Thank you to all the people living with dementia, care home staff, families and venues that have supported us on our recent tour of Sharing Joy, a vibrant and colourful interactive show created for people living with dementia, learning disabilities and other neurological conditions.
Performed by a cast of four, Alejandra Bacelar Pereira, Aron De Casmaker, Angela Laverick and Joshua Patel, the performance was staged at care homes, theatre and community spaces, visiting eighteen venues in September and October.
High levels of participation helped audiences to feel included and everyone was entertained by the music, dancing, puppetry and humour. Set in the 1940s and 1950s, the actors wore swinging dresses and best suits, creating a vibrant mood and festive atmosphere. Sharing Joy has been developed with the feedback of many people living with dementia and carers over several UK tours.
Fiona Smith of Breme Residential Care Home, Bromsgrove, commented, “How amazing Sharing Joy was today! The four members from Vamos Theatre were brilliant with our residents. Our residents were all smiling, all engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing from start to finish. It really was an amazing experience for them all.”
Annie, 98, who saw the performance at Wood Norton Care Home, Richmond Village, Evesham, added, “You made us feel young again, my heart was beating so strong.”
Hazel Ratcliffe, our Health Connector, who has co-ordinated the tour, describes what the performance brings to venues, “We have truly loved taking Sharing Joy to such a wide range of care homes and venues and being welcomed so warmly by all. It’s felt such a success because our audiences living with dementia expressed that they felt loved, held and seen. The feedback and photos from this tour tell us that this has happened at a very deep and powerful level. We’d like to thank everyone who has helped make this happen, especially our wonderful audiences.”
Sharing Joy is supported by Arts Council England, Worcestershire County Council, Warwickshire County Council, Worcester Bosch, Haystack Trust and Worcester Arts Council. The show was originally developed in partnership with The Hereford Courtyard, with inspiration from movement-play specialists JABADAO.
For more on the show, see our Arts in Health Performances page
Photo by Peter Bresser