enriching education, nurturing talent, promoting innovation
Community & education
Education and community work has always been a strong strand of SBDC and Sujata Banerjee's work. Soon after coming to the UK in the early 1980s, Sujata started working for the Commonwealth Institute (now the Commonwealth Education Trust) as an outreach artist travelling all over the country developing awareness of South Asian arts, Indian dance and storytelling.
Sujata has also worked for many years in collaboration with Music for Change and other community organisations on a wide range of projects in schools, libraries, museums and other community settings such as the Dragon Cafe.
This strand of the company's work, reflects our knowledge and experience of the many benefits that participation in dance can achieve, not just in terms of physical and mental health and well-being, but socially and culturally by bringing people together and raising awareness and understanding.
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Workshops and projects can be designed to work with a range of school curriculum topics or to fit with your organisation's specific project requirements.
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For more information, please contact us on:
Outreach 2024
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Integral to SBDC's work is bringing awareness of South Asian arts to a wider audience, making it accessible to all.
Our community work so far in 2024 has been focused within the Barking Dagenham area. We chose this area because we have recognised for a long time that there is a high demographic of South Asian residents and a shortage of high quality South Asian arts activities.
Funded by Arts Council England, we brought our Kathak dance outreach program to six primary schools in the area, giving them a taste of what classical Indian dance can offer in a fun and creative way.
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'The workshop engaged our pupils, providing them with a great insight into the physicality and culture of Kathak dance. There was a lovely energy in the room and pupils were mesmorised by Jaina’s demonstrations. We would be happy to have her back to work with more pupils in the future.'
- Caroline Kenworthy, head of dance for Wellington college
‘It was an engaging workshop for the children, and even the boys, who are usually quite reluctant when it comes to dance, were also fully involved and engaged. The dance instructor was brilliant. Thank you again!’
- Eastbury Primary School
'The workshops were great fun to take part in, truly inspiring and a fantastic opportunity for all our children on so many levels. We were so impressed by the way our children were so engaged and able to perform after just three and a half hours of focused teaching'
- Glenn Sharp, Sandgate Primary School
'Our headteacher said it brought a tear to his eye when he saw how transfixed.. and totally involved the year 8 students were.' - Leventhorpe School
'Working cooperatively as part of a team boosted esteem and confidence.'
- Abbey School
'The sessions far exceeded our expectations'
SBDC & St Cuthbert’s Church – A Meaningful Collaboration
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We are proud of our longstanding relationship with St Cuthbert’s Church, and since 2023, we’ve had the privilege of connecting with their Memory Café Project, which supports individuals living with dementia.
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As part of our community and education outreach, we conduct regular workshops and interactive performances designed to uplift, engage, and bring the joy of classical Indian arts to diverse audiences.​​
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This partnership reflects our commitment to using the arts to foster connection, inclusion, and cultural enrichmentacross generations.
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'The residents of our weekly Memory Café are still talking about the event last October when the Sujata Banerjee Dance Company gave a performance of music and dance one Tuesday afternoon. What set it apart from previous events was the sitar player who had just flown in from India. The residents were educated in the sounds of this wonderful instrument and the different ways of playing it. The 15-minute piece that was performed took us all to India whilst sitting in a church in North Wembley! As it was half term, two young students performed Kathak dance accompanied by the musicians. It was a truly wonderful event.'
- Tina Last, Church Administrator
“The exercise today was very invigorating and the music made people happy”
“The instructor and her young assistant were demonstrative and informative”
“It was great to see everyone up and dancing – everyone had a smile on their face”
“As an onlooker at the back of church, I noticed that more people joined in the exercise than every before. I think the different style and music appealed to more people”