Lucy Blazheva: Community Dance Artist at DanceEast
Current community dance projects
Writing project with Mid-Suffolk schools
This two year writing project aims to inspire creativity in Year 5 and 6 pupils in schools across Mid-Suffolk.
The programme will focus on using dance as a tool to help children engage with subjects across the school curriculum. Pupils will get to see performances at the DanceHouse, and will be encouraged to review them and create their own related dance pieces through sessions with Lucy.
As Lucy is a qualified Arts Award Advisor the scheme will also draw on
Arts Award Discover and
Arts Award Explore.
Springfield Junior School and Gainsborough Library
Lucy continues to run weekly fun dance classes at Springfield Junior School, and is working with Gainsborough Library to deliver dance sessions for members of the library’s youth group.
Historical projects
Adult and Community Services
This project enabled older people to become active through dance. Activities primarily took place in the Stoke and Alexandra wards of Ipswich and at the Jerwood DanceHouse on the Ipswich waterfront. Over 65 people were engaged in the ACS project.
Venues/groups involved:
- All Saints Church;
- Karibu (support group for African women and their families in Ipswich and Suffolk);
- Shaftesbury House Residential Home;
- Vinnicombe Court Residential Home.
Princes Foundation START project
As part of the Princes Foundation START project 17 class rooms of Key Stage 2 children accessed three performance packages a year at the DanceHouse, over a period of three years. These young people also received a dance workshop themed around each performance to further build on their cultural experience.
The four associated Ipswich schools were:
- Halifax Primary School;
- The Oaks Primary School;
- Ranelagh Primary School;
- Hillside Community Primary School.
A number of children who took part in this scheme now attend dance classes at the DanceHouse, including Hip Hop and Musical Theatre Dance.
Boy's project in Colchester
Over a period of five weeks, boys with no previous dance experience from The Gilberd School, Colchester, took part in Olympic themed dance classes led by Lucy. Pupils learnt hip hop and contemporary styles, leading to a performance in July at their school’s end of year show.
Polonaise on the Pier »
The vision for Polonaise on the Pier was to create an international
dance event integrating the diverse cultures within the UK educational
sector. This event took place as part of Big Dance 2012, in partnership
with Hungry Arts and Vision4Arts.
Biography
Lucy was awarded a full scholarship from Trinity Laban and embraced the
BA (Hons) Dance Studies course, focusing on Contemporary Release,
Graham, Cunningham and Contact Improvisation.
After graduating, Lucy went on to teach at EssexDance (now
DanceDigital), leading parent and toddler classes and adult
contemporary. She then went on to work within the Essex community,
teaching creative dance and contemporary dance technique as a freelance
artist to Key Stage 1 - 5 pupils.
In 2008 Lucy returned to Trinity Laban to study the Postgraduate Diploma
in Community Dance. Since then she has taught movement and introductory
choreology* at the East 15 Acting School, University of Essex, and
Adult Contemporary Technique at Trinity Laban. Lucy is currently
lecturing at University Campus Suffolk and is an Arts Award Advisor.
Lucy teaches weekly classes at the DanceHouse and runs Suffolk Youth Dance Company, one of DanceEast's Perfromance Groups. She is also a tutor for the DanceEast Academy, delivering classes in contemporary release technique.
*Choreology is a system that is used to understand the nature of human movement. More information:
Specialist Diploma: Choreological Studies, Trinity Laban.
