A RECENT matinee in Chester was no ordinary performance when 21 people from Cheshire and Merseyside created a deep and meaningful impression on the audience.

Fallen Angels Dance Theatre’s (FADT) production “Dark Night Ends” brought professional dancers together with people in recovery from addiction and mental health to perform a deeply moving dance theatre piece developed from their personal stories on their journeys to recovery.

The event at Storyhouse in Hunter Street opened with the resident Fallen Angels group from Chester performing curtain raiser, “No where to go roads”, followed by their Liverpool counterparts performing “Dark Night Ends”.

On stage performers included members of Tom Harrison House (Veteran Military Addiction Recovery Centre) and Wirral Spider Project (a creative arts and wellbeing recovery community project).

The audience was invited to participate in interactive activities before and after the show, responding to key themes to enable them to reflect and share their thoughts and experiences expanding the overall experience. The audience responded to the curtain call with a standing ovation.

“So deserved of a standing ovation. A massive privilege to watch your positive progression and your courageous sharing of personal challenges. Inspiring, said one

This performance launched FADT’s Active Minds project with funding from Active Cheshire, which hopes to support vulnerable people within Chester to become more active. They would like to hear from anyone in the local area who offers physical exercise or well-being classes/workshops for vulnerable people locally, as they hope to develop a shared resource where the community can find out about opportunities to improve health and well-being.

For further information contact Fallen Angels Dance Theatre at claire@fallenangelsdancetheatre.co.uk, www.fallenangelsdancetheatre.co.uk, or 07801 478548.