In August, Dance Woking partnered with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures to connect communities and individuals who have been isolating due to Covid19. Over two days our team visited 18 different venues in and around Woking bringing the Doorstep Duet tour of live dance to so many within our community. We visited care homes, assisted living venues, residential settings, school activity clubs and saw over 350 people benefit from the performance. Watching the reactions of the lucky audience members  was so inspiring and we were thrilled to bring dance back into so many of their lives again.

This project supports Dance Woking’s work with isolated communities and particularly those over 65 through our weekly online Dance Gold sessions and Social Tea dances.  This project compliments this programme of work as well as the work we deliver in partnership with other communities in and around Woking. 

Thank you to the New Adventures team for coming to Woking and bringing so much happiness to the people we visited!

Following the success of our Hunky Dory Summer Club, Dance Woking are thrilled to announce that we will be offering two 1 day dance, arts & crafts workshops over the October Half Term!

The Activate Holiday club will run on Tuesday 26 October and Thursday 28 October from 10am – 2pm each day.

The club will provide a fun and safe environment for all abilities and whilst there will be dance each day, the focus is on us providing a fun, active and creative week for all participants! No dance experience required!

The club is suitable for children in Primary School Year 4 to Year 6. Registration starts each day from 9.45am*, with a jam packed day of activities starting from 10am.

At Dance Woking we believe in creating active and engaging opportunities to inspire the younger generation. Our Activate Holiday Club aims to promote health and well being whilst also allowing children to find new ways of expressing themselves. Our highly qualified and experienced team will lead a range of creative activities including daily dance sessions and arts and crafts activities.

Each day is priced at £15 with block booking discounts available on request. You can book your place via our website here. Please contact us for more details on block bookings

It’s that time of year and we are once again looking for local dance groups who would like to perform at our Contemporary Community Platform INNOVATE on Saturday 20 November 2021 at Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking.

Groups must be working mainly in Contemporary dance, all ages and abilities are welcome. Please note that there is a registration fee of £35.00 per group.

For your chance to take part, please complete the apply here. The deadline to apply is Thursday 30th September.

Dance Surrey Directory Members benefit from discounted rates to participate in our platforms. Dance Schools can become members of Dance Surrey Directory at anytime throughout the year. To find out more please visit our Dance Surrey Directory page

Dance Woking are now actively recruiting for new graduates to join our Outreach Teaching Team. If you have just graduated from a dance course or are an experienced freelance dance teacher we would love to hear from you!

We are now delivering in person dance sessions and are looking to expand our teaching team. A well-established network of freelancers support Dance Woking’s small-dedicated staff team. For more information contact us or to apply please visit our opportunities page

Inspired by Dance Woking’s Imagine Kantha Project, the installation will be based within Woking’s Peacock Shopping Centre from Thursday 9th to Saturday 11th September.

A unique performance/ installation of kanthas and kathak dance narrating local stories originated during Covid lockdown, taking over of a local empty unit in Woking’s Peacock Shopping Centre, reimagining perceptions and conventions of the performance stage.

Dance Woking and Women’s Liaise Centre, Woking, partnered with Amina Khayyam Dance Company (AKDC), to engage with our connected community groups and schools using online apps to create art and movement using Kantha to embroider their experiences and stories.

AKDC has taken the stories and created a Kathak (South Asian Dance) inspired installation, which will be performed alongside a live music score from Borodin’s Nocturne, adapted by a creative team, featuring internationally acclaimed artists for Indian instrumentation.

Dance Woking were supported by Arts Council England, The National Lottery Awards for All Scheme and Woking Borough Council.

AKDC were supported by Brunel Arts with support from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Community Fund, zeroculture/The Artta, Awaami Arts Associates, Collage Arts and Dallow Community Centre.

For more information, to register your interest or to book tickets click here:

It’s finally September which means our fabulous Autumn CPD programme can commence!

Our first in person event is on Thursday 9th September sees our in person seated dance CPD with the brilliant Kate Finegan. This event is open to all and will be a fabulous opportunity to learn a new skill to help your dance practice. Click here to book your place today!

Dance Woking has secured some exceptional CPD and Creative Industry Insights for the Autumn. Forthcoming insights include seated dance (in September), Wellbeing (in October) to fundraising (in November). We hope that within this blended offer there something that appeals to you. If you have a CPD idea or Creative Industry Professional you would like us to consider as part of our programme please do let us know.

CPD events are available to book via our website and are open to all. Creative Industry Insights are exclusively for Dance Surrey Directory and Dance Surrey PRO members only and booking details will be sent out via email.

You too can join our thriving local dance community by signing up here

Introducing Matilda Maginnis – A Dance Woking Associate Artist

Matilda is a performer, choreographer and teacher based in Woking, Surrey. Matilda trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance graduating in 2018 with a First-Class Honours Degree and then went on to complete an MA with Emergence graduating with a Distinction in 2019. Since graduation she has worked with a variety of companies including, Ascension, Dance Woking, Stagecoach, DRIFT, FRONTLINEDance, Rees Dance, iiD, Sarita Piotrowski & R.W.D. In 2020, Matilda joined forces with fellow dancer Hannah Woodliffe, to create H&T, a company which shares work that portrays issues and topics through dance and is accessible to a diverse range of audiences through outreach workshops.

She says of the opportunity: “Being a Dance Woking Supported Artist is a privilege and I relish the opportunities that it will bring. Bringing a collective of like-minded people to discuss, share and develop thoughts and ideas will make us all more rounded artists.

“I’m passionate about performing & creating dance work that is accessible to a diverse audience. I like to use socio-political themes as a catalyst and hope in turn that it resonates with those who watch it.”

Tilly is sharing a excerpt of her diverse range of performance work on our Instagram page today.

As the industry began opening up earlier this year, Tilly has been busy performing at festivals. This week she has been at Surrey Arts Studio working on a piece with H & T Creative & she looks forward to sharing some of her more recent work soon.

You can find out more about Matilda by visiting her profile page here

Dance Woking developed the Supported Artist Programme, a new annual programme, to support up to 11 local dance artists and creatives living or working in Surrey to help them either re-establish their practice or begin it and help make working within Surrey a more sustainable proposition. Each week we will be introducing you to one of our supported artists and showcasing their ongoing work, achievements and capabilities. For more information about the scheme please click here

Introducing Wesley Bingwa – A Dance Woking Associate Artist

Wesley is a performer, dancer and choreographer based in Surrey. Wesley graduated from De Montfort University, Leicester and recently completed a scholarship funded MA from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. He recently took centre stage at Dance Woking’s Boys Platform in March 2020 and is thrilled to become a Dance Woking Associate Artist. Wesley is the artistic director for Boyz in Motion Dance Company.

He says of this opportunity: Being a Dance Woking associate artist means being one step closer to being an impactful artist and choreographer. I have always been someone who care about the growth of dance in Woking and I would like to be a significant figure in that process. I have spent the couple years studying the craft and watching mentors work. It is now about trying to create and take opportunities created by platforms like these.

“I want to create a space where dance doesn’t have to be full bodied experience but rather an internal space, using hand movements, breath and speech to enhance the experience “

Wesley is sharing an excerpt from a  piece called ‘ARRIVAL’. It explores the idea of migrating and what is arriving, as well as the idea of home. Originally performed in 2019 as part of Black History Month, the piece will be getting expanded for the next Black history Month hopefully in the Buzz theatre. Wesley will be one of the performers alongside his brother Tanaka and exploring how they can make the story personal by working with someone he ARRIVED with to this county.  You can watch the excerpt on our Instagram page.

You can find out more about Wesley by visiting her profile page here

Dance Woking developed the Supported Artist Programme, a new annual programme, to support up to 11 local dance artists and creatives living or working in Surrey to help them either re-establish their practice or begin it and help make working within Surrey a more sustainable proposition. Each week we will be introducing you to one of our supported artists and showcasing their ongoing work, achievements and capabilities. For more information about the scheme please click here

Introducing Sarra Whicheloe – A Dance Woking Supported Artist

Sarra is an experienced Bharatanatyam Dancer, teacher, choreographer and Natural Voice practitioner and the director of Harmony Arts.

Sarra has trained in Indian Classical Dance, Bharatanatyam in India as well as in London. Indian Classical Dance integrates stylised movement with theatre, set to a rich tapestry of melody and rhythm. Her work through Harmony Arts draws inspiration from stories, songs and poems from within our own communities and from across the world.

She says of this opportunity: “Being part of the Dance Woking team I hope to excite more people about the wellbeing benefits of Indian dance – it is the dance of Yoga. I also hope to offer more creative projects in primary schools improving literacy through dancing stories.”

“Dance brings people together in creative dialogue. Using movement, music and storytelling we enrich our lives, build communities and care for our planet.”

Sarra has been showing various videos on her social media channels throughout the week. We’ve shown a snippet of a Lakshimi Dance that Sarra has produced on our Instagram page but more information on the dance and instructions can be found below via her Youtube Channel. The Lakshmi dance is for Beginners and especially girls age 9+ .

Sarra will be sharing a video of a work in progress on her Youtube channel this evening that she has been creating alongside Fabrizia Verrecchia.  It is the first half of a dance on the 5 elements. These elements are expressions of the goddess of creation, Bhuvaneshwari. The piece is a solo performance that is being created for outdoor and online dance events. Be sure to subscribe to her channel to see the video premiere at 6.30pm tonight!

You can find out more about Sarra by visiting her profile page here

Dance Woking developed the Supported Artist Programme, a new annual programme, to support up to 11 local dance artists and creatives living or working in Surrey to help them either re-establish their practice or begin it and help make working within Surrey a more sustainable proposition. Each week we will be introducing you to one of our supported artists and showcasing their ongoing work, achievements and capabilities. For more information about the scheme please click here

Introducing Matt Walker – A Dance Woking Supported Artist

Matt Walker did his professional training at the Urdang academy and is now an international dancer, choreographer, creative director and teacher with his weekly Ombrascura Dance company class taking place at London’s Base Dance Studios. Matts combined performance and choreographic credits include The XFactor, The Brit Awards, Chris Brown, Cheryl, One Direction, Mariah Carey, to name but a few, see Matt’s profile for more details.

Matt is very passionate about training the next generation of dancers and currently teaches not just all over the world as a guest choreographer but at many of the UKs top dance studios and colleges such as Italia Conti, Stella Mann, The Urdang Academy, GSA, Pineapple Studios and Base Studios.

He says of this opportunity: “ I am looking forward to building upon an already well established youth work programme and look forward to facilitating top level dance classes, access and opportunities throughout the borough alongside Dance Woking as a Supported Artist”.

“Gaining more creative and platform opportunities to showcase work, receiving feedback from like-minded artists, and working with even more aspiring artists means we can strive for greatness together”

Matt has chosen to focus on his dance company The Urban Dance School as part of showcasing his work. Matt created a fantastic behind the scenes video of their rehearsal time at Dance Woking’s ‘Slam’ performance in 2019.

The Urban Dance School teaches anyone and everyone to dance, from beginner to professional standard, aged between 5 to adult. The classes are friendly and enjoyable and focus on hip hop, Breakin, popping, house, waacking, locking, acro, improvisation and choreography. The classes are taught on a weekly basis across the south west of England. You can find out more information about The Urban Dance School via our Dance Surrey Directory.

You can find out more about Matt by visiting his profile page here

Dance Woking developed the Supported Artist Programme, a new annual programme, to support up to 11 local dance artists and creatives living or working in Surrey to help them either re-establish their practice or begin it and help make working within Surrey a more sustainable proposition. Each week we will be introducing you to one of our supported artists and showcasing their ongoing work, achievements and capabilities. For more information about the scheme please click here