NSW: Beyond the Walls

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Beyond the Walls is a Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) dance project, designed to positively empower culturally diverse, at-risk young people in custody in Sydney.

In 2019, Demi Sorono’s powerful, one-woman show ‘Shadow Warrior’ was performed by young people and staff in Reiby and Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centres (JJC), before a group of professional artists, including Aboriginal dancer Glen Thomas, facilitated a series of dance workshops with the young people.

The project culminated with a dance performance, choreographed by the participants and performed by professional artists. The performance was shared with the general public at three separate venues in Sydney.

This initiative is a strategic and unique approach to positively empower young people through the arts, and builds on two years of collaboration between Phunktional and Frank Baxter JJC. It was presented in partnership with Amnesty International.

Phunktional will be spearheading Beyond the Walls again for 2022, presenting this innovative project to a new cohort of young people in custody, and also culminating in performances across Sydney and NSW for new audiences in December 2022. This year’s major sponsor is Ministry of Health NSW (NSW Health).