The personal stories of disabled and non-disabled dance practitioners workingtogether in a shared learning experience.

ReflectorsExperiences of co-mentoring within dance and disability

Written and researched by Sarah ScottPublished by Foundation for Community Dance

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that theinformation contained in Reflectors is accurate andappropriate, it cannot take the place of specific advicefrom qualified specialists, as each reader’s particularsituation requires. Any contract made between any thirdparty mentioned in this publication and the reader shallnot include the Foundation for Community Dance unlessexpressly agreed in writing by the Foundation forCommunity Dance. This publication is not a dancemanual: any dance or other physical activity mentioned in the book in which the reader is unskilled or which isunfamiliar should be appropriately taught and/orsupervised.

The Foundation for Community Dance cannot take anyresponsibility for the acts or omissions of any third partymentioned in this publication. Neither the authors, editors,contributors, directors/trustees and employees of theFoundation for Community Dance make anyrepresentation, express or implied, with regard to theaccuracy of the information contained in this publicationand cannot accept any legal responsibility for any errorsor omissions that may have been made or for any harm,however caused, which results from informationpresented in this publication. The opinions and viewsexpressed in this publication are those of the contributorsand not necessarily those of the directors/trustees andemployees of the Foundation for Community Dance.

‘Overall we wanted to encourage reflectivepractice, hoping that each co-mentor wouldgain increased confidence and understandingas a result of having worked intensively withanother dance artist.’

‘I certainly feel that this time shared togetherhas allowed us both to take a good look atourselves and what we do. Over the length ofthis scheme, I have had the luxury of timeshared with a fellow artist, dancer and friend.’

© Foundation for CommunityDance, 2005

All rights reserved. No partof this publication may bereproduced, stored in aretrieval system ortransmitted in any form or by any means electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recording, in print orotherwise, without the priorwritten consent of thepublisher.

The authors of the workassert their rights under the Copyright, Designs andPatents Act 1988 to beidentified as the authors of this work.

ISBN: 898409 26 9

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Potential is the Foundation’s programme dedicated to danceand disabled people, and was formally established in 2002.Potential aims to increase awareness of and access to highquality professional development opportunities, co-ordinatenetworking, develop on-line information resources, andabove all else to make a positive contribution to theperceptions and profile of disabled people dancing.

The origins of Potential, and the co-mentoring project inparticular, can be traced back to 1999 and a research projectundertaken for the Foundation for Community Dance (FCD)by consultant, researcher and journalist Annie Delin. Theresearch report, Do Dancing, reviewed opportunities fordisabled people to dance in the East and West Midlands, as a participatory arts experience, for recreation and as acareer choice.

This report highlighted the value of peer-learningopportunities and ‘exchange’, in supporting both disabledand non-disabled dancers with artistic and creativedevelopment, exchange of expertise, and knowledge andunderstanding of context. To this end, the Foundation forCommunity Dance developed a co-mentoring programmefor ten disabled and non-disabled dance practitioners, andpromoted this as a professional development initiative ofPotential.

We are pleased to publish Reflectors, a collection ofreflections by participants in this co-mentoring programme.Our intention here is to reveal process, outcome and impactthrough the voices of the participants themselves.

There are many people to thank for helping make Potentialand this co-mentoring programme a reality, in particularSarah Scott, Sue Williams, Sue Akroyd and Emily Horwoodfor their guidance, skill and support, and to Arts CouncilEngland West Midlands and the EQUAL programme of theEuropean Social Fund for their financial support. Thanksalso to the ten co-mentors for giving so generously of theirtime, and allowing us to recount to you their experiences ofco-mentoring.

We hope you find Reflectors both encouraging andinspirational, no matter what your professional role orambition, and that if you have been thinking about yourown professional development – or helping support that ofothers – this sharing of our experiences helps you to reflectupon your own experiences: past, present and future.

Chris Stenton

Foundation for Community Dance

Welcome

4 The wider context: danceand disability arts

4Co-mentoring as professional development

5About the Potential co-mentoring scheme

6Whose voice?

7Introducing the Co-Mentors

13Connections connecting...

14What I wanted to gain

15Are we dancing on thesame floor?

17I didn’t expect that!

18Where did the dance take us?

20So is this the end?

21On reflection

21So what now?

22Some helpful suggestions

Contents

The current definition of disability arts is:‘art created by disabled people whichreflects the experience of disability’.Disability arts initially found its voicethrough song, music, poetry and comedy,‘our words about us’. So, in the pastdance has sat somewhat awkwardlywithin the frame of disability arts; it wasmore often associated with arts therapy.However the last fifteen years or so haveseen dance and disability emerging fromthe wrappings of ‘therapeutic activity’ – apositive progression – but there is stillfurther to go.

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)has contributed to a shift in perspectiveand experience. The fabric of thedisability arts sector and all who movearound it seems to be changing, with agreater appreciation of the diversity thatexists within ‘diversity’.

Many disabled people who want to danceare not aspiring to the mainstream danceagenda: they simply want to move toexpress themselves creatively, and berespected for this. For some disableddancers, their ambitions are absolutelymainstream and driven by a different setof politics. Many non-disabled dancersand choreographers are genuinelyinspired by the rich creativity thatdifferent ways of moving provides,indeed they enjoy being challenged bydisabled dancers who bring their ownspecific experience in dance.

The debate that runs through all thishelped to ignite the Potential initiative –which seeks to build bridges to help spanthe divides between people, places andperspectives.

Sarah Scott

The wider context: dance and disability arts4

Continuing professional development isthinking about yourself and yourprofessional growth. It’s about enablingyou to become more effective, articulateand successful wherever you work indance. It is based on the principle ofvaluing yourself as an individual andfinding the right learning experience,identifying what you need for yourprogression, why you need it and in whatway, where to get it and what to look for.

Co-mentoring, as a form of continuingprofessional development, is acollaborative way of learning. It moves

away from the traditional relationship of mentor (teacher) and mentee (learner)to become an equal exchange betweentwo practitioners. Both individualsdevelop through a dialogue of ideas,questions and thoughts, thereby gaining,as well as offering, knowledge, skills and experience.

Co-mentoring as professional development

‘Co-mentoring… is a collaborative way of learning.’

5About the Potential co-mentoring scheme

We designed the support structure for theco-mentoring scheme after consultationwith arts organisations who were alreadyrunning mentoring (though not co-mentoring) schemes, particularly thoseinvolving disabled artists. Other people’sexperiences told us that we needed tohave certain things in place: induction,Disability Equality Training (DET), thirdparty support, a written agreement,training bursary, expenses budget,budget for access support and a methodfor ‘closure’. We drafted a frameworkwhich incorporated all these aspects.

We worked with disabled arts consultantsSarah Scott and Sue Williams, both ofwhom are experienced in professionaldevelopment and mentoring schemes. As facilitators and advisors they wereinvolved in the planning and delivery ofthe scheme which ensured that thebalance of leadership and managementof the project reflected the nature of thegroup and the aims of the scheme. Sarahalso provided dedicated ‘third party’support to the co-mentors alongside theadministrative support of the Foundation.

As individuals and partnerships the co-mentors set their own aims, organisedtheir own time and decided on theirpreferred way of working. Thus theresponsibility lay with the co-mentorsthemselves and towards each other to‘make it work’, though Sarah was able tosupport them in doing this.

The DET gave a shared reference pointfor disability equality issues and servedto partially reinforce the understanding ofthose involved that this was to be anequal relationship. We didn’t wantanyone to assume it would be thedisabled person doing all the learningand wanted each individual to feel theyhad something to offer as well assomething to learn.

Overall we wanted to encouragereflective practice, hoping that each co-mentor would gain increased confidenceand understanding as a result of havingworked intensively with another danceartist.

This publication provides an illustrationof what co-mentoring can be. As you willsee from reading about the co-mentorsexperiences you can’t predict what willhappen and you can’t prevent somethings from going wrong but by having astrong support structure in place you canhopefully give this the best chance ofworking and provide a beneficial learningexperience.

Emily Horwood

Foundation for Community Dance

Photo credit: Sue Akroyd

6Whose voice?

How is it best to relate the experiences of five pairs of co-mentors, each pairformed by one disabled and one non-disabled dancer, all from very differentbackgrounds, and all coming from thedance rather than disability artsperspective? They are dance artists withvery diverse levels of skill, experienceand professional development.

How to capture an essence of the small,yet significant and sometimes delicatejourneys they took together andindividually during the process of this co-mentoring project? We think it is bestthat you hear their voices.

In talking to each person, asking specificquestions one to one, a story emerges of what happens when you bring peopletogether: an honest and upfrontcollection of expressions about their co-mentoring experience reflecting theculture that they are in, through theirvoices and in their words.

‘A story emerges of what happens when you bring

people together.’

Photo credit: Andrea Testoni

Marc Brew

I was an active child, always doingtumbles and rolls trying to fly likesuperman. With all this energy andacrobatic skills my mother decided to putme into dance class.... I found my outletand an activity where I could expressmyself. After acquiring a disability whileworking professionally as a ballet dancerI didn’t know what to do next. I toldmyself that a dancer couldn’t dance usinga wheelchair, as through my lifeexperiences and training it was unheardof. I searched within for my true belief ofwhat a dancer is and what is dance? I feltthat dance is about expressing oneself,so the fact I was in a chair didn’t matter, Icould still find ways to express myself, itmay be different than before but I candance. Disability might diminishopportunity but not talent: for the lasttwo years I have been dancing withCandoCo Dance Company.

Marc worked with

Tom Sapsford

My child minder’s daughter, who was myage, used to go to ballet and I taggedalong. I trained at the Royal Ballet school,joining the Royal Ballet Company ateighteen where I performed a widevariety of classical roles, made piecesand was awarded a Jerwood FoundationYoung Choreographers Award. A fewyears ago I decided to go freelance andhave since worked with choreographersincluding Siobhan Davies, Mark Baldwinand Wayne MacGregor, made work thathas been presented – amongst others –by The Royal Ballet and The Royal OperaHouse, The Fringe Festival ofIndependent Dance Artists in Toronto andDance Umbrella, appeared in two featurefilms and even a fashion show.

Introducing the Co-Mentors 7Photo credit: Paul Calver

Thomas Clark

As a non-disabled person I had a careeras a mechanical engineer. It wasn’t until Ibecame disabled that I participated in adance workshop. In 1999 I became astudent on the first fully inclusive HNDPerforming Arts in the Community courseat the University of East London. I havesince worked as an inclusive dance artistat schools within the East End of London.As a fully trained co-deliverer of PeopleMoving, a one-day programme run byEast London Dance, I provide training forpractitioners around inclusive provisionin dance. My performance work hasincluded working with Protein Dance,Physical Recall, Tardis Dance Company,Debacle Theatre Company, East LondonDance Integrated Dance Company andLeap of Faith dance company and also ina dance film for Channel 4. Currently I amco-mentoring with Rachel Bradbear atMiddlesex University on adaptingHumphrey Technique for wheelchairusers.

8 Thomas worked with

Ann Dickie

I started dancing at the age of three inCoventry, moving to London to studydance full time aged seventeen. I kneweven then that that I would spend my lifeas a dancer. I trained at the NestaBrooking/Roger Tully Studio combinedwith courses at the London School ofContemporary Dance. I taughtcontemporary dance at the University ofGeneva and danced with companies inZurich and Cologne before joining BalletRambert. I went on to perform withMantis, Second Stride, Gateway toFreedom, Imminent Dancers Group, andYB Dance. I co-founded Lurching DartsDance Company and later worked as anindependent dance artist. I founded,direct and choreograph for the From HereTo Maturity dance company, and leaddance workshops for people of sixty plus;I have led the older persons group Leapof Faith at East London Dance (ELD), andtaught on the CandoCo pilot foundationcourse. My work opportunities areincreasing as I approach my 60thbirthday.

Photo credits: Paul Calver (above) and Dan O’Neill (above right).

Sally Edwards

As a result of attending a CandoCoresidency in Shrewsbury, I became partof a community based dance project andthings continued to grow from there. Iam a founder member of Blue Eyed Souldance company and have performedextensively throughout the UK andabroad in Switzerland and the USA. Iplay an active role with the company’soutreach work, running communitybased open workshops in Shrewsbury. Iam also studying for a BTEC Diploma inperforming arts. I believe that dancing isnot my job, but my dream and destiny. Ilove to perform and teach as it gives methe chance to spread the joy of dance toothers, which I see as a real privilege.

9Sally worked with

Andrea Buckley

My earliest memory of dancing waswhen I was three, performing an Irishdance at a social club in Liverpool. Fromthen on I just didn’t stop - from ballet andtap to gymnastics and disco dance I grewup dancing in the shower, makingroutines in the living room andperforming in many different publicplaces. At the age of sixteen I studied atLaban. Since then I have worked withmany eminent choreographers on theBritish and international scene. As anindependent dance artist I perform, teachand create work in various professionalcontexts in England and abroad. As ateacher my work draws upon myextensive range of improvisation andcontact skills as a way to continue toexpand my interest in dance.

Photo credits: Arnim Freiss (below), Paul Calver (below right)

Aislinn Lewis

I started dancing aged sixteen as astudent at the National Star College,Cheltenham in Gloucestershire where Iundertook a BTEC in Performing Arts;within this there was a dance moduleand the chance to do workshops withCandoCo. Adam Benjamin led aworkshop with the performing artsstudents and some members fromGloucestershire Dance. From that Velcrodance company was created and hascontinued ever since. We devised workwith Sue Smith and Kuldip Singh-Barmiof CandoCo and for the past seven yearswe have worked with Pietro Cardillo.Velcro perform in various places and runweekly workshops for people in theGloucestershire area.

Aislinn worked with

Elisa Sullivan

As a member of my high school danceclub I was encouraged to apply toMiddlesex University, where I completeda degree in Performing Arts.Subsequently I danced with variousfringe companies before joining CarlsonDance Company in Wales. Following aback injury I returned to Liverpool andbecame office based: I was not happy! Iwas then invited by choreographer PietroCardillo to do a project in Poland thatintroduced me to integrated dance. Fromthere I moved to Cheltenham andperformed and created work as part ofGloucestershire Dance. I found throughintegrated dance a way to take myperformance and choreography toanother level of pure truth of body andsoul and I hope that in some way this isexpressed in my work.

10

Photo credits: Sue Akroyd (above and left)

Michael Mitchell

I came to dance after I broke my neck in1983. My interest was driven by thepassion to understand movement fromthe inside out. I then had Zen trainingand began to teach a contemporary formof Sattipathana which looks at consciousmovement in everyday activity. Most ofmy work is within education andcommunity contexts in the South Westregion. I have facilitated inclusive danceprojects including Breath & Balance andSculptured Space, and recentlyperformed at Holton Lee, Dorset and TheArc in Trowbridge. I am an associateartist with Dance South West and REACHInclusive Arts, and am the only disableddance artist currently running my owncompany, Dance Aware, in the SouthWest. With Dance Aware I exploresensing boundaries and develop themeswhich look at disability issues.

11Michael worked with

Sue Smith

I am an independent dance artist basedin Plymouth. After graduating fromNorthern School of Contemporary Dancein 1992 I became a member of CandoCoDance Company working withchoreographers including Emilyn Claid,Siobhan Davies, Guillem Bothello andAnnabel Arden/Jos Houben. I wasSchools Officer for the Council for DanceEducation and Training 1999 - 2002working in collaboration with vocationaldance schools. I became AssociateDirector of CandoCo in 2003 and havechoreographed for Company Pyke andCandoCo Dance Company. My last work,mooching, was performed at TateModern, Sadlers Wells front of house andBroadgate Arena and also toured tooutdoor spaces in Devon. Recent workincludes dance film, web based andoutdoor performance projects. I haveworked closely with CandoCo DanceCompany on the development of theFoundation Course.

Photo credit: Paul Calver

Michael King

I came to dance following a climbingaccident ten years ago resulting in partialparaplegia and a focus on what reallygave me pleasure in life i.e. dance. I hadalways loved dance but didn’t have theconfidence to pursue it before theaccident, (northern lads don’t dance!). Mydance experience has included trainingwith CandoCo, professional developmentwith FRONTLINEdance company, which Ico-founded in 2000 and performing withBlue Eyed Soul dance company. RecentlyI was one of four professional disableddance artists selected to work with JanetSmith and Scottish Dance Theatre onresearch and development for a newpiece for the company.

Much of my work includes directingphysical theatre projects for youngpeople and I have recently beenappointed as Associate Director of HalfMoon Young Peoples Theatre, London.

Unfortunately Michael didn’t get to havethe co-mentoring experience he hadhoped for. It became too difficult for hisoriginal co-mentor to take part in thescheme due to his heavy workload. Asecond co-mentor was found but thenbecame seriously unwell just as theywere about to embark on theirexperience.

12Photo credit: Paul Calver

Connections connecting...

Anne: ‘I met Thomas when I wasteaching the ‘Leap of Faith’ group for ELDabout two years ago. I had no experienceof leading integrated classes when oneterm Thomas, and also a dancer withlearning difficulties, arrived to join. I feltchallenged by this new development andrequested support. ELD responded byputting me on a course run by Jo Parkes‘People Moving’. Thomas was a LearningSupport Assistant on the course and, ashe was no longer coming to my class, wehad the opportunity to renew our contactin a different context. He later joined‘Leap of Faith’ and told me he wasinterested in learning ballet, so I offeredto teach him. Later that afternoon heheard of the co-mentoring project… goodtiming!’

Aislinn met Elisa when they were bothdancing and working for Velcro inGloucester about four years ago. ‘Iwanted to co-mentor with Elisa becausewhen I was working with her I thoughtshe was an excellent dancer and I likedher style.’

Michael Mitchell wanted to understandwhat’s involved in setting up educationalprogrammes and to go along toworkshops and performances. ‘I wasinterested in the educational side ofdance and how it changes people’sperspectives, changing people from theinside. Celeste at CandoCo recommendedthat I approach Sue, though I had nevermet Sue before. I like people that keepmy feet on the ground; I need someoneto pull me up short; I needed someonemore direct.’

13

Sally: ‘Andrea and I had met each otherat various workshops and events oncontact improvisation and over the lastthree years have built a friendship. FCDcontacted me and asked if there wasanyone I wanted to work with and co-mentor.’ Andrea ‘had experience ofworking with people with learningdisabilities and wanted to extend this intoa broader aspect of working inclusively.So when Sally approached me I was keento take up the opportunity’.

Michael King said, ‘I’d worked with myproposed co-mentor before and hadfound it to be the most challenging andrewarding experience. I wanted to workwith him again. However, I had picked abusy person and despite good intentionsand endeavours we never could get tomeet’.

Marc said ‘When I was approached viaCandoCo I knew that I wanted to co-mentor with someone who wasinterested in choreography, someone ofmy ‘calibre’. The fact that both Tom and Ihad a background in classical ballet wasimportant and relevant to us both, andwas what brought us together’.

In some instances people decided to co-mentor with someone they already knew

and even had previously worked with. In others, the skill that was being sought

was beyond their immediate dance world, so they were willing to enter into a

co-mentoring partnership with someone they’d never met, but perhaps had

heard about.

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The focus of Aislinn’s time with Elisa‘was on increasing my insight into dance,researching ideas and stimulus, andpractical choreographic sessions todevelop my confidence in choreography’.

Sally ‘wanted to investigate dancetechnique, to deepen my understandingof what it is, and explore how it could bedeveloped to fit my own physicality’.Initially though, Andrea was ‘unsureabout how to ‘read’ and ‘translate’ Sally’swork in keeping with technique. I feltSally had enormous drive and energyand was really going for it. Eventually, as we worked together finding creativesolutions, listening and not judging each other, we found a settling place.

Creatively I learnt a lot, Sally wanted totravel across the floor, and half waythrough our process I got excited andwanted to find out how it could be madepossible. Early on it was a block thatthrew me, but now it has evolved and Ican see how I could creatively explorethis...’

Sue held ‘stimulating face to face andphone meetings with Michael, duringwhich we challenged each otherintellectually and conceptually. Thisscheme provided a space for goodartistic conversations around issues of

inclusive dance practice, education,choreography and dance on film’.Michael said ‘Our meetings were quiteintense. It was more intellectual. Wediscussed the approaches to movementand how that was contained in aneducational context. I would have liked tohave done some practical work’.

Tom and Marc both wanted to explorechoreographic practice, the process,opportunities, and production. ‘Marc hadthe opportunity for a practical sessionwith CandoCo to which he invited me,this spurred the partnership into gear aswe were immediately workingpractically.’

‘We then looked at how the system worksin terms of grants for the arts etc, andgetting surgeries, and general artsdevelopment. We attended aperformance of Pina Bausch and Tomgave detailed feedback on my rehearsalsfor my work Upside Down and Back toFront, which was part of Resolution! atThe Place.’

Tom: ‘When we held a post performancemeeting, we looked at the reviews thathad been written about Marc’sperformance, all of which mentioned thathe is a wheel chair user, so we discussedhow this affected objective criticism.Marc worked on a choreographic ideawith me, to explore new ways ofmovement through space, he assistedme on a dance piece that I had beendeveloping over the year. I have made afive minute show reel of all the videofootage that we filmed during the co-mentoring phase.’

14 What I wanted to gain

Some pairs were extremely clear and others more flexible about what exactly they

intended to get from co-mentoring. Stating aims in the co-mentoring agreement

certainly helped to keep the focus on what they had planned. Whatever their aims,

most partnerships decided to use their time together talking and sharing as well as

taking some practical time in the studio.

‘As we worked together findingcreative solutions, listening and

not judging each other, wefound a settling place.’

15

‘My co-mentor was constantly remindingme that I was making a contribution andthey weren’t the boss. I was thinking theyhad vastly more experience of dance –what am I able to contribute? Theyreckoned I had insights from the grassroots, I had done movement work forfifteen years, which is different.’

‘I had some uncertainty around accessingmy co-mentor, I found myself wanting tobe more helpful and yet realised that tobe so, I had to respect my partner’s spaceand leave her to it. Creatively, I felt that atfirst I was the one suppressing all herideas, and found myself wondering ‘howcan I empower you without actuallybeing the one to empower you?’ Yet Iwas aware that there was a facilitatingrole I could take. To start with I played itsafe, until I developed my awareness of‘independence’. The word ‘diversity’ is sotrue, as it IS diverse because of people’svarying needs...there’s a lot onepresumes about a situation.’

‘In spite of assurances from my co-mentor I found it very difficult to find anequal balance within the relationship, as Ihad a major sense of taking, rather thanoffering a lot. I still felt it was mostly oneway, I could have done better, I couldhave been more confident...’

‘I had to keep reassuring my co-mentorthat their experience and opinion wasvalued, this became frustrating as it gotin the way of the relationship.’

‘From the start we ‘fell into’ a mentoringrelationship as opposed to one that wasco-mentoring, perhaps this was becausewe had known and worked with eachother for several years previously so ourpattern for relating was already set.Towards the end of our time togetherthough I became aware that someexchange had actually, naturally takenplace.’

Are we dancing on the same floor?

There’s no question that co-mentoring brought varying degrees of challenge for all

involved. Much was provided in the way of initial guidance, but then each co-mentor

had to be responsible for their own direction. The ‘enclosed’ space that this provided

was an opportunity to develop awareness and real experience of different levels of

needs and how to respond appropriately.

‘It’s very strange,because a co-mentoringrelationship is quite intimate but you need to maintain distance tobe able to say its notworking for me!’

Photo credit: Phillip Kamerer

16 ‘I have never been in an equal settingbefore in my life, I’ve always been in asituation of being told what to do!’

‘Had it not been for the co-mentoringproject, for me, there wouldn’t have been such an open and frank exchangewith a wheelchair user.’

‘There’s not always going to be an evenexchange, we had times when it wasuneven and then times when the‘balance’ was felt.’

‘There were moments like for examplewhen we were rehearsing in the RoyalBallet studios, I noticed how peoplelooked and reacted to me, I felt I stuckout like a sore thumb, this must havebeen the first time they’d seen a dancerusing a wheelchair... had to be a step inthe right direction!’

‘Its very strange, because a co-mentoringrelationship is quite intimate but youneed to maintain distance to be able tosay its not working for me!’

‘In the studio it was about creating workwith the body you have. My co-mentorworked me hard, he challenged me! Itsnot often I have the experience ofsomeone wanting to choreograph on me specifically.’

‘It made me realise that we don’t always know what someone needs and reminded me to be open to whatdifferent people need.’

‘It made me realise that we don’t always know

what someone needs and reminded me to be open to

what different people need.’

Photo credit: Paul Calver

17I didn’t expect that!

‘I didn’t expect... what we ended updoing. I had a very clear interest inexploring dance technique but this wasnot compatible with where my co-mentor was coming from, so we endedup investigating techniques aroundcontact improvisation. It provided acommon language base from which wecould work, as we both had experiencehere.’

‘I had not expected to do what we didand we did so much. It proved to me that anyone can follow the principles ofballet technique, there are hugemisconceptions and the challenge is tofind suitable ways of adapting thetechnique, it was very unexpected andexciting. I found it very inspiring becausehe’s so talented, if there wereexpectations we went beyond them,because our rapport is good.’

The unexpected can bring both positive and negative experiences. Several of the

co-mentors were surprised to find that certain boundaries blurred, even though the

induction day provided guidelines around the issue of establishing and maintaining

appropriately agreed boundaries. A couple of co-mentors were more open to being

flexible, to ‘go with’ whatever the co-mentoring phase manifested. Others discovered

that there’s a danger in having high expectations, fixing on them and by doing so

missing the ‘exchange’ that has actually taken place.

‘I didn’t expect that I’d become goodfriends with my co-mentor.’

‘Anything unexpected?...having myperspective of things challenged,particularly the way I put them intowords. My co-mentor has got very sharpideas of inclusivity. I would have said thatmy ideas are inclusive and embracediversity and that is housed in myvocabulary. It is helpful to use the wholebody, identify with it. She gave mealternative routes. I thought in myexperience at the time, that I was(embracing diversity), but it’s beneficialto move your range of experience andareas. We were challenging current ideas.We both challenged one another’s pointof view. Trusting where we are bothcoming from – to maybe dissolve oldideas and bring new ones through.’

‘I expected a more personal exchange.’

‘Not only did I not expect to never get to meet up with my first proposed co-mentor, but I certainly did not expectthe second to suddenly fall ill just as theco-mentoring phase was about tocommence!’

‘I didn’t expect the generosity of theperson – to share so much – often there’sa lot of competition in this field, but inworking with my co-mentor I found himvery open with loads of experience andknowledge, and I didn’t feel judged byhim, even during the feedback session.This was very constructive.’

Photo credit: Sue Akroyd

18

‘I am more confident about beinginstructive, I have more confidencegenerally. I have started to choreograph apiece on paper, putting down ideas andpictures and found a dancer/teacher whois keen to work with me in thisdevelopment, which will include workingup a proposal to the Arts Council.’

‘I felt able to accept the invitation fromCandoCo to teach on their FoundationCourse because I knew that I had thesupport of my co-mentor. This co-mentoring experience has been veryrelevant to my professional development,as my main thrust of work is with maturestudents professionally and in thecommunity, and with that comes achanged physicality, which provides theopportunity for different approaches todance. Chances are I’ll employ a disableddancer in the future.’

‘I gained an appreciation of theimportance of good organisational skills,time management and communicationskills. It was a very exciting opportunity,to be able to work in a studio with

Where did the dance take us?

This pilot scheme was intended to test whether co-mentoring is an effective

mechanism for professional development and a beneficial way of sharing

knowledge and experience between disabled and non-disabled practitioners.

someone you’ve chosen, to cometogether from different professionalbackgrounds and find a movementvocabulary from which to work and learnfrom each other. Having said that it didn’tmeet with my expectations, I wasdisappointed to have to drop my plan,but at the same time it was a positivelearning experience and has made memore certain it’s the area I want to focuson.’

‘We had good communication based onrespect for each other’s work andexperience and we definitely connectcreatively. He gave me a lot – I learnt alot, he’s an excellent teacher. I have someunderstanding of how to transfer ballettechnique to a disabled dancer, toimplement the technical principles and toadapt – I have a different approach.’

‘The very fact that this was a co-mentoring project made me ask myselfmore questions around my approach toit, and getting the balance right. It helpedme to reflect on what’s my way ofworking inclusively, what is my teachingpractice.’

‘I’ve learnt about leading a class orworkshop, delivering to a group, gettinginto the mind of a non-disabled artist toidentify their fears in teaching disabledpeople; and it has opened my awarenessand understanding of ballet. Since westarted I have been supporting a teacherin a class of Year 1 degree students in theHumphrey Technique. This has broughtme to allow non-disabled people to usemy wheelchair which gives me support,as someone else in the class needs toremember the moves we set.’

Photocredit:SiânJones

19‘The whole experience gave meconfidence because it has made me lookat things a different way...’

‘Prior to this I had made the decision toleave the dance world, to stop dancing,so it felt particularly meaningful for menow to have been able to share and passon my knowledge and experience to mypartner. Also, from a choreographer’spoint of view, I have come to realise howclear you have to be if you are a disabledchoreographer, there is a very real needto be very focused and sure of one’sinstructions.’

‘I have appreciated the time and goodopportunity that this has provided to lookat my working life objectively. At thesame time it has given me practicalexperience, and I feel I have confidencethat there’s no longer an issue there, thedifference is not as large as I thought. Myoverall awareness around accessgenerally has been affected.’

‘I’ve learnt about applying what I knowinto a completely different context, and Ican share my work with someone I didn’tknow at all and invite feedback.’

‘The whole experience, or rather the lackof any co-mentoring partnership takingplace, has taught me persistence! Moreseriously though I have also come to

appreciate the value of improving myown means of communication. I havelearnt too from observing the other pairsof co-mentors, and found it inspiring thatthey have found ways for ‘transitions’ totake place.’

‘Having gained more information and agreater knowledge about the arts worldin London, I am now working onopportunities as an independent artist;Tom was good about introducing me tosome useful people in the dance world.’

‘The opportunity to work practically withCandoCo during my partnership hasforged a connection with them, it wasthrough these opportunities to get intothe studio that I felt I have learnt themost.’

‘I acquired teaching skills and an insightto building a degree programme. Shegave me an insight into formal things,the tools of the trade if you like. I think Ihave more confidence about directingmovement and I gained some feedbackon who to approach, contacts. I gainedan appreciation around not doing things‘to’ people but ‘with’ people; in the past Ihad a more therapeutic approach andnow I am more attentive to not making achange to someone, to allowing them to‘be’ and accept who they are.’

Photo credit: Paul Calver

‘I’m going to video a duet that I haddeveloped prior to this with anotherdancer. I also intend to complete thedance piece using the teaching andchoreographic plans that I have beenworking on throughout the process andElisa has offered to support me when she can.’

‘It gave me a taste of furtherpartnerships, good leaders. I like to gohand in hand – in the past I have been alone wolf....a sole director. The sign ofthe times for me is collaboration andinteraction. I am looking at building aneducational programme for people toenjoy their movement and to bringdisabled facilitators more to the frontline.’

‘We are already working on creativecollaborations together, teaching andchoreographing, its been a greatexperience and a continued workingrelationship has come out of it, we justdon’t have this framework or the financesto facilitate it now. I am making a DVDpromotion of my work and developing aproposal to the Arts Council. We arecollaborating on a choreographicexploration titled ‘Move It’ – Exploring

new ways of mobility’. ‘I find Marc’sability to dance whether in or out of awheelchair truly riveting to watch and Ithink that we both feel that there ismileage in exploring these ideasfurther...’

‘It has encouraged my curiosity tocontinue my studies and exploration into dance technique.’

‘It’s a great exchange. The next time I teach in London I will invite my co-mentor along.’

‘I want to develop as an artist, I want todo more ballet with Ann, and more workon the Humphrey Technique so I can runmy own classes and I want to do morechoreography. I plan to develop aproposal to the Arts Council for apersonal development programme, andAnn and I are talking about setting up anintegrated ballet class.’

‘I always thought disabled people wereseparate, had different needs, but now Iam looking forward to the opportunity toattend a professional class with mixedabilities.’

‘We’ve got grand ideas, this is the seed ofan on going project which will involvemore people learning ballet. We’ve got togo through the whole vocabulary ofballet and we’re both keen to do it – itfeels like pioneering work, and if youhave the belief that everyone shouldhave the opportunity to pursue what theychoose to in life then this is the start of it.It will be pure learning to lose thetraditional class structures... in this kindof work you respond to the moment...’

So is this the end?20Co-mentoring has taken some dancers through a learning journey from which

they need to emerge and move on. However for others, it is just the beginning

of collaborative exploration and creativity either independently or with their

‘ex’ co-mentor.

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credit: N

ick Gu

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‘Proud of myself.’

‘Positive about it now that I’ve seen myco-mentor. She seems full of life andmuch more confident.’

‘Slightly unsatisfied. I had a feeling myco-mentor had a lot to teach me. Thathasn’t happened. Nonetheless it is anamazing opportunity and a uniqueexperience. It’s an attempt to fulfill agaping need...’

‘Good – we’ve made something out of it.We have been able to explore, challengeand broaden each other’s perspective ofdance and choreography.’

‘Very satisfied, empowered, I know a lot more now than I did before.’

‘Quite bitter because of a personality clash issue. It’s a really good model, and I would definitely do it again withsomeone else.’

‘Quite proud of myself, with the publicitythat’s gone out people are recognisingme, are aware of the co-mentoringproject and have asked me questions,they have realised that we’re useful, it’sreversed roles...’

‘I certainly feel that this time sharedtogether has allowed us both to take agood look at ourselves and what we do.Over the length of this scheme, I havehad the luxury of time shared with afellow artist, dancer and friend.’

On reflection...I feel...

We hope that now you have read about the experiences of the co-mentors you will beinspired to seek out or provide your own opportunities for co-mentoring.

We can provide additional information to help you with setting up your own scheme ifyou are an organisation, or your own co-mentoring arrangement if you are anindividual. We have a suggested framework, a blank template for the co-mentoringagreement and information about budgets and expenses. These are all things that wewould have found useful when we were embarking on this project.

These documents are all available to download from our website

www.communitydance.org.uk or can be emailed or posted to you if you contact our

offices. All information is available in alternative formats.

So what now?

21

Photo credit: Andrea Testoni

Whatever you do...don’t

● Be tempted to have unrealistic expectations

● Make assumptions about people’s professional development needs

● Enter into this thinking ‘this is not work’

● Pick someone who is just too busy

● Assume disabled dancers want ‘just any experience’

Whatever you do...do

● Research your co-mentor options

● Be clear about the time commitment involved

● Make time for your needs

● Be really clear about ground rules and stick to them

● Emphasise the need to respect and stay within agreed boundaries and respect personal boundaries at all times

● See it as a professional commitment and not a personal relationship

● Have a clear idea of what you have to offer, and what you need to know

● Have a third person present when drawing up a co-mentoring agreement

● Understand that making the agreement is very important and once agreed it should be taken seriously. If you don’t you may jeopardise the experience for yourself and your partner

● Be very focused and put in time towards it

● Have very clear objectives but expect the unexpected, a lot can happen in six months

● Keep communicating with your co-mentor

● Leave your ego at home

Organisations should consider...

● Having check points set before the project starts to ensure everyone’s on the move with it

● Providing a framework to ensure that co-mentors are confident and clear about what they have to offer in the partnership

● Not being afraid to challenge the co-mentors

● Providing the space for a discussion around contemporary dance and community dance, and also about disability issues within these as part of the induction day

● Building in time to the evaluation day for co-mentors to talk about what they’ve done. Don’t just focus on the experience of co-mentoring as people may want to talk about their artistic findings too.

Some helpful suggestions22

The Foundation for Community Dance would like to thank the following:

For support in finding the co-mentors:

Dance South West, East London Dance, CandoCo Dance Company, Gloucestershire Dance, West Midlands Potential Monitoring and Evaluation group.

For advice and support in the designing of the scheme:

Full Circle Arts, Arts Training Central, Magpie Dance Company, Writernet, Sound it Out, Tin Productions, Graeae, Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Acknowledgements

Sarah Scott

Sarah has worked in the arts for twenty-fiveyears mainly in the field of deaf and disabilityarts in theatre and on television. AfterElmhurst Ballet School and Guildford Schoolof Acting she studied Deaf Theatre and SignSong in the USA and initiated and led thecreative development of Sign Song in the UK.Since then her experience spans fromperformer and producer – Basic TheatreCompany; board member and performer –Graeae Theatre Company; Deaf DevelopmentOfficer – Unicorn Theatre for Children;Director – London Disability Arts Forum; Chair– Ch4 Disability Advisory Committee;Combined Arts Officer and then DisabilityArts Policy Officer at the Arts Council ofEngland (ACE). She assisted Jo Verrent atADA inc in the DADA (Dance and DramaAwards) research carried out for DfES. Shehas been the Disability Arts Advisor for ACENew Audiences Programme, Advisor forHeart ‘n’ Soul Theatre Company, and hasbeen and is mentor for several disability artsmanagers.

Sue Williams

Sue has worked in the arts and disability fieldfor sixteen years with a particular interest intraining, education and development. Suecurrently wears many hats working for ArtsCouncil England as Disability Officer at theLondon Office and also developing the

For advice, ongoing support and writing this publication:

emergent National Disability Strategy atNational Office. Previously she was theCreativePeople (the professional developmentnetwork for the arts) Disability Co-ordinatorbased at Arts Council England – and stillworks closely with CreativePeople on anumber of projects.

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credit: S

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kroyd

The Foundation for Community Dance is the UKdevelopment agency for community dance. It works for the development of community dance, and forgreater access to high quality community dance for all.

Potential is a strategic programme of the Foundationfor Community Dance which focuses on dance and disabled people. The main aim of Potential is to improve the access to and quality of opportunity for disabled people who wish to engage with danceeither as a recreational activity or as a professionalopportunity.

We produce monthly Potential Email Updates to keepyou up to date and connected with news, events andopportunities relating to dance and disabled people. To subscribe to this free, international service send

an email to potential@communitydance.org.uk with

subscribe in the subject heading.

Foundation for Community DanceCathedral Chambers 2 Peacock LaneLeicester, LE1 5PXTel: 0116 251 0516Fax: 0116 251 0517Email: info@communitydance.org.ukWeb: www.communitydance.org.uk

This document is available in alternative formats.

Photo credits: Mark Pepperall (front) and Andrea Testoni (back)