Blog: Team Training

Shaper/Caper’s mission is to provide Dance for All.

Part of achieving that mission is understanding the different physical and mental barriers that people might face accessing the arts. We are passionate about trying to improve our learning and understanding of these barriers so that our creative learning work, touring productions and us as a company can support individuals and be accessible to all.

We lead a Dance for Parkinson’s class in Dundee and Fife, we work with young offenders in Rossie Young People’s Trust, we’ve undergone training with Scottish Ballet and MS physiotherapists to deliver a dance for MS class, ELEVATE, we’ve also recently received funding to develop a relaxed version of our successful family dance classes, A Day to Play, for children with autism and ASN.

Our most recent team training last week came from Dundee and Angus ADHD Support Group. We as a team wanted to better understand the condition and what artists can do to help support anyone with ADHD. Not only from a school perspective but also within the workplace, what can we as employees do to support members of the team with ADHD?

We began by looking at ADHD and what it is. What happens differently in the body and brain of someone with ADHD compared to someone who doesn’t. What are the different type of medication available and what effects do they have on individuals. Then moving onto tips to help people with ADHD access our sessions and performances by offering different levels of support. What systems and methods can we use during dance classes, meetings and social gatherings so that everyone can engage fully without difficulty. What can we offer and suggest through our creative practices to people with ADHD to draw inspiration from and implement into their personal life?

Everyone who is diagnosed with ADHD will have their own journey and their own experience of the condition. If we at Shaper/Caper always have that in the forefront of our mind then we can support in a creative way whoever walks through our door. On an even bigger level though, if we as artists can offer inclusivity and strategies so that everyone feels welcome to join in, then we are one step closer to achieving our goal of Dance for All.