180 Young Performers mark 10 years of REWIND and unite for their most epic year yet!

180 young people from across Blacon will take to the stage at Chester Town Hall this March as the REWIND project celebrates its 10th anniversary with its most ambitious production yet!

The REWIND project unites young people through the arts across the area of Blacon in Chester. It is a collaboration of two non-profit organisations - Cheshire Dance and Theatre in the Quarter, that come together annually to create unique, high quality experiences for the young people of the area.
This project has been running for 10 years, but this year, we are going ‘EPIC’!

This year’s REWIND project has a group that meet after school, hosted at Dee Point Primary School, bringing together 50 children from across the five Blacon Primary schools to create unique show that is written, choreographed and shaped by the ideas of the children. They are developing new skills in singing, acting, dance and wider creative skills in an inclusive setting that aims to bring young people together from across an area.

The theme of this year’s show is indeed EPIC – a journey through Ancient Greece, where a group of young heroes must save the day through meeting a series of Greek gods and goddesses to collect five special rings… once the rings are united the first Olympics is born.

Not only this but we are also engaging a class group from each Primary School in Blacon and a group from Blacon High School in the creation, each school group are having eight weeks of dance sessions in school with 10 specialist artists from Cheshire Dance. Cheshire Dance are also providing support for the schools in developing dance/arts provision ahead of the exciting changes in National Curriculum that will see arts brought more front and centre.

Each group is working towards an exciting performance at the end of March at the Chester Town Hall which will see around 180 young people from Blacon, Chester, performing together.

This month, the two organisations hosted all the young people involved in the project at Blacon High school to launch the project. This REWIND CONNECTS event had all the young people singing, moving and getting to know students from other schools.

Theatre in The Quarter is Chester’s leading professional theatre company. Founded in 2005, it has quickly gained a reputation for original music theatre, engaging with professional actors, musicians, directors and designers, as well as numerous members of the community, of all ages and abilities.

Cheshire Dance is a dance charity that is heading towards its 50th year, it provides unique, creative and high-quality dance experience for those who may face barriers to accessing dance opportunities with care and community at its centre. This project forms part of their NEXUS programme that creates space for young people to connect with themselves, their ideas and others, through dance in the Chester area.

This project is highly subsidised through funding from the Westminster Foundation and Earl of Chester and is a part of Cheshire Dance’s NEXUS Programme. Find out more here: https://nexusdance.uk

Headteacher at Dee Point says

“As ever in a large, vibrant, ambitious community like Blacon, it is crucial that we are able to highlight the diverse opportunities for all our children. The relaunch again of Rewind dance and theatre group is one of those magical times when children and young adults across Blacon and the different schools come together through their love of the arts, dance, music and creativity to produce something truly special.

This year too, we are really keen to spotlight the talents of boys in Dance across our community to and urge as many as possible to come along to Thursday nights!! This year it promises to be an even bigger spectacle with whole classes from each primary involved; students from Blacon High as well as the weekly Wednesday night Rewind group collaboration.

Combine this with the talents of aspirational, positive role models from Cheshire Dance and Theatre in the Quarter, we can only brace ourselves for another amazing event to promote the talents of our wonderful children in the local community.

Rewind, now in its tenth year has successfully been empowering the young people of Blacon in enabling them to find a voice and tell their stories through dance, music and drama.”

Emma, NEXUS programme manager (Cheshire Dance) says:

‘REWIND has always been an amazing way to bring the young people of Blacon together, this year is extra special, as we mark 10 years of the project, we are bringing our largest group together to perform. It not only brings together participants but also our two organisations, working with Theatre in the Quarter is inspiring and our partnership goes from strength to strength. In a time where we can easily be divided, the power of the arts unites us together through fun, creativity and learning.’