Arusa Qureshi talks to Aya Kobayashi and Saffy Setohy about co-creating multi-sensory workshops with elders & young people in Govanhill, Glasgow
In the heart of Glasgow’s Southside, a community has been uplifted by the work of two dance artists. Through a series of multi-sensory movement workshops, Aya Kobayashi and Saffy Setohy have been quietly making an impact, bringing together elders at Dixon Community and young people from Big Noise in Govanhill in an innovative intergenerational project.
This collaboration – building on a previous 18-month project led by Joanna Young and developed through the Sensory Collective – was rooted in movement, music, and nature and funded via Creative Scotland’s Participatory Arts & Mental Health Fund. With the overall aim of addressing social isolation and improving wellbeing, Aya and Saffy’s workshops provided both groups with opportunities for connection, creativity, self-expression and relaxation. In addition, the content and focus of the workshops contributed to improved wellbeing through their emphasis on the connection between the body and nature.
As experienced dance artists and facilitators, Aya and Saffy’s creative practice has included working with various diverse groups, from professionals to community members. Aya describes herself as a movement artist who thrives in roles as a teacher, choreographer, and performer. Saffy’s work, while also grounded in movement, leans towards themes of ecology, healing, and regeneration. Despite their distinctive fields of interest, their shared commitment to community engagement is what led them to this project based in their own locality. As Saffy explains, “We both live in the Southside, not very far from the Dixon Community. So it’s in our community as well.”
The workshops revolved around the theme of the garden, symbolising our connection to nature and seasonal growth. At Dixon Halls, where the participants were primarily older adults, many with mobility challenges or dementia, the sessions often started with a slow check-in. Aya and Saffy then tailored their plans to the group’s needs, fostering an environment of care and spontaneity.
“The very first day,” Saffy says, “we brought in some seeds, and we started the project by planting some plants together. We thought we would watch them grow over the course of the workshops. And then each session, which had slightly different variations – we were working with themes around growing and blooming and the animals that appear in the garden, like birds and bees.”
Alongside this, live music, poetry, and movement inspired the group. “We tried to keep a little bit of surprise,” Aya says, “to keep their interest and focus.” Saffy reflects on the sense of joy and playfulness that emerged. “I forgot how playful the older participants could be. One session with pillow stuffing became about making clouds, and then Santa beards. It was really joyous. Our job is to keep creating that space and that playfulness and to hold that space of playfulness and creativity and joy.”
Meanwhile, with Big Noise Govanhill, the focus was on movement sessions, while trying to capture what the young people there were interested in. Working with young musicians who were still learning their instruments, Aya and Saffy explored themes of weather and the garden, helping them discover new ways to approach their instruments. The young participants brought curiosity and openness, teaching the facilitators as much as they learned themselves.
The true magic happened when the two groups – older adults and young musicians – came together for shared sessions. “We had some sessions with Dixon and some of the young people separately, and then eventually we brought the groups together for some sessions,” Saffy notes. “And it was really lovely to see the participants working together, and meeting each other and telling each other their stories.”
“The intergenerational part was quite lovely,” Aya continues, “because I think some of the younger people don’t really have the opportunity to communicate and work with older people these days. The Dixon Community ladies were so happy working together with younger people. And it was a nice moment to see the different expressions and also how they responded to each other.”
Saffy shares a memory from their visit to the Hidden Gardens, where the two groups wandered through the herb beds together, smelling lavender and sharing stories. “The time and attention and care that they were taking together to look at the lavender and smell it and be really in the world, it was really beautiful,” she says. “And the way that they were showing each other things and describing things to each other – it was lovely, just to see that connection, the precious feelings they have towards the garden.”
For many of the older participants, who rarely venture outside on their own, these workshops brought the outdoors in. For the young people, it was a chance to engage with older generations in a way that many had never experienced. Reflecting on the success of the project, both Aya and Saffy agree that initiatives like this can be vital when it comes to cultivating connections.
“It’s easy for young people and older people to become isolated in their own worlds,” Saffy notes. Schools and care homes can be rigid environments, where parts of people’s personalities or stories are overlooked. “This kind of work allows both groups to be seen.”
Importantly, the project was focused on participants enjoying the experience of each workshop, rather than on producing a final performance, freeing Aya and Saffy to experiment and respond to participants’ interests. As a result, the experience itself is what left an impression, as opposed to the potential end product. “We’re freelance artists and often have the project to make a show or produce something,” Aya says, “but the generous thing about this project was that we weren’t expected to make a thing. So in that way, it was quite experimental, we could actually play without any pressure. And that, I think, suited the groups.”
The overall impact, however, was noteworthy for numerous reasons. Aya recalls how the participants at Dixon Halls eagerly awaited their weekly sessions: “We’re not doctors or nurses, but we gave them something to look forward to.” Saffy adds, “And though we’re not therapists, the work had huge therapeutic value.” Both agree that this work highlights the need for more initiatives like it. “With cuts in healthcare and education, we can’t forget how important this work is,” Saffy says, emphasising the significance of well-resourced, artist-supported programmes that can playfully and meaningfully connect people across generations, while also contributing to their wellbeing.
At the end of the project, Aya and Saffy were able to return the blossoming plants they had nurtured from that first session to the Dixon Halls participants, completing a cycle of care and creativity that had started with a handful of seeds. By doing so, they planted lasting memories of connection and growth within their community, as well as offering a potent reminder of the importance of bridging the gap between generations.
Big Noise Govanhill is a local music education programme that works with children, young people and families, delivered by Sistema Scotland. https://makeabignoise.org.uk/about/big-noise-govanhill
Dixon Community provides day care support and culturally sensitive activities for older adults and carers living in Southside of Glasgow.
Arusa Qureshi is a writer, editor and music programmer based in Edinburgh. She is the current Editor of Fest and the former Editor of The List and writes mostly about music, most recently Flip the Script – a book about women in UK hip hop, published by 404 Ink. Her work has appeared in the Scotsman, Clash, the Guardian, GoldFlakePaint, Time Out, the Quietus, NME and more. She chairs the board of the Scottish Music Centre, sits on the board of the Music Venue Trust and is the co-curator of the award-winning Amplifi series at Edinburgh’s Queens Hall. arusaqureshi.com
