Project Dance - What it's all about...

Project Dance is presenting Collective on Sunday 24 July at the Octagon Theatre. It will be a fabulous evening of music and dance showcasing talent from across the south of England.

Collective is a specially curated one-night-only event in aid of the Octagon Theatre development and Project Dance's Young Dancer Bursary Fund.

Project Dance is an arts organisation based in the south of England, which works to broaden dance’s accessibility to society at large.

We caught up with Project Dance’s Founder and Artistic Director James Bamford to find out how Project Dance came about.

“I have grown up always attending the theatre and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue, I started dancing at the age of 9 and loved it.”

James is an all-round performer making his inevitable stage debut in the traditional primary school productions, he made his professional debut at the age of 12 with Evolution Pantomimes as John in Peter Pan here at The Octagon – we are delighted that James is returning this year as Tommy the Cat in our pantomime Dick Whittington!

Even in the diverse world we live in today, growing up as a boy in dance still has its challenges. James has a very positive mind set and believes that people can only make you feel embarrassed if what you do embarrasses you! He has always been encouraged and has had the unwavering support of his mum, but he is well aware that some people don’t have a support network. At the age of 14 James became an advocate for encouraging boys to dance. Once you hit secondary school boys are hit by ‘lad culture’ and as James puts it, even now there is a “potion of poison” against boys in dance. He started making videos about Boys in Dance for YouTube – The Royal Academy of Dance shared his videos on their website, James went on to become part of RAD’s Project B eventually winning the prestigious Kevin O’Hare Scholarship. “This is when I realised that I had a voice.”

Combining football and dancing through his secondary school years, James has experienced people who have had issues with his dancing; but if you can have the strength, support and consciousness to call it out, people start to accept it. His dancing gave him greater fitness and agility to be able to play good football, even captaining his team at one point.

It takes dedication, commitment and sheer hard work to become a dancer. It teaches you to accept yourself. People who dance do it because they love it, it is emotive and expressive. Dance is an emotional education and dance can give you a healthy mind, by tapping into your emotions.

James helped to create a thriving boys dance group at his secondary school – Westfield Academy in Yeovil and performed in many places through Somerset. James is now helping the school to re-build the group after the coronavirus pandemic interrupted school life.

“I was incredibly lucky that I had my mum to support me through my dance journey, but I was so aware that others don’t always have that. I wanted to create a place, a network where young dancers could come regardless of their age, ability and finances and be able to fly. With the right support network you can take that leap and know that you will be alright.”

The Project Dance Company strives to create ambitious, innovative, and ground-breaking professional and youth dance works for stage and screen. The Project Dance Company aims to create exceptional art through a range of creative outlets and in doing so facilitates new professional opportunities within the creative sector for emerging artists.

The Project Dance Company feels passionately that dance can serve as a vessel for social progress, enlightenment, and unity. Historically, being able to engage with dance and theatre as a whole has not been an opportunity accessible to all. The company believes that more can be done to create art which reflects and connects to the vibrantly diverse culture we live in. We wholeheartedly believe that narrative-based work has the capacity to be relatable to society at large and so aim to create work which sees audiences unified emotionally which ultimately can result in a more compassionate, empathetic and understanding society.

James is the Founder and Artistic Director of Project Dance. A performer, choreographer and teacher with a passion for freedom of expression and storytelling through dance, James founded the organisation in 2018 when he was 14 with the ambition of making the arts more accessible. With Project Dance, James has directed three dance films, produced six shows and curated all of the organisation's work since its creation. His dream is for Project Dance to become self-sufficient and continue to be run by young dancers for young dancers, there is no hierarchy, no star of the show just mutual respect for each individual.

This is where James’ heart lies, making dance and the arts accessible and viable to anyone who wants to have a go.

projectdance.org.uk