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On Saturday two things came together beautifully - don’t you just love it when that happens.
We’ve got a new toy, our new SHOOP street mat…
Strut Pose Move Shout SHOOP!
We are on a mission to find more ways in life to let go and express yourself, knowing that the more you do it the more you find out. Lot’s gets in the way, and we talk about that… but also when you have total back up to do what you want to do, be who you want to be, it is one of the best feelings.
When you can 100% trust your instinct and go with that.
We took the SHOOP street mat out in Manchester on Saturday with the Creative Collective of 42nd Street. We did it for ourselves but also to watch others… it’s amazing having this thing that not only creates a little bit of space for people to be a bit bigger, but also gives the permission.
It’s not space that is skill based or loaded with expectation or full of pressure - what was needed was support, championing and back up, and that pretty much made anything o.k.
We did some good people watching –
watching people actively walk round it, stop and look at it, twitch a bit at the thought of it. Watching people and how people interact and respond always leads to interesting reflection about connection and interaction - these things aren’t easy… but just hearing one of our group say, ‘let’s chat to people’- was enough for new conversations to take place.
And we played -
where self-expression meets performance is a weird line - and I try to tell myself not to think about it too much, because being seen, letting go, caring and not caring are in the mix with everything in life - the more I explore what letting go means to me, the better I feel, I feel true to myself and I feel seen for who I am.
What we did realise was that sticking a camera in there ruins it. Being in the moment is best, doing it with others and being open to whatever might happen.
Later we turned to planning mode, for an event we are supporting Ciera to make happen, as part of the 42nd Street and The Horsfall, ‘The Future is Ours’ Festival. Ciera is making her ideas about ‘Random Manchester’ as big as she can and together we are helping her to host the festival at Cutting Room Square on the 25th of March 2023, from 12pm - 3pm.
Ciera wants to highlight randomness and what we chatted about loads was how empowering (annoying word), or strong it feels to be provocative, to be up to something, and when you do it in positive ways you get good stuff back - people respond with smiles and cheers - we made them curious. I think Ciera loved being seen.
So we invite you to join us on the 25th of March for some randomness, maybe a bit of expression, and if you could come along in whatever fancy dress or costume you can get hold of - even better.
SHOOP to be seen
SHOOP to get back up
SHOOP to know you matter
