Anna Newell
Sing Me to the Sea was created in 2018 with funding from Wicklow County Arts Office and in creative consultation with children, parents and staff at St Catherine’s School, Newcastle and Enable Naas/ North Kildare Disability Network Team. Costume design funded by Riverbank Arts Centre.
Substantial funding from Arts Council of Ireland and a partnership with the Civic, the Mermaid and Draiocht meant a tour this summer was possible. And what started as a 3 week tour grew and grew until we were on the road and in the water for 8 weeks in total!
It’s the most extraordinary feedback I’ve ever had for a show.
Every single show was different – and sometimes, there were three different shows going on simultaneously, with each audience member in an environment where they had agency to participate in and lead their own adventure moment by moment.
It’s part of an ongoing portfolio of work for this audience – this Xmas, I’ve money from Arts Council of Ireland (and in partnership with the Civic) to re-tour LITTLE TINY XMAS (for children up to 5 years with complex needs) and I’m currently writing an application for a new ‘dry land’ show for this audience, GROOVE – a blissed-out, funky, 70’s-inspired adventure for children with complex needs aged 1-12. And I’m already gathering interest for a 2020 tour of Sing Me to the Seawith international waters on the horizon too – and an accompanying bespoke programme of workshops and masterclass for the adults who live and work with my audiences.
Many many thanks to all of our funders, our partners, our host pools and their amazing life-guarding staff – and most of all to the hundreds of diverse and wonderful children who joined us on this unique adventure of song, water and extraordinary rainbow fish!
Sing Me to the Sea is a unique production which engages individuals with even the most profound level of disability in an enriching musical and artistic experience. As a society, we aim to remove barriers to participation; we make art galleries and concert halls physically accessible. However, for so many children, their disabilities go beyond the physical. They may be able to physically access buildings which house the arts, however, the content of these buildings is not often meaningful to them. SING ME TO THE SEA brought an experience of the arts to the children of St Catherine’s. It was beautiful, it was awe inspiring and it was meaningful. Physiotherapist, St Catherine’s School, Newcastle, County Wicklow