I’m 22 years old; I was born in 2003, interestingly, the year Tangled Feet was founded. As someone passionate about the intersection between the arts and society, this company turned out to be a very enriching experience.

During this internship, I felt I gained a whole world of professional experiences. I began by following the R&D process for the show “A Class of Your Own”, co-created with young people in PRUs (Pupil Referral Units) in Croydon, Merton and Sutton. Having the opportunity to follow the creative process behind the piece and to speak with the young people involved was one of the many special moments for me in this placement.

I also observed the Mindfulness Project in schools. This, like the dramatherapy project, identified needs within society where art could be one of many solutions integrated into a multi-faceted social approach (alongside with other types of professionals). As a theatre company, Tangled Feet doesn’t ignore the social challenges present at a local level and is proactive in addressing them, contributing to a network of responses for the communities they work with.

Tangled Feet was part of the Outdoor Arts UK conference, which I had the opportunity to accompany. What a vibrant and lively event with so many exciting ideas about how can outdoor art create a political “Change in our Streets.”

My attendance at team and trustee meetings also allowed me to learn a great deal about leadership, organisation and decision-making processes within arts organisations. I always felt that my perspective as a young person in these contexts was heard and valued.

This placement was a great adventure, not only between Luton, Cambridge, Wimbledon, Euston and London Bridge, but one that took me further afield through conversation from reaching into touring outdoor theatre productions in Europe to discussions on collaborations with a Palestinian theatre company.  A key strength of Tangled Feet is the ability to keep working locally whilst at the same time devising and developing work on a global level, with the constant active awareness that the world is more than just the four walls that surround each one of us.

Finally, as well as being incredibly fortunate to be able to connect individually with each member of the team, I also had the thesaurus to be mentored by Nathan Curry, the company’s Co-Artistic Director. His insight proved invaluable to my complex decision-making processes as I look ahead to my life after university.

In my experience, I would highlight the artistic and human depth of Tangled Feet’s work, supported by the openness, kindness and willingness of the whole team to contribute to the development of young artists like myself.

I would also highlight the determination evident throughout the team. Because, despite the utopic realities that Tangled Feet builds (such as the dramatherapy programmes or ‘Rave New World’, an outdoor show told through lyrics, music, aerial theatre and moving cars), building these utopian ideas come with its own set of obstacles. Even with the commendable and well-deserved financial support from Arts Council England, it takes a great deal of grit to make things happen; and beyond that, it also requires belief. The belief that the arts are essential for a better world. It is this belief that has undoubtedly spurred on all the immense challenges faced by a group of actors fresh out of university as they set up a theatre company and have kept it going for 22 (almost 23) years, producing so many shows and projects that are profound, meaningful and impactful, always engaging with the complex world we are all living in today.

I am very happy to have crossed paths with the TF team. That we have found common ground in this shared belief. The belief that the arts really can change the world.It is projects like Tangled Feet (which are still all too rare to find) that give me hope. The belief that the future is not lost and that the world will indeed, with the help of art, be a place with more understanding rather than aggression, more bridges rather than walls, and more empathy rather than hatred.

I feel immensely grateful for this experience. I’ll conclude by wishing the whole Tangled Feet team and everyone involved with them in any way (audience, members, artists, etc.) much happiness, love and success.