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The Moments of Joy programme was a 3 year project taking dance and creative activities in care homes within Sheffield and nearby regions. The programme by SYHA and Age Friendly Sheffield
Nisha's reflection:
Walking into a new space with strangers and having no expectations is one of the things I love about being a creative practitioner. From the first session, I realised that I was with a group that had a love of music, dancing and conversation. I was excited about our future sessions. Our main theme was ‘Listen, Love, Laugh’ which was a piece of advice from my 70 year old neighbour who said to me, ‘You know about the 3 Ls? These are the most important things to do in your life.’ Another theme was ‘Inside Out / Outside In’ where we would bring something from the outside world into the sessions and bring the inside world of their thoughts and creativity out. We took journeys to other parts of the world, talked about the 3 L’s (to listen, love and laugh) and had conversations about how much nature meant to them all. Through these themes the individuals:
This material was then used to create short films which were shown to the group during the last session. I feel very lucky to have been able to spend time with an amazing group of welcoming, open-minded and kind-hearted individuals. Through these sessions, the individuals have also got to know each other better. It always made me smile when the room was still filled with conversation as I packed up at the end for the session, or people were still humming or singing the tunes they had heard in the session. After the last few turbulent years, we have had as a society, this project reinforced and was a reminder of the importance for us as creatives practitioners to prioritise human connection for wellbeing and creativity. A very special moment for Sheffield to have Little Amal visit on 29th October 2021. As the first City Of Sanctuary, thousands of people from Sheffield welcomed Amal with open arms. It was a pleasure to work with Sheffield Theatres to delivered dance workshops within the community (Ship Shape & The Furnival) and choreograph the welcome celebration dance for Amal with members of Sheffield People's Theatre and community dancers from Sheffield.
My Family Creates is a project to provide free online creative activities specially designed for SEND families with particular focus on those of families of colour. Many children and young adults with addditional needs have lost the opportunity to experience educational and creative activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. This project access to vital and life enhancing activities delivered by professional cultural and arts practitioners. The pilot project included storytelling, poetry with actions and physical movement. The videos and downloadable activity pack were released on the Huddersfield Literature Festival website as well as being part of the online program for Sangam Festival (Huddersfield) in August 2021. Commissioned by Huddersfield Literature Festival In collaboration with Salma Zaman (Salma & Nisha Creations)
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