collectively leading the way in mass co-created inclusive work.
The festival came about as part of the Commonwealth Games in part as a result of the Olympics Legacy – the spirit of 2012. How are you honouring that over a decade later?
A year on Critical Mass Dance Collective is a festival headliner in its own right, giving the performers a prime slot, outside of an opening or closing ceremony. Since the opening ceremony, some groups have kept going and young people have continued to dance and new people have been inspired and recruited. Critical Mass Dance Collective means many things to people and as we reunite we want to remember and celebrate and grow the Critical Mass Dance Collective family even bigger, that’s our legacy.
What have you learned in this second year of doing Critical Mass?
We have the lived experience of knowing what’s needed – OPUS, FABRIC and ZoieLogic Dance Theatre have a shared language now, a foundation of the relationships from last year, that are enabling us to embed the learning quicker, with great results. Investing in your team and what is needed for them to do their best creates a strong sense of togetherness and allows us to think ambitiously. Leading with art is the way to effect change.
What’s the impact on the individual?
You’d have to ask them! But what I see is people believing in themselves more. They go from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’. They face their fears repeatedly throughout the process and come out the other side showing more confidence because they’ve overcome individual challenges. And they’re bonded, because they’ve done it as part of a team, tackled it together. It’s also a public gift – that’s the beauty of performance, there’s no hiding so it creates the conditions for them to get that sense of achievement and enjoy the shared euphoria of that collective experience.
What sort of future do you see for co-created mass participatory projects?
My drive has always been to challenge perceptions of dance, but I think when we challenge perceptions we achieve beyond what we think is possible, and that’s important for individuals and for the society we live in. I think co-creation en masse is challenging and uniquely wonderful. As such, it’s a hugely valuable human experience, not just for the people involved, but for the people who watch the show, and anyone connected with the process in some way. At ZoieLogic Dance Theatre we’re committed to continuing our journey in mass co-created, inclusive shows and are laying the foundations for an ambitious mass participation work with 800 men in Southampton. Why? Because lives are enriched and changed for the better because of it and well… we like making the unimaginable possible!
Find out more about Birmingham Festival 23 at birminghamfestival23.co.uk
Solara by ZoieLogic Dance Theatre is co-created with Critical Mass Dance Collective, presented as part of Birmingham Festival 23. Commissioned by FABRIC, supported by Dance Leaders Group, and funded by United by 22.
From 19th – 25th June 2022 The HUB returned to Southampton’s Holyrood community for the second year in a row!
The HUB is part of an ongoing programme of activity called We Are Holyrood. Led by Zoie Golding MBE, it marks ZoieLogic Dance Theatre’s third year of summer activity created with and for the Holyrood community since 2019.
It is a continuation of our long-standing commitment to embedding accessible cultural activities in the heart of Southampton communities.
Read on for the lowdown…
The HUB was a space for the Holyrood community to play, listen, share, discover, take part, and get creative. There were activities for both adults and kids, including workshops in dance, photography with In Focus, music with SoCo Music Project, wellbeing with Saints Foundation, creative writing with Artful Scribe, arts and crafts, plus food and culture discussions with TV Chef and Masterchef winner Shelina Permalloo.
Participant during the adult dance and movement workshop
Above: Each day, there were arts and crafts at The Hub. This was usually when The Hub became the centre of busy, noisy and creative activity!
New creative experiences
We worked with 4 local organisations and 6 independent artists to deliver The HUB. The brilliant visual artist Sarah Filmer worked with the community all week to creatively reflect and celebrate people’s experiences of the activities on offer.
Over the course of the week 64 people took part in 14 hours of free creative arts workshops and 16 hours of drop in arts and crafts activities.
Above: Young residents of Holyrood work together in a photographer taster workshop. Below: A selection of images and video clips from the week’s activities. There were writing, musical and dance workshops!
Resident from Canute House
Building relationships
As well as being a place for play and creativity, it was also an opportunity for ZoieLogic and local people to make new connections and get to know each other better!
Above: A time lapse of The Hub during the daily arts and crafts sessions
Community coming together
The ZoieLogic team were beyond delighted that so many different people chose to get involved – the age range of the participants 5 – 95 years.
As well as all of the creative activities, 198 people joined us to celebrate the creative outcomes of the week at 3 live events and 1 film screening on site.
Holyrood residents discussed, created, shared and ate together throughout the week. And some residents are already making plans for their own dinner event to bring people together. We’re thrilled about this and will be staying connected with the community in the weeks and months to come!
Above: Another selection of images from the week. Colouring in was a particular highlight for the young people. Below: A display of handmade journals made by the young people with Sarah Filmer
“What I’ve noticed is that often walking round the estate you’ll see or hear kids arguing or fighting, and this week there has been none of that. The HUB being here has really made a difference”
Holyrood resident
A huge thanks goes out to everyone who took part, to the wonderful delivery partners, and especially the independent artists and community volunteers who helped out: Sam Connis, Rudi, Cheyanne Ettienne-Chen and Ping Harvey
“My boys love the show so much that we are here to watch Ride again for the 3rd time this week!
— Local resident
Getting back on the road
RIDE was last performed in the city during the RIDE: Covid Response Tour, which included nine shows at five care homes and two retirement communities to almost 300 people between 28 July and 5 August 2020.
This time round, we cast three new fantastic dancers – Cameron, Dan and Clive – to join existing cast member Alex. And former cast member Nathan took on the role of rehearsal director for the first time. In March, we dusted off Stanley and set up camp at 101 Outdoor Arts Creation Space to rework the show for the new tour.
“Southampton is our hometown and for the past 22 years we’ve worked with local communities to bring dance into peoples lives”
Zoie Golding, Artistic Director of ZoieLogic Dance Theatre
Connecting communities
As we continue to reconnect with folk in the wake of the pandemic, it was important for us to work with local community groups and make sure as many people had the chance to see RIDE as possible.
Big thank you’s to Sam Connis, Ping Harvey, Julia Jaggard, Siân Tattersall, Ollie Webb, Kai and Rudi for making the tour happen, and Youth Options, The Venny, Abri, Junior Neighbourhood Wardens, Saints Foundation and Friends of St James’ Park for supporting the events and to everyone else who helped spread the word.
With free performances in Redbridge, Weston Shore, the City Centre, Holyrood, Mansbridge and Shirley, the show attracted audiences of over 2,600 local people from across the city.
30% of our audiences told us they’d never seen a live performance before and 73% of the audience were new to ZoieLogic.
“I can’t get over it – having something so amazing right here in Mansbridge for us!”
— Local resident
We were also grateful to our friends in the media, including BBC Radio Solent and The Daily Echo, who helped us reach thousands more people with news of RIDE, both before and after the tour!
Show time
Beep beep! What a RIDE! Strap yourselves in for a rollercoaster highlights reel from the tour…
With Southampton shortlisted to be the 2025 City of Culture, we’re proud to have got this special show on the road again and share some dance theatre magic with our fantastic city.
Thanks so much to everyone who came out to see us take Stanley on tour again – we had a blast! Stanley is back in his garage for now, having a rest before his next outing.
Cast for this tour: Alex Evens, Cameron Woolnough, Clive Rudd and Dan Radulescu.RIDE was originally directed and choreographed by Zoie Golding. 2022 Rehearsal Direction by Nathan Johnston. Music by Duncan Grimley. Written by Matt Beames. Supported by Arts Council England. RIDE was originally commissioned and co-produced by DanceXchange for International Dance Festival Birmingham 2016. It was co-commissioned by Gulbenkian (University of Kent) and Dance Village (Bristol Harbour Festival). Image, video and graphics credits: Cave & Sky, Fee Francis, Clive Rudd
Audience member
What’s Headfunk all about?
Headfunk is a thought provoking and entertaining event, which aims to raise awareness of men’s mental health. Through years of experience we have seen first hand the life changing positive impact that creativity, dance and expression can have on a person’s mental health and wellbeing.
This year we focused on exploring themes of reconnection and bravery – and the wide range of ways bravery can manifest – in relation to men’s mental health.
What happened on the night?
The performers that took to the stage ranged from professional dance artists to local people who had never set foot on a stage in a theatre before. Aged between 5 and 72, each performer bravely took the opportunity to express themselves through movement and share their stories to inspire and embolden others to create safe spaces to talk openly about men’s mental health.
Headfunk would not have happened without the local partners we collaborated with who suported the Headfunk performers and audience on their Headfunk journey – Round About Cafe, Solent Mind, REgeneration, We Are Hummingbird, Artful Scribe.
The evening began with the opportunity for audiences to meet brilliant local health organisations – our partners – through a range of interactive activities around the building before finding their seat in the theatre. The main event for the featured dance performances created specifically for Headfunk, sharing inspiring personal journeys and community stories. Headfunk was MC’d by ZoieLogic collaborator Liam Gifford and Zoie Golding.
Joanne Fisher, Audience member
Headfunk highlights at a glance
50 performers, from professional artists to those brand new to dance, took to the stage to tell their stories, reconnect with people and raise awareness of men’s mental health by sharing their experiences and emotions through dance.
“Headfunk has really come of age as a project for ZLDT, delivering powerful person-centered performances, supporting our participants and audience to be brave, try new things and be mindful of each other’s mental health. The two words I continually hear to describe it are “indescribable” and “moving”. Headfunk participants tell us they have “life changing” experiences with us and we want to enable more people to experience it to understand its potency and impact.”
Vicky Thornton (then Executive Director of ZoieLogic Dance Theatre)
Neil Hanchett – Headfunk Collective performer
Zoie Golding – Artistic Director, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre
This year 70% of those who performed on stage were men.
“I find it so powerful watching men dance, especially men who have never stepped foot on a stage before”
Leigh Johnstone – Headfunk 2021 audience member
“Headfunk has made me feel proud to be a man again”
Ian Hurst – Headfunk 2021 audience member
“The collective were so inspiring and uplifting and I loved the fact that these were men that could be my husband or my brother or a work colleague, not professional dancers, and they were so clearly enjoying themselves.”
Julia Jaggard – Headfunk 2021 audience member
During the lead up to Headfunk we collaborated with 8 different groups of local communities and engaged with them for a total of 95 hours – where, together, we discussed male identity and mental health and used movement to express personal experiences.
What next?
Headfunk isn’t the only place we strive to create safe spaces for conversation about mental health – as our projects and works develop in the coming months, we will be revisiting the themes of Headfunk and continue to collaborate with our Headfunk partners and local communities.
To find out more about future creative opportunities and activities with ZoieLogic Dance Theatre sign up to TeamLogic on our website.
Above: From The Grid Experience in Weston Shore, April 2021. People said they had never seen anything like this before in Weston Shore and it was such a great moment to bring the community together after the winter lockdown
Above: Shared movement in The Grid Experience felt so crucial to bring people together and make them feel like a collective again
Above: The Gridders go freestyle and explore their own movement in Guildhall Square, August 2020
Above: For the Mayflower Theatre Grid Experience, each Gridder used a special light orb
Above: Individual moments from The Mayflower Theatre, Poole and Weston Shore
Above: Zoie leads the Gridders during a warm up session at Baiter Park in Poole, June 2021
Above: Down at Weston Shore in April 2021, thankfully the weather turned out for us!
Above: The Mayflower Theatre was our first Grid Experience indoors, and we were so proud to give people a unique moment on one of the biggest theatre stages around.
It’s no secret that at ZoieLogic the team loves to dance. Whether our job roles involve dancing or not, we still like to get involved. So in Lockdown 3 in January 2021 we started the online Kitchen Shimmy for our staff members.
Not content to stop there, we wanted to share the kitchen shimmy love and invited members of Team Logic to join us too. Team Logic are the lovely people on our mailing list (although we don’t like to use that phrase).
Kitchen shimmy highlights
In January our favourite moment was when Lynda from Holyrood Estate got creative with her use of props and danced with a kettle on her head. It was wonderful. Lynda also dressed up for the occasion and we loved her commitment!
In February the Kitchen Shimmy went global, with a team of office workers in Gibraltar who joined us during the lunchbreak of their staff training day. They took their dancing to the next level and did a fantastic dance off circle, which was fantastic to watch.
“Dancing together online – not as a project, or in a formal way, just informally and purely for fun, has brought us a lot of joy!”
Fee – Project Coordinator at ZoieLogic
We’ve all left each shimmy with big smiles on our faces and a bit of a sweat on!