Make sure you take part in the new, epic, city-wide dance flashmob organised by IF Oxford – learn the moves, connect with others and improve your mental wellbeing.
A flashmob is an ‘apparently’ spontaneous pop-up performance in an unknown location such as shopping malls or city centres.
Although originally planned outdoors, the pandemic has shifted the flashmob online.
Instead a team of expert choreographers and dancing demonstrators will teach the moves every day next week in six free online workshops starting on Monday, ready for the grand finale on October 24.
Anyone can join in for free and if you miss a session, it will available to watch and follow later.
The Moving Together flashmob idea has been developed by Anja Meinhardt, of local dance company Justice in Motion, alongside Oxford University evolutionary biologist Bronwyn Tarr, to explore the way people move together and how that connects people and combats loneliness.
The project began with Justice in Motion interviewing 30 people experiencing loneliness.
The local dance company then set the interviews to specially-composed soundtracks by Quentin Lachapele, which were then choreographed by Justice In Motion dancers, recorded and turned into a series of videos.
“We are hoping to take away the stigma of loneliness, to inspire people of all ages to talk about it, especially important during the pandemic,” Anja says.
“We have never tried this before and so we’re very excited to see how it takes off,” smiles Anja. “and online platforms can reach far more people than in a physical space.”
An interesting addition to the If Oxford line-up then? “We’re thrilled to have the flashmob as part of the festival because loneliness is such a societal issue, particularly at the moment, and we hope it will bring people together using contemporary technology,’ says Esther Lafferty, Communications Officer, IF Oxford.
“The stories behind the moves will resonate with so many people, reminding them that they are not alone in their experience And of course, it’s all a lot of fun!”
As well as the live flashmob performance, IF Oxford is also presenting a film overview of the whole project, including the original interviews, music dance sequences and invites festival visitors to join them afterwards to hear more at 6.30pm on October 29.
The Moving Together Zoom workshops take place 5 Oct – 10 Oct, starting at 6pm on Monday October 5 starting here: https://if-oxford.com/event/moving-together-online-flashmob-dance-workshops/
To watch the final flashmob go to https://if-oxford.com/event/moving-together-online-flashmob/
To watch the film overview go to https://if-oxford.com/event/moving-together-meet-the-team/
If Oxford runs from October 1-30 with hundreds of free events https://if-oxford.com/events/
