A SECOND prestigious national award has been won by a tiny West Somerset performing arts company for its pioneering work in the field of dance.
Porlock-based Stacked Wonky overcame competition from high profile organisations such as the National Youth Theatre, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, West of England Music and Arts, and Southampton University to win a National Arts and Cultural Education Award.
Stacked Wonky artistic director Sarah Shorten, accompanied by young performers, Mahala Tucker and Lenny Shorten, travelled to the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester, for the awards night hosted by Curious Minds.
Curious Minds is a leading national charity, established in 2009, which exists to help every child and young person to flourish through arts and culture.
More than 230 nominations were received for 10 award categories celebrating best practice in arts and cultural education across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Exmoor’s Stacked Wonky was shortlisted for the ‘Innovators in Engagement Award’, recognising those who had challenged and transformed how children and young people engage with arts and culture, delivering meaningful, lasting change.
Ms Shorten said: “We decided to sit in the middle of a packed auditorium of 500 people to soak up the atmosphere, not for a moment expecting to be called to the stage.
“When our category was announced and our name read out, a big cheer went up, and I simply felt dazed.
“It took Mahala and Lenny to tell me to get up and help me climb over loads of people in our row to finally reach the stage.
“It felt fantastic to be presented with the award.”
The independent judging panel drawn from across the UK said the Porlock company’s approach to dance, often made for unusual spaces and places, such as woods and beaches, rather than the stage, made it possible for all children, particularly boys and those unwilling to engage with traditional training, to feel included and see themselves as potential dance artists of the future.
They said the unorthodox approach had clearly born rich fruit, reaching far beyond Somerset’s borders.
In recent years, Stacked Wonky has developed national partnerships with Sadler’s Wells, National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), and Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, which has commissioned and programmed the company’s young dancers.
NYDC head Hannah Kirkpatrick said: “Stacked Wonky may be based in a tiny Somerset village, but their impact is enormous, locally and nationally.
“They are passionate about creating opportunities for their young people, they think outside the box, they are not afraid to be ambitious, rebellious, and radical, and their work is of an exceptional standard.”
The award marked ‘an incredible’ 18 months for Stacked Wonky and its young artists after it last year received One Dance UK’s ‘Young People’s Dance Champion Award’.
Ms Shorten said: “One award was lovely, but two feels it cannot be a fluke.
“These moments demonstrate the power of grassroots organisations, built child by child, family by family, to deliver change.
“I truly believe we have shifted norms within the dance sector.
“Young audiences can now see themselves represented at professional platforms and we have proven young people in small, rural communities, with limited access to culture, can create exceptional work that feels fresh and dynamic.
“All powered by the love and trust of a village and its wider community.
“Porlock and West Somerset are now firmly on the national map for dance and culture.”
Stacked Wonky currently has spaces at its weekly after-school ‘Academies for Kids’ in Porlock and Roadwater for those aged five to 18 years.
Children bursting with ideas can explore dance, parkour, directing, music, filmmaking, prop and costume design, lighting, writing, and how to make things happen with like-minded others.
More information is available on the Stacked Wonky website or by emailing to [email protected].
Stacked Wonky’s is headquartered in an old shop unit on Porlock High Street and is open every Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm.
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