Intercultural Sounds and Movement
The Intercultural Sounds and Movements (ICSM) project focused on skills development and inclusion of people with disability, their family, and carers. The project successfully ran 42 music and dance sessions with 22 participants from July 2019 to June 2020.
A weekly calendar of activities was developed and sent to participants. External dance and music professionals were involved in the activities. Due to COVID-19 from March to June 2020, the project activities were run virtually through Zoom to maintain safety.
Activities ranged between warm-up exercises, dances from various cultures, drumming, and playing of musical instruments. The participants enjoyed the sessions which include infusions of basic theatrical performances, cultural integration, and social inclusion.
The participants learned traditional music instruments called Angklung, a musical instrument from Indonesia, Ukulele, and African drumming. They also had group sessions through Zoom to learn dances from Latin America, Middle Eastern, and Central Asia. The ICSM project, auspiced under the NSW Network of Women with Disability, included activities for women with disability on how to manage everyday stress effectively and other fun engaging activities apart from doing music and dancing.
The project offered inclusion to everyone irrespective of cultural identity, types of disability, and orientation. It gave a practical platform for creative expression that people have not had over the years by not being able to express themselves due to isolation, social barriers, stigma, cultural ostracism, and prejudice. Each participant had equal opportunity to express themselves to their identity skills which made them feel valued. The concern of the participants was to leave behind the fun and meaningful activities that create friendship and inclusion particularly during social distancing restrictions that had come in place before the project ended.
The project has created a strong network between MDAA and other organisations such as Woodville Alliance and Community Migrant Resources Centre through the engagement of the participants from these organisations.
