Coiled Up - A new Sababa Co. Production

Hi there!

My name is Bar Groisman. I am a Cambridge based choreographer and founder of company Sababa Co., a contemporary dance theatre company working with emerging artists.

 

I create physical and theatrical works that push the boundaries between movement, words, music and objects. I like working with topics such as, love and relationships and presenting their complexity in a physical form.

 

I have presented my work as part of the Resolution Festival in London at The Place, in Leeds at the Riley Theatre, and recently shared my work at the Cambridge Junction J3 studio and ADC Theatre in Cambridge. I was commissioned to create and present my work in Lund, Sweden in Summer 2020 and I am currently working as a dance company member with DanceEast, based in the Jerwood Dancehouse, Ipswich and movement directing for the Junction Youth Group, Cambridge, while continuing to develop this new work.

 

Sababa Co. have recently been successful in receiving funding from Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant for the research and development of a new work, called Coiled Up. It is based around my and other women's struggles with the impact of hormones. Growing up, I was never told about the emotional & mental impact of my period, PMS or contraception. You do go a little bit mad even if you are young and a long way from menopause. Fortunately we have moved a long way from committing women into asylums, but there is still a lot to be done and we need to talk about PMS, PMDD, pills and contraception without shrugging or raising our eyebrows.

 

That is why, as part of this project, I will be going into schools and leading movement based workshops for students who have started their period, aged between 14-18, tackling these subjects and empowering them with information and confidence to understand their bodies better and communicate their emotions more easily and without embarrassment. The project provides a much needed platform to tackle the lack of information for young people; all the information I did not have access to growing up.

 

The ACE funding is giving me the support I need to start working on Coiled Up with my dancers and supporting Sababa Co. in our first steps into its creation. But I still need your support, now, more than ever. The ACE funding is giving us £14,880 but our costs are a little higher and we need you to help us raise the final £1,000. We are so nearly there and just need your support to push us over the edge.

Examples of what your generous donation could contribute to:
• Travel for the dancers to get to and from rehearsals safely
• Accommodation in Ipswich for the company to stay together whilst they rehearse
• A fee for a photographer and videographer to come in to rehearsals and capture our work, providing much needed marketing material for the company and our work in the future
• A workshop fee for a local schools, allowing teenagers to learn more about the arts industry, connect to their bodies and explore their emotions about an important topic through creative outlets.

We are about to start our work in the studio very soon and will spend three weeks researching and creating. The process will require us to be open, vulnerable and brave and ultimately we hope lead to a meaningful impact, and more open conversations about periods and emotional turmoil for those who experience them.

Please donate as much or as little as you can to an emerging dance company who are incredibly passionate about this topic. It will be much appreciated. Any donations over our target amount or leftover funds that aren't used for this specific R&D stage, will be earmarked and dedicated for use for the future of the work and to support the company going forward. This could include a second R&D period to finalise the piece, or we hope, a tour and performance run!

 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me via the company’s website - www.sababacompany.co.uk
Thank you <3

 

Choreographer: Bar Groisman

Performers: Polly Constance, Rose Lewis, Corrie McKenzie and Fay Reilly.

Producer: Alison Thomas

Composer: Milo McKinnon

Photographer: Elly Welford

Videographer: Becca Hunt

 

Funded by Arts Council England & DanceEast

In partnership with DanceEast & Cambridge Junction

 

With special thanks to:

DanceEast

Cambridge Junction

South East Dance

Léa Tirabasso

AWA Dance Charity

Protein Dance

Northern School of Contemporary Dance Sigal Spigel

Junction Youth Group

Long Road Sixth Form College
Impington Village College

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.