Deb Mansfield

Help us create a safe and supportive space for adults of all abilities to just dance.

ARTBEAT is a weekly free-form dance workshop for adults of all abilities. 'Free-form' means that there are no planned steps or moves, no choreography, no memorisation, no goals, no expected form, sequence or outcome. ARTBEAT is about individuals discovering their own creativity and moving their body to their own rhythm. With continued weekly practice participants notice an increased capacity for creative thinking as well as improved self esteem, coordination and fitness. Most importantly, they discover freedom.

ARTBEAT was established with the conviction that dance is for everyone and every body.  ARTBEAT is unique because it encourages adults of all ages and from all backgrounds, abilities, and demographics to participate in a reliable and holistic practice, providing a space for connection and solidarity between community members.

We work closely with all participants to establish a safe and supportive environment for them to experience ARTBEAT in a way that works best for them. This process includes discussing accessibility requirements and other needs with the participant and members of their support team if required.

THE RULES OF ARTBEAT GROUP WORKSHOPS

1. We must all be able to hold an interest in dancing for 1.5 hours.

2. We do not talk to, touch, or try to dance with others while ARTBEAT is in session.

3. ARTBEAT is a no phone zone.

We also run individual needs workshops for participants who are not comfortable dancing in a group, or who are unable to meet the rules of ARTBEAT group workshops.

Who are we?

DEB MANSFIELD

Deb is an artist and dancer who passionately inspires expression through free-form dance. In the beautiful light filled dance studio, she creates a welcoming and fun environment where participants are able to tap into their inner-dancer with confidence and freedom.

Deb has been an artist since 2000, and moved into free-form dance in 2013. She has 17 years experience teaching contemporary art at Australia's top universities, and founded the Just Dance (Chippendale) school in 2015.

As a contemporary artist Deb has worked across photography, sculpture, performance and ceramics, but the creative outlet she finds the most rewarding is dance. Deb's passion to introduce free-form dance to the broader Sydney community, continues her ongoing commitment to include people of all abilities into the life-changing world of dance.

HARRIET BODY

Harriet is an artist, educator, and arts worker who loves to dance! She is passionate about creating accessible and safe dance experiences for all students, supporting them to explore their own individualism and discovering freedom through dance.

Harriet has seven years experience in art-education for adults with disability and dementia, working in various public galleries as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Art and at Studio A. She has practiced Iyengar and Vinyasa yoga for over ten years and has developed a dance practice over the past 3 years. Harriet is a practicing artist, working in painting, textiles, ceramics and performance. 

A bit of history.

Harriet and Deb met in 2013 and bonded over their mutual love of dance. They spent many hours discussing how dance influences and inspires their individual visual art practices. Deb moved to Newcastle in 2014 and joined Just Dance, a weekly drop-in, free-form dance group founded by Maggie Hensel-Brown. Upon returning to Sydney, Deb established Just Dance (Chippendale), and Harriet was its most eager member.

Deb and Harriet recognised the importance of dance being something that any person can do and, realizing that Just Dance was attended by a majority of young, able-bodied people, decided to establish a new type of free-form dance group that actively seeks and encourages members from a wide range of backgrounds to attend - providing a space where people from all walks of life can dance together.

BEGINNING WITH INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

With ARTBEAT's ethos being about accessibility, we knew that only one weekly group workshop wouldn't cut it. We would need to establish individual needs classes for people who couldn't, or who didn't want to, comply with all the rules of ARTBEAT for groups, or who simply wanted some one-on-one attention and a class tailored specifically to their needs.

At the beginning of 2018 we began our first ARTBEAT Individual Needs workshop with Zakaria Ghomris, a dancer who has Down Syndrome. Zak is 21 and has previous dance experience with contemporary choreographers both in NSW and interstate. He chose to work with ARTBEAT because it is a positive counter-balance to the instructional nature of traditional dance classes. In his individual needs class, Zak is learning to free himself from instruction and to dance for himself, not for an audience.

AND THAT BRINGS US TO NOW

We are now ready to begin ARTBEAT Group Workshops - a more informal, drop-in workshop for groups of people who want to establish a weekly dance practice. This is where you come in!

We are looking to raise $2700 so that we can establish weekly ARTBEAT group workshops at Summer Hill Community Center. 

The costs involved are:

• $500 key deposit
• $366 Public Liability Insurance
• $100 music licensing fee to APRA AMCOS
•  $1680 6-month hall hire fee

= $2646

ARTBEAT charges $20 per class. This money will go towards covering these costs every year so that ARTBEAT can grow and continue to bring our community together through dance for many years to come!

Thank you so much for your donation. Your contribution means everything and we can't wait to see you on the dance floor!