A DANCE teacher has followed up her award-winning lockdown challenge with a project combining music composition, singing, dance, painting, clay sculpture and the written word.

Emma Brewer, who runs First Dance Studio at Heather Farm in Horsell, produced the A-Z Creative Project during the pandemic to encourage people to choose an activity based on the alphabet, such as art, baking and cooking.

On the back of that success, and a separate Arts Council grant, Emma has delivered The Vision Project, which was recently celebrated with an exhibition and party at The Lightbox museum and gallery in Woking.

“It went so well and we had 91 people attend, which was amazing,” Emma said. “We showcased all the artworks, poetry, film and the accompanying documentary.

“The project has culminated in a dance film and two exhibitions in the summer, at the Healing Sanctuary in Shere and a weekend at Heather Farm. The film has been audio described for the visually impaired, and the Arts Council grant has allowed us to run the project with discounted rates for participants.”

As part of the project, Emma choreographed a dance piece and invited two artists, Hannah Bruce and Jo Alam, to rehearsals. They were then commissioned to create a piece of their own work as an interpretation of the dance and the music.

Film maker Floyd Konde also visited a selection of dance rehearsals, different locations and art workshops as he put the documentary together.

“The project has come to its natural end so I’m now busy putting together the next project, as I want to keep the momentum going,” Emma said.

“The main aim is to link multiple arts for the community and show how one inspires the other, while connecting people and offering them wellness counselling throughout.”