7 April 2022 13:41

The RAD partners with Take a Part to develop a 'Good Neighbours' programme in Wandsworth

At the RAD we are collaborating with Take A Part CIO on a new partnership designed to put the local community at the heart of our work, as we celebrate our recent move to York Road in Battersea. ‘The Good Neighbours' programme, will see our organisations work together to strengthen and deepen our commitment to Wandsworth, and ensure our new state of the art home becomes a thriving cultural hub for local residents.

We are one of the world’s leading dance education and training organisation with 100 years’ experience in teaching the world to dance. Having been proud residents of Wandsworth since 1974, we have recently moved to a new, state of the art headquarters. Alongside seven spacious dance studios, a 193 seat performance space – The Aud Jebsen Studio Theatre - a shop and a café which will soon be open to the public. This new building offers double the footprint of our old building in a far more accessible and prominent location.

Through the support of socially engaged arts practitioners and leading national organisation for co-creation, Take A Part and our team at the RAD will work intensively over the next year on a series of community engagement events, open days, talent development programming, and mentoring to find out what it means to be a good neighbour. A key part of the Good Neighbours programme is the establishment of an Arts Action Group, a focus group comprised of local community groups and leaders who we will continue to consult as they progress with the rollout of the programme.

Gerard Charles, Artistic Director of the RAD said: "The joy in our work is in sharing with others and we want to be a collaborative partner with the many communities we work with around the globe. The lessons we learn here in Wandsworth will help to positively inform our connections and practices where ever we are in the world."

The programme will kick off with an open house event – a house-warming - on Sunday 8 May, a day where the Wandsworth community can really get to know us, explore our wonderful new facilities and everything we have to offer. Activities will be free and available for all ages and abilities including dance-related arts and crafts, dance taster workshops, as well as face-painting, scavenger hunts, performances and film screenings.

Kim Wide MBE, founder and CEO of Take A Part said, "This is an exceptional programme of working that sees one of our country’s oldest and most significant cultural institutions directly invest in their local community, and ensure they are an integral part of the fabric of Battersea and the wider Wandsworth borough. Projects like this are more and more needed in our society as we realise that the role of culture in our world is to celebrate and represent everyone who lives and experiences it."