Beyond The Darkness
By CoDa Dance Company
We are CoDa – a multimedia dance company specialising in dance and neurology
As the Floor Shifts (film) and (The Moment) Everything Changed (interactions) form part of a body of work – Beyond the Darkness that we have been developing iteratively over the past three years, using dance and cutting edge creative technologies to shed light on the hidden stories of people with neurological conditions and disabilities.
Our Artistic Director, Nikki Watson, has a personal connection to this world because her mother has MS. Nearly all the work CoDa has created since Nikki’s mum’s diagnosis has been about these experiences. Very few people know how to recognise conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurons Disease, Gillian Bar’s Syndrome and Acquired Brain Injury, or how to support someone experiencing the unusual symptoms that come with these conditions.
Beyond the Darkness is about giving voice to communities that aren’t normally given a space in the cultural sphere. Their hope is that this work raises people’s awareness of what it’s like to live with a neurological disability so that we can all be a bit more understanding and compassionate towards people who may move in the world in a way that is unfamiliar to us.
To ensure authenticity, CoDa collaborates with Lived Experience Consultants (LECs) from the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, all of whom live with neurological conditions. These LECs have guided the work by sharing their personal stories, providing feedback, and influencing the research and creation process.
The work is a collaborative effort that amplifies voices from communities often excluded from cultural conversations. The aim is to enhance understanding and empathy towards those living with neurological disabilities, encouraging us all to be more compassionate towards people who navigate the world in ways that may be unfamiliar to us.
Facts and Figures
1 in 6
of us has a neurological condition
1 in 5
Deaths is due to a neurological condition
800,
000
hospital admissions every year result from neurological problems
Every 90
seconds someone is admitted to hospital with a brain injury
Over 9,000
neurosurgical operations take place every year
Support for Issues Raised During this Project
If you have been affected by any of the topics raised today, you can access support through a number of trusted organisations including:
Our Lived Experience Consultants
Find out more about some of our LECs – the people who help shape our work and make sure it authentically reflects their lives.
Creative Team
Artistic Director & Choreographer
Nikki Watson
Executive Director & Creative Producer
Elise Phillips
Performers
Jodie Honeybourne
Claire Lambert
Maiya Leeke
Nikki Watson
Lived Experience Consultants
Ruth Balkansky
Laura Dajao
Tom Mercer
Teresa Scott
Anne Watson
Nick Wheeler
Multimedia Artists
Andra Ciacoi (PlayLa.bZ)
Marius Matesan (PlayLa.bZ)
Creative Technologist
Marius Matesan (PlayLa.bZ)
Sound Composition
Jeph Vanger
Motion Capture & Animation
Bertie Sampson (Immersive Me)
Production Assistant
Vernon Kavanagh
Film Editing
Matt Bartram (Cave & Sky)
Dramaturg
Lou Cope
Digital Access Consultants
Sarah Pickthall
Stuart Waters
Mentors
Collusion
XO Labs
Your Feedback
Please tell us what you thought about your experience today. Your feedback is vital in order to secure future funding for our work.
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Thanks to our Funders & Supporters
Arts Council England
National Lottery Community Fund
People’s Postcode Lottery
Essex Community Fund
Thurrock CVS
Thurrock Local Authority
Co-op Community Fund
Aviva Community Fund
The Albert Hunt Trust
Dance Network Association
The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability
DanceEast
South East Dance
Arts Outburst