Our tour of Sharing Joy opened this week with the first of thirteen performances at Sanctuary care homes in the West Midlands area. The show, which features a mix of short scenes, dance, live song, ribbons, parachutes, balloons and a singing dog, has been developed with inspiration from JABADAO, an organisation which creates opportunities for people of all ages and energies to be exuberantly, and physically, playful.
The opening performances, at Ravenshurst Care Home in Stourport, Regents Care Home in Worcester, and Cranham Care Home in Warndon, were received with joy and laughter by residents and staff. The dancing proved particularly popular, with many people enjoying the 1940s and 50s music. Director Rachael Savage commented, ‘the performances today were truly joyous, and it has been a real pleasure to perform for such a lovely mix of people. We’re so looking forward to visiting Sanctuary’s other care homes over the next two weeks’.
An audience member at Ravenshurst, Joy aged 87, thoroughly enjoyed the show saying, ‘I never knew it could be like this!’
We’d like to thank all who have seen the show so far for being such positive and playful audiences, and to Sanctuary Care for commissioning us as part of their Shine project, which aims to shine a light on the talents of care home residents through a variety of creative arts.
Sharing Joy is sponsored by Sanctuary Care, The Eveson Charitable Trust, Worcestershire County Council; Councillors Liz Tucker (Pershore), Graham Vickery (Redditch North), Lucy Hodgson (Malvern Chase), Luke Mallett (Bromsgrove West) and Derek Prodger MBE (Bedwardine) through the Worcestershire County Council Divisional Fund. The show is created in partnership with The Courtyard, Herefordshire’s Centre for the Arts.