Abundance: Stories of Change
These stories of change were collected from three volunteer performers in Abundance - Rowena, Virginia and Anne - following the performances of the work. They follow the Most Significant Change (MSC) evaluation approach, in which people describe, in their own words, the change that matters most to them. Each volunteer performer was asked the same question: what is the most significant change you have experienced as a result of participating in Abundance?
The stories are written up faithfully from reflective interviews, in the volunteer performer’s own words, and are shared with their approval.
“There was a flatness”
Storyteller: Rowena, volunteer performer at Queen’s Hall Arts and Yorkshire Dance
Story collected by: Lizzie Klotz
Abundance was the first process like this I had taken part in, and although I was uncomfortable at the very beginning, uncertain about what would be asked of me, what I really valued – and hadn’t experienced before, particularly as an older person moving – was its iterative nature. Nobody was coming in saying “you do this, you do this”. There was a scaffold, and the question was what would happen with this group inside it. It felt very equal between the volunteer dancers and the professional dancers. There wasn’t hierarchy; there was a flatness. And that meant that I, as an individual, wasn’t scared to contribute. I felt seen, and felt I was contributing to the whole.
That flatness is also where I found my voice, in a way I hadn’t expected. There was a moment in the runs at Queen’s Hall when one of the professional dancers was directing us to move, and I remember thinking: I want to move myself. I want whatever I’m expressing to be under my own volition. That was significant, because my experience of movement from being a child is that I haven’t been that person. My formative memory is a ballet class in a village hall, coming up to Christmas: go and stand in the centre of the room, and we’re going to put a sheet over you. Everybody danced round me. I was the snowman, and I did nothing. I have found it difficult all my life to have confidence in my ability to move to music.
Another profoundly significant moment was the care exercise, where we were invited to ask the group for care in whatever way we felt we needed. All I said was that I wanted to be held. I hadn’t been held for two years. Letting myself be in that place told me that I felt safe – it wasn’t the action, it was the trust. By then we had bonded, been vulnerable and been caring together. And it wasn’t one person who received care: we all received care.
One more thing I really remember: watching the videos of the show. I realised that I didn’t know what I look like dancing. I had been feeling it on the inside, and there it was on the outside: I am confident in moving.
Why this story is significant, in the storyteller’s words. The process gave me confidence in the space, in the group and in myself. I felt safe, heard, and able to say what I wanted. And I want to do more.