Community programs
The MOTION program fuses creative community engagement with increased physical activity to build social connection. Seven projects have been funded to explore the fullest possibilities of these intersections.
MOTION helps give people access to the health benefits associated with arts engagement and increased physical activity. The mental health and wellbeing impacts of the arts have received much praise and attention over a number of years, but arts interventions can also contribute to, and indeed stimulate, increased physical activity.
By running the MOTION pilot program, VicHealth aims to address the gaps in the evidence, measurement and evaluation of active arts programs, and further increase our understanding of their impact on health.
MOTION Projects
The Giant Theremin
City of Melbourne
What type of instrument brings people together to make new sounds and music, while being physically active and having lots of fun?
The answer is a Giant Theremin, a super-sized instrument controlled by movement rather than conventional touch. The theremin’s distinctive warble will be accompanied an array of distinctive sounds which will make it impossible to resist running, dancing, jumping and forming unusual shapes in the activation zone to create a symphony of movement.
The Giant Theremin experience will be free for Melbourne locals and visitors of all ages. The installation will be located in Les Erdi Plaza in the City of Melbourne’s Northbank precinct from 18 November 2011 until February 2012.
Learn more about the Giant Theremin at www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/gianttheremin
Tangle
Polyglot Theatre
Weaving a giant elastic web at Tangle
Imagine a giant structure made from 10 kilometres of brightly coloured elastic woven around six-metre poles, then add music, excited children, creative movement and lots of chaotic fun and you have the Tangle.
Polyglot Theatre has created an interactive outdoor play-space where children and families use the physical action of weaving elastic with their whole bodies to build a massive, touchable artwork. The web is built over the course of a weekend, facilitated by artists and fuelled by live music to encourage physical movement, artistic decision-making, imaginative play and dramatic interaction.
As part of VicHealth’s MOTION program, Tangle will visit Melbourne’s CBD, Shepparton and Latrobe in 2012, following a display at the Arts Centre in Melbourne in January. Polyglot Theatre has teamed up with Berry Street and Playgroups Victoria to design and run engagement activities for playgroup children prior to the creation of the installation. These activities will provide fun and easy ways for caregivers and the community to build nurturing relationships with their children through active and creative play.
To find out how to get you and your kids Tangle visit www.polyglottheatre.com/tangle
Dance with Me
Latrobe City Council
Dance with me brings locals right across the Latrobe Valley together to try a new way of getting up and moving.
A choreographer will develop a short and easy dance routine that represents the diversity, pride and aspirations of the community. The routine will be taught to lead dancers and community groups, who will then dance in surprise performances in public places. Dance workshops and performances will be filmed, and locals will be encouraged to get together and film themselves doing the routine.
The collection of films will be projected on public buildings across the Valley, showing an active, united and positive community to itself. The projections will be launched at the Creative Gippsland May Arts Festival 2012, where real time dancing will also be part of the program. Dance with me will add to the cultural richness of the Valley and encourage physical activity in an innovative and entertaining way.
52 Flashmobs in 52 Weeks
Nillumbik Shire Council
Local residents in and around Nillumbik are in for a surprise with this project. A series of ‘spontaneous’ community events will offer creative and fun ways to demonstrate that getting physically active doesn’t have to involve a ball or the gym. With everything from unexpected dance routines, a car washing mob and gardening gangs, there will be something for people of all ages, interests and abilities.
52 Flashmobs in 52 Weeks will promote messages around healthy living and healthy communities to both participants and spectators around four themes: action, sound, word and space. A tech-savvy group of local young people will promote the flash mobs through a social media project that will reinforce the health messages.
Nillumbik Shire Council is building on partnerships across the municipality and surrounding areas, ensuring the project provides opportunities for local groups and organisations to get new people involved in their activities.
To find out more about Nillumbik’s flashmob adventures visit www.52flashmobs.com
Crowd Play
Melbourne Fringe Festival
Making a song and dance with crowdplay
Crowd Play aims to bring together a large group of people, from diverse backgrounds to actively participate in an inclusive, dance and song performance.
As one of VicHealth’s MOTION projects and a key feature of the 2011 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Crowd Play looks to promote the benefits of participatory arts in a healthy lifestyle.
With rehearsals taking place in offices, community halls, pubs, clubs and bedrooms around Australia, Crowd Play will culminate in three public performances in yet-to-be announced public sites around Melbourne. The energizing, captivating and inspiring performances will be sure to get your toes tapping and hips wiggling.
To get involved and find out when the next rehearsal is taking place visit www.melbournefringe.com.au/crowdplay
Roll Up
The Squeaky Wheel
Cyclists Roll up for valet service
Roll Up is a VIP bike valet service providing cyclists with free, secure and convenient parking when attending festivals and events. As one of the VicHealth MOTION projects, Roll Up aims to demonstrate how you can live a physically healthy lifestyle, even when taking in a gig, performance or exhibition.
A fully outsourced mobile service, Roll Up is available for hire by businesses, councils and community groups. The service is ideal for event coordinators who are looking to target a cultural and socially conscious market. It also offers excellent sustainability solutions to public events.
Roll Up is an initiative of The Squeaky Wheel, a Melbourne based organisation committed to promoting cycling as part of the everyday Australian lifestyle. The service will be available at various cultural and community events in 2011 and 2012, and has already appeared at the State of Design, Cadel Evans Public Reception at Federation Square and the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Visit www.roll-up.com.au for more information.
Atelier Edens
APHIDS
In partnership with Parks Victoria, Aphids are developing an Atelier Edens smart phone application (or app) that will use GPS technology, cinematic chapters and original sound scores to enliven interactions between visitors and the landscape of Point Nepean National Park.
Engagement with users of both regional and metropolitan parklands will inform the creation of this digital art experience for hand held devices. As users roam through digital hotspots within the park they will trigger a series of wild, unexpected adventures, heightening their experience of the wilderness they are moving through. The project will create templates for the creation of new artworks in other key parks as these sites further develop their capacity and infrastructure.
The Atelier Edens blog can be viewed at www.atelieredens.net