My name is Sarah Dobbs, I'm an aerialist, author and academic. I am appying on behalf of Uncaged Aerial Theatre CIC, for whom I am co-founder and co-director, alongside Emma Bloomfield and Rosie Vleugels. I am a senior lecturer in Creative Writing and a program leader at University of Sunderland.
I have undertaken a variety of aerial and narrative-driven commissions e.g. for Compass Presents (Bristol) and performed at Washington Arts Centre (Sunderland). I have also delivered self-created arts projects, such as Sea Sunderland, which commissioned local writers to make flash fiction films about the Seaburn area. We had a lead artist, Jessica Andrews, who is an award-winning writer from Sunderland itself.
Uncaged Aerial Theatre are an all-female aerial theatre company from Sunderland. We have a specific aim to work with working class artists. We recently completed a commission for Stoke Festival incorporating haiku and performance, as well as creating Transcend, a night of interdisciplinary art and performance that took place at Alphabetti Theatre. We offered door-shares and opportunities to all participants, whether aerialists, drummres, singers or writers.
I am driven by arts projects that encourage the health of the community and the environment. I have begun Letters of Hope to encourage a sense of hope in what has been a dark time for so many. I believe in the power of writing and that anyone can write and make a difference in their own lives and someone else's.
I have published novels, short stories and have had work broadcast on BBC radio, as well as teaching for the Guardian Masterclass. At Sunderland, I ran our first writer-in-residence scheme with playwright, Rob Young, and the University of Sunderland in Association with Waterstones Short Story Award. I have been a judge for The Word flash fiction competition and recently delivered workshops at Leeds Lit Festival.