Contemporary dance, Live music, Performative events

SIZE OF COMPANY
6–15 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small-, middle- and large-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Director
Mark Williams

Arts Development Manager
Zoe Gilmour

Office Manager
Rebecca Matthewman

Communications Manager
Clare Thomas

Road Manager
Keith Walton

Communications Assistant
Ono Dafedjaiye

ARTISTIC POLICY
Heart ‘n Soul is an interdisciplinary arts organisation, led by artists with learning disabilities. Its primary art form is music, but it also creates physical/visual theatre, dance, film and digital arts. Heart ‘n Soul is renowned as the creator of cabaret nightclub event The Beautiful Octopus Club and The Squidz Club, which is a participatory cultural event for young people.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
‘[Heart ‘n Soul shows] how it is possible to celebrate learning disabled culture within mainstream society.’ The Stage

‘Radical cultural work.’ Arts Council England

‘[Heart 'n Soul has] deserved every morsel of success they've found with the sheer passion and brilliance of their unique productions.’ DAIL Magazine

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Street Arts – Look! A Dance and Music Piece for Public Spaces An ensemble of four Heart 'n Soul dancers work with up to 60 local participants to create a dance piece for a local public space. Performing to highly produced Heart 'n Soul music they will explore the theme of the gaze in a high profile location. Recently performed in London’s Trafalgar Square as part of The Liberty Festival.

The Beautiful Octopus Club and The Squidz Club The original participatory events showcasing and celebrating learning disability culture in performing and digital arts on several stages. Collaborating with local artists to create a high quality inclusive interdisciplinary cultural experience. (Up to 4 hours, 6 on stage and 12 on the road.)

Heart ’n Soul Unplugged A live music show with an intimate, acoustic setting. Soul, jazz and world music vibes complemented by a rich digital landscape. (60 mins, no interval, 7 on stage, 11 on the road.)

FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
Three Divas Minika Green, Sabrina Maynard and Lizzie Emeh deliver raw funk, sweet jazzy soul and blistering rock backed by the Heart ‘n Soul Band augmented by the mighty power of the Raging Horns and hip-hop MC Lloyd Brown. (60 mins, no interval, 11 on stage, 15 on the road.)

An Evening with Heart 'n Soul Young Heart 'n Soul artists, Heart 'n Soul Dance, and funk punk trio The Fish Police provide an evening of new original music and contemporary dance. (120 mins, intervals with DJs, 7 on stage, 11 on the road.)

Live Heart A multimedia, live art and improv show directed by Guy Dartnell (Improbable collaborator) and featuring Catherine Long, Danny Nasirpour Smith and Chris Brierley. (40 minutes, no interval, 3 on stage, 7 on the road.)

WRAP-AROUND
Heart ‘n Soul provides a wide range of wrap-around activities tailored to the precise needs of the booker. This could be an after-show discussion, a session for people with learning disabilities in a topic such as careers in music or consultancy for arts professionals wanting to set up and/or develop cultural activities involving artists and audiences with learning disabilities.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2006 South Korea (Heart 'n Soul Unplugged)
2004 – 05 Ireland (education/music residency)
2004 Bahrain (education/music residency

TOURING AVAILABILITY
All available from January 2008, with the exception of Live Heart, which is available from April 2008.