Global Grooves: La Mercè
What happened?
Global Grooves led a place-based, co-created commission that brought dancers from two very different traditions from Oldham to make a new outdoor work for Barcelona’s La Mercè festival (Produced by XTRAX, and co-curated by Without Walls). Rehearsals and making sessions took place in Mossley (Tameside), combining joint choreography, music development, costume work and Global Grooves’ distinctive carnival craft (including a carnival puppet bee co-created with Catalan artists Pau Reig and Dolors Sans).
This commission celebrated the area’s diversity in a way that brought people together.
“Exploring our individual heritage as well as the ones we share with communities around Greater Manchester and Tameside and Oldham has been really central. It’s about what we all bring, but also about what connects us.” (Global Grooves)
Image Credit: Bankole Oluwafemi, 2026
What changed?
The project raised confidence and artistic ambition for both of groups of dancers involved, the Dancing Dijas (a south Asian dance group and Saddleworth North West Morris and Clog side, particularly those at an emerging stage. It also built new relationships and networks across traditions. Participants found unexpected common ground, for example the use of sticks, bells, formations and shared values. the dancers performed with live musicians in Barcelona in September 2025, and made their international audiences look at Manchester in a different and unexpected light.
“In Barcelona, it just felt like we were celebrities, because there were thousands and thousands of people, and then everybody coming to us and taking our pictures and asking us questions…”
This positive experience inspired plans for further collaborations, including a prestigious showcase at Manchester Day 2026.
Image credits: Barcelona City Council, and John Grey, 2026
What value did GM Arts SPIRIT funding add?
GM Arts SPIRIT added value by enabling this place-based collaboration, together with Arts Council England and local borough support. This mix created the conditions needed for intensive co-creation, production, travel and logistics to export the performance. SPIRIT also enabled the partners to reflect on the experience to inform future work.
“I think the dancers feel a real sense of pride in the journey that both the piece and the relationship between the two styles and practices have taken. It’s so authentic and compelling. It probably means something different to them now than it did at the start.”
What was learned?
Intercultural co-creation needs time and Global Groove’s skill to set up and manage the collaboration. Practicing together provided the space for curiosity, difference and shared ownership to emerge without it being forced. The work also underlined the importance of holding onto distinct traditions while building a coherent joint piece “making sure we don’t lose their style of dancing and our style of dancing.”
Image credit: Barcelona City Council, 2026
Notes: GM Arts SPIRIT 2023-2026 was the Cultural Portfolio Fund delivered by GMCA.
