Welcome! 
 
It is an absolute pleasure to welcome you to this amazing venue, Cultver and to our Rekindle performance. Today is the culmination of a very special project, made more poignant by the enforced two year gap in being able to meet, create and dance together due to the Covid pandemic. 
 
Rekindle is funded by the Arts Council of Wales Lottery and we are hugely grateful to be able to deliver this unique project. Projects such as these, act as the seed bed for creative talent and give members of the community the chance to engage, excel and shine. 
 
The Rekindle project commissions professional dance artist to work collaboratively with our two flagship groups Monmouthshire Youth Dance Company (MYDC) and Monmouthshire Connected Dance Company (MCDC) The aim is to support and nurture creativity and provide opportunities to develop key dance, choreographic and performance skills.
 
Members of MCDC and MYDC lead the whole process shortlisting, auditioning and making the final selection, commissioning choreographers they feel inspired by to work with them to create new dance pieces. This year the groups have commissioned three dance artists, Alex Marshall Parsons has worked with MCDC, Sam Amos has worked with all MYDC groups and Jack Philip has worked with MYDC seniors. All of the pieces have been created collaboratively and all members are actively involved in the creative process.
 
We have many new members in MYDC which is amazing, for many this is their first project. For others this is their 2nd, 3rd, 4th project! Our senior group is small this year, but perfectly formed. Many senior members have gone on to university and the usual progression route through the groups has been disrupted due to Covid. All of our senior group have been with us between 8 and 11 years and are fantastic advocates for what is possible when members commit to the group. 
 
The core of Dance Blast’s vision is to create of a welcoming and creative environment in which to ignite, nurture and cultivate the performing arts in all its forms from community to professional practice and to establish Monmouthshire as integral to the arts sector in Wales. We do this by nurturing individualsʼ artistic development, whether they are members of our community or professional artist. 
 
The Dance Blast team.