Choreographer Call-Out
Choreographer for a Dance Workshop Celebrating Diwali
West End in Schools are looking for a movement or dance practitioner to collaborate with us and our Creative Director in the creation of a new movement-based workshop for 4 to 11 year-olds. The workshop will celebrate Diwali in primary schools and will offer schools an alternative to our existing workshop which explores the Ramayana.
We’re looking for someone with knowledge and lived experience of Diwali, and the ability to help teach others about the associated cultures and traditions that surround the festival.
You will have sufficient knowledge and skills to help create the materials that our workshop facilitators will require to deliver the workshop in schools. This includes the choreography for the workshop and may also include music and supporting video/online resources (more details below). West End in Schools are happy to support the right applicant in the creation of these, e.g. by commissioning an independent composer or by co-creating choreography to make it suitable for the age group.
About the workshop
The specific content of the workshop is up for discussion, as we’re hoping to collaborate with the selected maker to create a workshop that is fun, educational, and inspired by authentic experience and knowledge. It may be inspired by a particular story, tradition, dance, or style of music, but will need to be delivered by dance workshop facilitators with little to no props or physical materials.
The workshop itself will be delivered in primary schools across the UK. In keeping with our existing workshops, it will be delivered in class-by-class sessions for up to 30 children at a time. Ideally it will run for between 35 and 50 minutes, depending on a school’s timetable. It will need to be suitable, or have multiple versions that make it suitable, for Reception (age 4-5) all the way up to Year 6 (age 10-11).
This commission is for the creation of the workshop plan and associated material, and does not require you to also deliver the workshop in schools (though that may be possible if you wish). The workshop will be delivered by our team of freelance dancers, who come from a range of cultural backgrounds.
Aims of the workshop
To celebrate Diwali in schools.
To inform, teach and inspire children to engage with Diwali and its associated traditions.
To be equally appropriate and inspirational for children who have no existing knowledge of Diwali, as well as for children who celebrate it at home.
To encourage creativity and the imagination as children work alongside a professional facilitator.
What the project might involve
A structured piece of creative movement that can be delivered and completed by children aged 4-11 within the workshop time. This may include choreographed sections, creative tasks and improvised sections, to allow the children to explore and express their own ideas.
The creation of supporting resources, for example a high quality video of the dance which children can use in and outside of the workshop to practice the dance.
Composition of a 2 minute piece of music, including the delivery of a high-quality mp3.
As mentioned, West End in Schools are happy to support the right applicant in the creation of aspects of the workshop that are outside your personal skill set.
There is also potential for further collaboration on an additional project, such as the creation of online learning resources and teaching activities to accompany the workshop.
Timeline
Monday 18th April - Deadline for expressing interest. See below for how to get in touch.
Tuesday 26th April - Interviews with our Creative Director, most likely via Zoom (or a similar platform)
May to September - Timeline for workshop creation, to be agreed with the selected applicant. We expect you to have some availability throughout this period to allow ideas to develop, with the bulk of discussion and collaboration taking place before mid-July.
Friday 2nd September - Final deadline for delivering the completed workshop materials
Fee and How to Apply
The fee for creating the choreography and accompanying resources is £200 a day, and we estimate that it will take 8 days of work.
If you can also provide the original music and mp3 there will be a separate fee of £675 for this element of the workshop. The work created will be the property of West End in Schools.
To express your interest please get in touch by emailing Abi at office@westendinschools.org.uk by 5pm on Monday 18th April with your CV and links to past work/samples or a website. Please also confirm your availability for the timeline illustrated.
About West End in Schools
Every child’s imagination should be inspired by the arts. West End in Schools' mission is to use the skills of the professional theatre to provide highly creative cultural experiences for children which they will remember forever.
Each year we deliver dance, drama and Shakespeare workshops and perform musicals and pantomimes in well over 1,000 primary schools all over England, Wales and Scotland.
For the past few years our team of facilitators have delivered our existing Diwali Workshop in primary schools, exploring elements of The Ramayana through dance to a track commissioned from Danyal Dhondy. This workshop has proved popular and we are now looking to create a new Diwali workshop to provide an alternative option to schools.