We are delighted to announce that we will be facilitating the very first Mini Mela Festival in Woking this February. A celebration of South Asian Cultures, the event, in collaboration with Amina Khayyam Dance Company, will bring the best of new South Asian arts to the city centre in this exciting event.

Packed with head turning dance performances, comedy, film, music and talks & discussions – the festival will take place at The Buzz Studio, Woking from Thursday 23rd February – Saturday 5th March 2023.

With a jam packed itinerary, there is sure to be something that will appeal to all.

Events are still being added but the full list of events can be found below.

We are currently looking for community groups who are interested in performing at our Mini Mela Community Dance Platform. For more information on this event please visit our events page – Mini Mela Community Dance Platform

Dance Woking is looking for experienced dance teachers and community practitioners to join our outreach team on a freelance basis.

The focus for this work will be to join the delivery team, working in schools and in the local community for Spring & Summer 2023 where you will be responsible for teaching groups who may or may not have dance experience.

You will need to ensure that all students are engaged, motivated, and inspired through dance to build
their self-esteem and confidence. You will be expected to have a minimum of 12 months proven teaching experience with young people, in addition to a professional dance background or training. Dance Woking delivers a variety of different projects across Woking & Surrey that includes a variety of dance styles, and participants with a range of ages and abilities from 5 – 17 years.

We have a host of exciting events coming up and we would love some new outreach team members to help us deliver a successful programme of events.

For more information on the role, please visit our opportunities page

Dance Woking is delighted to announce that we will be on the road in March touring our popular Travelling Tea Dance and are now accepting bookings!

The event will feature a mix of dance performances and participation opportunities, inspired by Spring and is led by 2 professional dance artists, and a facilitator. The team bring resources related to the event theme to support participation and last approximately an hour.

Now in it’s 2nd year of touring, We have tested the format under various themes and can’t wait to bring some Spring Fever back to the residents and brings the perfect mix of participation, performance, fun and length.

The Spring Travelling Tea dance will be held over the week commencing 13th March 2023 and we are now taking bookings. To find out more and to book your date on the Spring Travelling Tea Dance please contact us or visit our events page

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The Travelling Tea Dance forms part of our work focusing on the older members of our community, to support their well-being through connectivity and supports five ways to wellbeing through the following:

• By connecting with others
• Being active
• Take notice through the themes and dance styles
• Learning through new dance steps and styles
• Give – through shared memories support

This week sees the Dance Woking team return to our partners schools and community groups to commence our Spring Inspired Learning programme.

We are currently working with 9 school groups and 4 youth groups, facilitating dance clubs that will benefit participants’ well being and fitness whilst also improving self confidence and their dance knowledge. Participants will be working towards our future platforms and festivals with a mixture of dance styles and creative outlets.

We can’t wait to see how the groups progress this term!

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Dance Woking’s engagement programme is called Inspire and provides opportunities to take part, perform and watch. Young people get access to outstanding professional dancers and dance companies. Participation can be through a series of workshops culmination in sharing’s / platforms/ or personal development; Participants learn new skills and ways of moving and doing, choreography and teamwork. The projects may be linked to platforms and celebrations events taking place in a variety of different settings including indoor and outdoor settings.

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If you would like your school or youth group to be part of our Inspired Learning programme please contact us. Alternatively, for more information on what we can offer, download our Spring Education Outreach Brochure.

Dance Woking is kicking off 2023 with some very exciting plans for you to watch, take part and perform with us throughout 2023.

After a busy 2022, we are continuing with our inspired learning and outreach programme in and around Woking. Plans are well underway and each event page will be updated as we get more information but in the meantime don’t forget to save the dates – we can’t wait to see you there!

January

• Inspired Learning Programme commences. Want to join one of our partner schools or youth groups? Click here for more information.

February

• Mini Mela Festival – A Celebration of South Asian Culture. The first South Asian mini festival in Woking – with head turning dance performances, comedy, music and workshops. Click here for more information.

March

• Spring Travelling Tea Dance. We are once again touring the local community with our travelling tea dance. Want us to visit your residential home or community group? Click here for more information.

April

• Hunky Dory Easter Holiday Club. We are returning with our popular holiday club provision with Club4. Click here for more information (coming soon!)
• Surrey Youth Games dance sessions commence
• The Kings Coronation – Saturday 29th April will see us take to the town centre to celebrate our new monarch

May

• May Festival at Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking. A week of events at our local theatre including theatre trips and opportunities to perform in our very popular Surrey Schools SLAM Platform (23 May), Moving Beats Platform – Boys dance (25 May) and Woking SLAM Community Dance Platform (27 May). Interested in joining us? Click on each of the links for more information.

June

• Enrichment Activities – Dazzle Days were extremely popular last Summer term – find out more about what we can offer here.
• Surrey Youth Games – Saturday 17th June will see our SYG group perform at the Surrey Youth Games

July

• Encounters Outdoor Festival – 1st July – We return to Woking with our fantastic outdoor festival. Want to perform? – click here for more information
• Enrichment Activities Continue

Want to hear more? Make sure you join our mailing list for the most up to date information!

Events for the rest of the year are also in progress – please keep checking our website for more information on our November platform week at Rhoda McGaw Theatre.

Dance Woking were once again thrilled to be able to offer a holiday club provision over the festive season in collaboration with Active Surrey’s Club4 scheme.

The Hunky Dory Christmas Club was a roaring success with participants learning festive party dances, creating tree decorations, making Apple Berry Crumble for pudding and learning some well-being skills to keep in their toolkit for future use.

The Club4 Scheme requires attendees to be provided with healthy meals, physical activity and enrichment opportunities. As part of the enrichment side, we used snack time as an opportunity to create Christmas themed rice cakes with wise choice toppings (apple slices as eyes, pretzels as ears etc). The participants got incredibly creative and turned rice cakes into snowmen, pokemon and even Christmas trees!

The sessions before Christmas culminated in a mini Christmas party complete with temporary tattoos, face paint, dancing, games and disco lights. After Christmas, the provision focused on postive affirmations for a New Year Calendar and Winter Olympic themed dances!

It was wonderful to see some new faces join us from the local community whilst also seeing previous attendees return to develop their love and knowledge of dance.

We are currently preparing our Easter Holiday Club provision. If you’d like to hear more, please visit the Hunky Dory Easter Club page.

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This programme is possible as a result of funding from Surrey County Council. Club4 is Surrey County Council’s (SCC’s) response to the government’s Holiday Activities and Food initiative, designed to provide healthy meals, physical activity and enrichment opportunities to children and young people in receipt of free school meals during longer holidays. Coordinated by Active Surrey for SCC, free places will be provided during the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays.  

Dance Woking once again collaborated with Stanwell Events Community Project to facilitate the activities on their Christmas project Fit and Fed.

Over the course of 4 days our Outreach Team danced, created artwork and had lots of fun with the local residents.

The activities were Circus and Winter Olympics themed with the participants learning basic circus skills, creating New Year Affirmation Calendars and learning all about the Winter Olympics.

The sessions were well attended and we can’t wait to return throughout 2023 – starting with a very exciting Tuesday Night Youth Project!

In the lead up to the festive season, Dance Woking went back on tour with our Christmas Travelling Tea Dance.

Over 3 days, we toured residential homes in the local area, giving residents a chance to watch, interact and move with a little added festive spirit.

The event featured a mix of dance performances and participation opportunities, inspired by the festive season, including nods to The Nutcracker, The 12 days of Christmas and Winter warmers. Halfway through the sessions, tea and cake were served and allowed all participants to interact with each other.

Residents were thrilled to have the team visit again with some commenting “I am full of admiration for what you are doing. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”  and another remarking “The dancers make it look easy, but all this movement takes a lot of effort. I feel like I have really worked and earned my cake!”

Ellie Dowling, Project Manager and Engagements Manager for Dance Woking said “The Travelling Tea Dances are a wonderful, essential provision that provide a different style of activity for Care Homes due to the interaction and participation involved. Care homes staff fed back that they often have musicians and singers come in – the residents listen and enjoy it – but the Travelling Tea dances encourage and stimulate memories, responses, laughter, bonding with fellow residents and in many cases, much needed communication and companionship. “

Thank you so much to the venues and residents that allowed our tour to visit them. We hope they all enjoyed it and can’t wait to visit again soon.

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We are now in the process of booking venues for out Spring Travelling Tea Dance Tour. If you are a local residential home or community centre that would like us to bring our tour to you this Spring, visit our Travelling Tea Dance Event page for more information or contact us.