Spirit of Manchester Story : Dance – It helps women to find their strength again

Imagine you’re a woman who’s been through domestic abuse.  As well as physical injuries, you might have experienced emotional and psychological abuse which has severely affected your confidence. You might be feeling anxious and depressed.  You might not speak English confidently, and you might not know where to turn for help, especially if you’re not sure about your immigration status, your finances or where you’re going to live. 

Ardwick-based charity Wonderfully Made Woman aims to work with women to find solutions to these issues, acting as a first point of contact for women and helping to signpost them to specialist services.  They work supportively and creatively, running a range of services from coffee mornings to seminars and courses on domestic abuse issues, using social media to provide extra information and support. 

Today (Wednesday) was their weekly dance session. Dance may not seem an obvious service to offer to women who have experienced domestic abuse, but Ehinor, who coordinates the sessions, explained, "It helps women to find their strength again, and build confidence in their own bodies and what they can do. It brings them together to make connections with each other, and they learn about each other’s backgrounds and cultures. Each week women will choose a piece of music and develop a dance to it, then bring it and teach it to the rest of the group. We’ve even had sessions where women go to other community centres and teach the dances to the people there."

Hali, one of the dancers, said "I come to dance because I make friends. When I am at home I feel lonely, but when I dance with my friends I feel good. When I go home, I take music from Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Pakistan – even though I’m from Iran!"

For more information, see www.wonderfullymadewoman.org/