Pilot Dance! by F|Fort with Scapino
Young people aged 18-39 should be in the prime of their lives, a profound illness like cancer puts a line through that process. The F|Fort Foundation helps young people with cancer regain solid ground. At Scapino, we are proud to have been able to run a first pilot with the F|Fort Foundation.
In the period from September 2023 to February 2024, 17 AYAs - young adults with and after cancer - worked under the direction of former Scapino dancers Annemarie Labinjo-van der Meulen and Bryndis Ragna Brynjolfsdottir to create their own performance inspired by Scapino repertoire.
The performance Let me dance again! has been performed in a sold-out theatre, at dance festival Schrit_tmacher and can be seen at the Dutch Dance Days this weekend.
Friends, family and guests witnessed a co-creation that used dance to tell what having cancer at a young age means. Pain and sorrow became visible and tangible, but also beauty of and gratitude for life. And how much (spring) power it gives when fellow sufferers make art together.
Research
Because F|Fort wanted to find out whether the hypothesis that dance contributes to the well-being of AYAs is correct, Alexa Gratama (president of F|Fort) and Annemarie Labinjo-van der Meulen (project leader) set up a pilot with the aim of collecting qualitative data that could support or refute the hypothesis through questions and interviews.
F|Fort and Scapino's dance project shows that dance as an art form can be a valuable addition to traditional care for AYAs. During the project, it brought the dancers a sense of unity, self-confidence and the space to express and process emotions, both individually and in company. The connection between body, head and emotions, enhanced by peer contact, proved relevant to the recovery process, and contributed to their mental and physical well-being. The documentary ‘MAGICAL MOVEMENT’ will further spread these insights and hopefully inspire more AYAs and caregivers to integrate dance into the recovery process during and after cancer.
Go to ffortfoundation.nl for more information on this project, other projects and the foundation itself.
Of the project, the documentary ‘MAGICAL MOVEMENT’ was commissioned by F|Fort. Barbara Jonckheer and Nienke Elenbaas also followed 3 of the 17 dancers individually for this in-depth registration. The documentary will be made available on request for screening to the dancers, their loved ones, other AYAs, and for educational purposes in healthcare.
The trailer of the documentary can be viewed above.