Series: Enquiries
Ideas explored: music for health and wellbeing
A performance project that celebrates and showcases the creative talents of people living with Parkinson’s.
Supported by Arts Council England and Snape Maltings, HerStory began as a research and development residency held in Jan 2019 at Snape Malting’s Creative Campus. During the residency, artists Amy Mallett, Danielle Teale, Sarah Lewis & Nicola Wydenbach formed a new collective; CARVE coLAB, with a shared vision for developing inspiring artistic opportunities for people living with Parkinson’s.
We want to show the world what people with Parkinson's can do!Company member
Devised in collaboration with the company, HerStory is an operatic performance work combining dance, music, film and animation, celebrating the exploits of a local Suffolk heroine, Margaret Catchpole. The company’s goal is to stage performances of the finished work in Suffolk and London, with a cast including members of the Parkinson’s communities from each location.
Throughout the summer of 2019 CARVE worked with community participants to develop material for the performance in a series of workshops, culminating in an Open Session at Snape on August 20th 2019.
The next phase of the project will see members of the Parkinson’s community in London join the CARVE team for a residency in the Royal Opera House, in preparation for a Live at Lunch sharing of excerpts from HerStory in the Paul Hamlyn Hall on 19th June 2020.
To keep up to date with the progress of HerStory, visit the PROJECT BLOG.
In this project I have seen people stretch themselves and then blossom when they find their involvement is a success. It gave me personally a feeling of wonder, my anxieties diminished and I felt full of joy that my performance was enjoyed and appreciated by an audience.Participant
It’s given me confidence and reduced isolation. It’s given me new friendships. It’s given me something to look forward to. It’s given me happiness and a sense of something achieved. It’s made me feel a little bit special in the fact that we all have something to give creatively.Participant
We all saw the potential to increase self-awareness and confidence which will, inevitably, improve our well-being. It's very rewarding being part of a creative group that, together can pull something like this off especially under the direction of such talented guidance.Participant
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