As a soon-to-be first-time father, having the opportunity to work with Shaper/Caper fits in perfectly with my own personal journey, learning and understanding. In the projects I’ve been involved with so far, we’ve achieved a great balance of performance and audience participation, through inviting our audiences to explore, play and discover all the fun possibilities our creations have to offer.

During my time here so far, the whole team have been hugely welcoming and supportive in such a short space of time. Since starting in June, I’ve been involved in some brilliant projects, including Village Hall - our online space where people can access movement and mindfulness classes for children and adults. These online classes were established to nurture people’s wellbeing from the comfort of their own homes – something which I think is still important now.

PJ leading a Couch Capers class on Village Hall

I’ve also been involved with Company class and Masterclass talks for The Body (our Youth Advisory Council), Dance for Parkinson’s and Summer/Capers; but the project that has really stood out the most for me is Teeny Weeny, in partnership with Starcatchers.

Teeny Weeny is an outdoor, fun-filled, duet show about ‘other’ bugs, incorporating characteristics of several bugs, that explores the process of learning who you are. In doing this, we aim to show audiences that even if you are different from someone else, you can still get along with each other.

PJ and Alex performing Teeny Weeny in Dunfermline

For me, this has been a new and exciting way of working. Whilst still focusing on choreography and how the piece will look, we have taken a step further in the process. We looked at the 9 schemas of development when we were devising this piece so that we could successfully reach out to our target audience – under 5s! For this age range, it was very important to us to offer exploratory play to evoke different emotions and cognitive thinking, aiding their personal development.

Dance is an amazing way to learn and grow your understanding and ability to navigate through life, both mentally and physically. My time with Shaper/Caper is allowing me to live this by helping to deliver educational and informative art.

PJ and Alex with some Teeny Weeny participants in Dunfermline

Blog: PJ and Shaper/Caper - Our Story So Far...