Social Dance Lab: Shared Roots

Social Dance Lab: Shared Roots

Merseyside Social Dance CIC presents Social Dance Lab: Shared Roots — a beginner-friendly night bringing Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba together at Future Yard.

Following the first Social Dance Lab: Latin Roots, Shared Roots expands the idea by bringing Kizomba into the programme and exploring connections and shared influences across social dance traditions shaped in Latin America, Africa and their diasporas.

The evening is designed as a journey through all three dances, with beginner-friendly classes in Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba, short 15-minute practice sessions between each class, followed by an SBK social where everyone can stay, practise, dance and connect. No partner or previous dance experience is needed.

Social Dance Lab is about connection, discovery and participation — creating a welcoming space where newcomers can learn together, meet people and gradually become part of a regular social dance community in Merseyside.

19:00 – Beginner Salsa with Noemi
19:45 – Practice
20:00 – Beginner Bachata with Tee
20:45 – Practice
21:00 – Beginner Kizomba with Jonathan
21:45 – Practice
22:00 – SBK Social

 

 

Milap presents NIDA by Sonia Sabri Dance Company

“It was emotional, warm, honest and incredibly beautiful. In a world that is full of things that we don’t know what’s real anymore, this was like pure gold.”~Audience Member

NIDA is an invitation to step away from the stresses and challenges of everyday life and to be welcomed into a world where beautiful and uplifting Kathak dance and soulful Indian music meet by the intimacy of candlelight. This brand-new work is a guiding hand for those who have lost their way, illuminating the path and awakening inspiration.

Feel worries and uncertainties melt away as you are drawn to the intricate rhythms and melodies woven by dancer and musician as they perform. Featuring live music from the rare and hypnotic Santoor, this feel-good show is a treat for the senses and beautifully demonstrates the connection between music and dance.

Be taken on an emotional journey through wordless storytelling, beatboxing, mime and percussive dance with upbeat audience interaction. Join our world-class artists for a nourishing, affirming and enriching experience that will stay with you.

Artists

  • Sonia Sabri MBE – Artistic Director, Choreographer and Kathak Dance Artist.
  • Sarvar Sabri – Musical Director, Composer and Tabla Maestro.
  • Gulfam Sabri – Vocals, Santoor and Harmonium.
  • Pulkit Sharma – Duff and Chendra drums

Fallen Angels Dance Theatre: Holding Light

Following the sell-out success of Traces Through Time, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre returns with a deeply moving and transformative new evening of dance, Holding Light.

At the heart of Fallen Angels is a powerful mission, creating extraordinary dance theatre performed by artists with lived experience of addiction and mental health recovery. Their work brings raw, authentic lived experience to the stage, breaking down stigma and celebrating personal resilience through striking physical storytelling.

Crafted over six months of collaboration between the dancers and creative team, Holding Light explores light as both a dynamic partner on stage and a metaphor for recovery, hope, and personal awakening. The evening weaves together three distinct creative perspectives. Acclaimed choreographer Russell Maliphant brings his signature mastery of light and movement, making illumination an active collaborator with the dancers. International dance artist Alice Godfrey offers a rich, emotive exploration of body, space, and personal transformation, while sound artist Feri Gyemant frames every movement with an immersive and emotionally charged soundscape.

“If we can tell those complex, challenging stories, then hopefully the public can understand more about recovery”

Claire Morris, Creative & Strategic Director

Authentic, moving, and uplifting, Holding Light invites audiences to witness stories that are often unseen, offering a deeply memorable evening of dance, hope and healing.

Tea Dance

Are you young at heart?

Join us on the third Monday of every month for an afternoon of live music and entertainment provided by Sefton Opera (Sefton Older Persons Enabling Resource & Action) featuring Elvis, music from resident band Memory Lane and a variety of dance routines from The Bootle Belles. Plus variety acts and special guests.

These events are aimed at the over 50s, with plenty of chance to get up and dance or to spectate and socialise.

We welcome the line-dancers, armchair hand wavers,  jivers and the everything in-betweens to meet new friends and join in the fun.

So join us for a great time, show off your moves and raise some funds for Sefton Opera.

Stronger Together Free Dance Classes in L8 at Squash

The Stronger Together project is back at Squash Cafe (112-114 Windsor Street, L8 8EQ) 9am-10am, July 31st with Maxine Brown!! The project is about creating safe and creative spaces for women of different backgrounds to express themselves, improve their health & wellbeing and reduce isolation and develop their skills

These inclusive free community classes are for women seeking asylum and refugees, women with mental health illness, low-income/ single-parent/ carer families and local women who would benefit from these sessions

Maxine has a wealth of experience as a community dance leader and specializes in African and Caribbean dance and somatic movement.

We support participants with travel expenses and also provide refreshments
 
Practical –
 
For more info contact rosanne@movema.co.uk or phone (Tues – Thurs 10am – 4pm) – 07548365869

NATURAL BEHAVIOUR | Homotopia 2026

7:30pm

Dance theatre company Thick & Tight presents their award-winning show Natural Behaviour, a collection of performed portraits of human and non-human life forms.
Somewhere between a variety show and a biology essay come alive, Natural Behaviour is a queer look at what it means to be natural or unnatural, highlighting the essential role of diversity in all life.
Thick & Tight’s distinctive mixture of dance, satire, impersonation and poetry aims for the outrageous, the beautiful, the hilarious and the profound.
The line-up in this evening includes two moths, a pantomime horse, the dust in Quentin Crisp’s room, some flies on the wall, a lamenting songbird, a blade of grass and a lesbian seagull.
Thick & Tight’s co-directors Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry are joined by a cast of remarkable dance artists; Annie Edwards (Candoco), Azara Meghie (Ray Young, Talawa) and Jahmarley Bachelor (Punchdrunk). Natural Behaviour is designed by Tim Spooner, Pam Tait, Darren Evans and Nao Nagai.

“Deft, funny and utterly absorbing, a ravishing selection of short dance pieces that make their points about queerness and inclusivity with wit, passion and power. It’s fabulous.”
The Observer

“This is a show that’s rich, thoughtful, ridiculous and quite wonderful…hugely poignant and hugely silly”
★ ★ ★ ★ The Guardian

“A unique piece of art, thoughtful, considered, and unassuming”
★ ★ ★ ★ London Theatre

Natural Behaviour was awarded Achievement in Dance at the UK Theatre Awards 2025 and ranked no.1 Best Dance Show in the Guardian for 2025.

Natural Behaviour is co-commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre, Lowry, Royal Ballet & Opera, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Corali Dance Company and Duckie. It is supported by Britten Pears Arts, BalletBoyz, Dansox, Rambert School of Ballet & Contemporary Dance and One Legged Dog.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Wonder in the Street 2026

 

Join us in Church Square, St Helens for a day of outdoor entertainment the whole family will love!

All absolutely FREE and all absolutely WONDERFUL

Featuring:

Katumba Celebrate diversity, wellbeing and mindfulness with the huge infectious rhythms, bold visuals and serious crowd energy. You’ll be wowed by the performance then have the opportunity to interact and dance as you lose yourself in the rhythm with Liverpool based Katumba.

HUG by Levantes Dance TheatreHUG & HUG EXPERIENCE is a vibrant outdoor contemporary circus theatre performance and living installation that promises to engage audiences in a unique exploration of relationships – between people, objects and the environment that surrounds us.

Through a fusion of aerial dance, physical theatre and striking visuals, the audience is invited to rediscover the power of touch, connection and the simple act of a hug. HUG is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Ensemble Festival, Brighton Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival. Supported by Centre 151. Supported by 101 Outdoor Arts Creation Space.

 

Shiny Christmas at Spirix, Leigh

Touch, explore, and join in as all that glitters unfolds before your very eyes. 

In a long-forgotten room, two people find friendship, joy and treasures that turn from ordinary to extraordinary. 

Dance company Turned On Its Head makes exciting participatory theatre for early years, taking children on a creative adventure, engaging audiences and encouraging lots of Christmas family interaction. Treat your little one to some Christmas magic this December, and you’ll find a world that sparkles and dazzles at your fingertips! 

Shiny Christmas is a Turned On Its Head production, supported by Arts Council England, produced in partnership with Z-arts and commissioned by Wonder Arts. 

Where: Spirix, Silk Street, Leigh WN7 1AW

Times: 10:00am, 12:15pm & 2:15pm

Age Guidance: 6 months – 4 year olds

Length: 50 minutes

Price: £3.50 single | £12 Group ticket (4 people)

Parking: Parking is free on weekends and can be found at Spanning Gate and Lord Street

Shiny Christmas

 

 

Touch, explore, and join in as all that glitters unfolds before your very eyes. 

In a long-forgotten room, two people find friendship, joy and treasures that turn from ordinary to extraordinary. 

Dance company Turned On Its Head makes exciting participatory theatre for early years, taking children on a creative adventure, engaging audiences and encouraging lots of Christmas family interaction. Treat your little one to some Christmas magic this December, and you’ll find a world that sparkles and dazzles at your fingertips! 

Shiny Christmas is a Turned On Its Head production, supported by Arts Council England, produced in partnership with Z-arts and commissioned by Wonder Arts. 

Where: Deafness Resource Centre, WA10 2QB

Times: 10:00am, 12:15pm & 2:15pm

Age Guidance: 6 months – 4 year olds

Length: 50 minutes

Price: £3.50 single | £12 Group ticket (4 people)

Parking: Street parking is available on roads behind venue.

 

The Coral Official Afterparty

Join us for the official afterparty of the We Are Wirral Festival, following The Coral’s headline performance.

The celebrations continue late into the night, with the bar open until 2am and a special DJ set from Edgar Jones of The Stairs.