Dancing Through Time Launch Success

The Dancing Through Time: From Pop to Punk in The City of Derby project officially launched on Saturday 10^th February at Déda with a drop-in event attended by East Midlands locals and beyond.

Dancing Through Time: from Pop to Punk in the City of Derby, is an exciting new heritage project, made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players which will explore the social clubs, dance clubs, dance movements and music scenes in Derby from the 1960s, 70s and early 80s. The springboard for this project was Roger Smith’s book ‘We Danced In Derby’.

The project aims to create a social archive of photos, memories and more from the local scene which will then be showcased in a FORMAT exhibition from March 2025. The collection of photos, ticket stubs, memories and much more began with the launch event at Déda earlier this month, which was a huge success, kicking off the project with around 50 archived pieces of history.

The current pieces collected and scanned in ready for the 2025 showcase include a series of newspaper clippings for big name gigs in Derby, original Vivienne Westwood clothing from the 70s and lots of photos in various night clubs across the city. If you would like to contribute to the archive, please visit the form on the QUAD website.

The project’s Community Engagement Producer, Ocean Farini says:

“I’m still buzzing from the stories, memories and Derby nostalgia of the launch. Déda was filled with Derby people far and wide, sharing their tales of long-gone but well-remembered venues. Wild stories of climbing through back-room windows & scanning in well preserved photobooth shots of every kind of hair style and heavy 60s eyeliner moment. It was amazing to start this mammoth social archive project off in such a great, music filled atmosphere. Thank you everyone who’s contributed so far, we can’t wait to see what this project will discover!”

Similarly, running until 1^st March 2024 is ‘Jubilee City – Derby Punk in the 1970s’ – Open Call for Participants in which QUAD and Déda are looking to connect with anyone who was involved in the Punk scene in Derby in the mid to late 1970s. Your images and memorabilia could be part of the exhibition Jubilee City – Derby Punk in the 1970s curated by Aaron Williamson that will take place in QUAD Gallery 2 from 16 March to 30 June 2024 as part of FORMAT24.

Elsewhere in the Dancing Through Time Project, the 40/40 Dance Workshop has just been announced. The workshop will be led by award winning artist Katherina Radeva at QUAD and will explore the link between dancing and joy. This workshop is open to all – you do not need to have prior dancing experience, but you do need to be open to letting loose and moving your body.

For more information on everything Dancing Through Time, visit the QUAD website.