Floating Worlds
Floating Worlds was a project designed for young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) conditions. Manchester Camerata and the Royal Exchange Theatre worked in partnership between April and December 2008 with workshops taking place between September and December.
The artists who worked on Floating Worlds included music and drama professionals, a visual artist and a team of professional and postgraduate musicians from Manchester Camerata. They first participated in a training day led by an expert in ASD conditions to gain an understanding of the needs of the young people involved.
The project aimed to create a comfortable and non-threatening creative environment in which children with Asperger’s Syndrome could experiment with music and theatrical physicality. Floating Worlds was participant led, with the children inventing characters within a world of their own creation. Children were encouraged to find emotional links to the sound of instruments through colour, representation and mood. The ‘shapes’ of the sounds and the physical appearance of each instrument were used as the basis for creative character development.
A professional artist and maker performed an essential role in helping the participants to realise their imagined world through colour, costume, set and models. The art and craft materials used were available within the workspace, and the artist ensured that the creative process was visible and inclusive throughout the project. The drama specialist supported the group as they developed a story to be told by the characters they had created.
Floating Worlds - Manchester Camerata Learning Project from Manchester Camerata on Vimeo.
How does this project carry out the Cultural Ambition?
Community Inspired
By working one on one with the young people involved in the project, it was possible to establish trust and maintain focus, both of which are often difficult with people with ASD. This approach made it possible to deal with individual needs and to encourage partnerships between the children earlier than was expected. Floating Worlds proved to be an effective way of increasing participation by a particular group who had previously found culture inaccessible. Furthermore, the project went on to have benefits even more far-reaching than greater cultural engagement for the children involved.
- 12 young people aged between 12 and 14 took part in the project;
- Seven boys and one girl took part in the final performance of the piece of musical theatre they had created. This ratio is typically representative of ASD.
- Two of the participants have formed a close friendship, the first for both children. The pair have also gone on to join First Bite, The Royal Exchange Theatre’s regular drama group for 11-14 year olds, in which they are building new relationships with young people from all over Greater Manchester.
- Two of the other participants have been inspired to take up the violin and euphonium, taking lessons from two students from The Royal Northern College of Music, both of whom were artists involved in the project. This is a particular success is the case of one of the children who had a strong aversion to noise before joining the project.
- An unplanned outcome of the Floating Worlds project was the social club atmosphere which formed between the parents, who were always on the premises during the workshops. The opportunity to socialise with the parents of other children with ASD conditions created an informal support group, in which close bonds were formed through sharing common experiences.
Through the innovative approach of the project, Floating Worlds explored the possibilities of developing skills of empathy amongst children with ASD. It encouraged co-operation and fostered friendships between young people who traditionally have difficulty in forming relationships.
This inspirational example demonstrates how increased cultural engagement can improve social inclusion for children and their families. It has also helped to increase recognition of the benefits of culture, to the extent that further funding is currently being sought for a follow-on project connected to Floating Worlds.
Finally, the project demonstrates the possibilities for effective partnership working between cultural organisations in Manchester. Combining the experience and unique attributes of The Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Camerata, Floating Worlds exemplifies best practice for successful collaboration and what can be achieved.
My son has made a friend for the first time in his life and at his house played for the first time with another child.
I was never interested in art before.
This has been so important for my child and fantastic for me too.
Projects like yours are so important to kids like my son to help them escape that sense of isolation and discover their self worth.
My son often talks about the Floating Worlds project…I think it was very good for him to meet and get to know young people with similar difficulties. It gave him more insight into autism and it certainly gave him confidence to go on and try new things.
The project gave my son the confidence to find his voice. The love of music and drama which he discovered with you has given him a sense of self worth and belief.
My son had a great time doing the Floating Worlds project. He has gone on to do more drama as a result, it really inspired him.
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