J’AIME SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023

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F E AT U R E Freefalling into dance A GROUNDBREAKING MIDLANDS DANCE COMPANY WHICH CHALLENGES PERCEPTIONS AND GIVES OPPORTUNITIES FOR TALENTED DANCERS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IS CELEBRATING ITS 21ST ANNIVERSARY THIS MONTH. AMY NORBURY DISCOVERS MORE FREEFALL DANCE COMPANY IS CELEBRATING ITS 21ST ANNIVERSARY. PHOTO BY DREW TOMMONS Every week for two hours at Birmingham Royal Ballet’s studios, a group of ten highly gifted dancers meet to hone their classical dance skills, work on exciting new choreography and prepare for performances. Working alongside Birmingham Royal Ballet staff, freelance artists, senior teachers and teaching assistants, the dancers of Freefall Dance Company have been breaking new ground with their accomplished and innovative ballet work for the past 21 years. But the thing which makes Freefall stand out in the dance world is that each of the exceptionally talented dancers has learning disabilities. Formed in 2002, Freefall evolved from a number of different projects in partnership with Fox Hollies Special School in Birmingham, a school with performing art status. Freefall’s artistic director Lee Fisher, Head of Creative Learning at Birmingham Royal Ballet and himself a former BRB soloist, saw immense beauty in the unique movements of the dancers at Fox Hollies and recognised the need for provision for post-school young people with a passion and commitment towards dance. And so, Freefall was formed. Freefall continuously achieves and exceeds beyond expectations and stereotypes. The dancers’ hard work and determination to succeed enables them to improve and create breathtaking dance routines admired by critics. Their impressive performance films have received international acclaim and the annual Freefall showcase performance is a highlight of the Midlands dance calendar. The company’s 21st anniversary, which launches on September 18, is set to be celebrated with a festival of newly-created dance pieces, performances, films and an exhibition at Birmingham Hippodrome. Lee says: “Freefall was about creating opportunity and provision, but equally, if not more so, being excited by the creativity and the aesthetic that these young people had, and about giving a platform for those talented dancers. “Initially, it was formed with six dancers, who we’d worked with through those previous projects, not least Cafe Atlantic, which was a project based on David Bintley’s ballet ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café. It was about giving those guys an opportunity for more structured and formal dance training, but also a space to be creative, to be choreographers and to be performers and, like BRB, to build a repertoire.” 30 www.jaimemagazine.com
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