Heart 'n Soul is an artistic powerhouse. We give freedom to our own creativity. We have six performance companies, each with a different style, from our Original Company to Heart 'n Soul Youth. We also have our pioneering technical artists, the Octopus Crew, and our very own DJs. We write and perform all of our own work and go on tour to schools, theatres and festivals like Glastonbury.

"When people perform they gradually get more confident, make more choices and move up.
Heart 'n Soul is about being who you are and someone who loves to do a lot of things."
Paul Bewell

One of Heart 'n Soul's founders, Alix Parker, tells us how it all began…

When we met, Mark Williams and I were involved in a band and a theatre company yet we were increasingly excited about our creative work with people with learning disabilities.

Dave Sawyer was inspirational in his approach to his work with people with learning disabilities, showing that, with access, the creative possibilities were endless and inclusive.

The Mulberry Crew was a band Mark set up from a workshop at the Lewisham Academy of Music. With Mark on bass, Pino Frumiento as lead vocalist and the rest of the group playing percussion, their first gig was for a ‘Moving On’ festival at Chats Palace in 1985.

The Albany hosted residencies for people with learning disabilities, funded by Shape. Looking for a core group to focus the project, Mark and I met with two members of the Mulberry Crew, Pino and Sue to discuss how music and theatre could work together. As Pino said, the opportunity was ‘like a dream come true!’

Taking our name from one of Pino’s songs we found that the performers talent inspired us to go beyond our expectations. We agreed that their music should be heard as they conceived it, played by a band of professional musicians. Jan and Rikki Jodelko, on drums and guitar helped to bring a professionalism that has always marked our work.

The vibe at our first performance was electric. We knew then that we were at the beginning of something special.

The Albany invited us to become a resident company. As Pino said we wanted to share our vision and change the world. Heart ‘n Soul became our way of doing that. Today the organisation works with over 5000 people a year, we feel like a family, we are the heart our art is our soul.

Heart 'n Soul Original Company

We have been with Heart 'n Soul from the very beginning, since 1986. The people who have been here since the beginning are Winston, Stephan, Pino, Cheryl and Geoff.

We sing and play different types of music – slow ballads, reggae, blues – it’s all mixed. We perform at the Beautiful Octopus Club and we all come up with the songs, individually and as a group. We work on something at home and bring it in.

We go to schools, do shows abroad, and shows in England. We’ve been to Telford, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and lots of clubs and centres. We’ve done tapes, CDs, and a film called Breaking The Rules.

In the future we would like to move on and bring in new people to teach us new skills like voice training or singing. We want to get more people involved and to become more professional. We’d like to do more CDs, go on Top of the Pops, travel to different places, go to more schools and let kids learn from us. When they grow up they can get the clubs going and be DJs.

The highlight of being in Heart 'n Soul is going abroad. We’ve already been to Germany, Glastonbury and Greece and we’d like to go to places we’ve never been to before.

Being in Heart 'n Soul feels great. It makes you feel like you don’t have a disability and we all make friends. We want to keep the peace. You need to open your heart and follow your dreams.

Positive Hearts
Positive Hearts is a music and dance performance company that looks at life with a learning disability without using lots of words. We use our sounds and movement to make people feel strong and proud. Positive Hearts stay friends forever.

Clockwatch Theatre

Clockwatch Theatre is part of Heart ‘n Soul. It’s in Croydon. We dance, we do exercises, we play games, we do drama and sing and play music. It’s a nice group and polite and we all get on well with one another. We are friends here.

Alan C – I like to play musical instruments. We like performing on the stage at the Beautiful Octopus Club at the Clock Tower in Croydon twice a year. We’ve also performed at the Albany in Deptford.

Lee – We are the best group. It makes me feel good and happy.

Anthony – I like scriptwriting and learning lines, picking up verbal instructions and helping other people.

Harriet – I like writing songs because it comes naturally when I sing things and the words come out. I feel really good, it’s like I’ve achieved something.

Alan B – I love this group. It’s the best because I go on stage at the Octopus Club. I do like performing arts. When I’m on stage I feel confidence – and nerves at the same time! Talking with other people in the group I feel happy, grateful and respect.

Jackson’s Lane Crew
We rehearse every week – we do dance, movement and performance. We are doing a play called Macbeth. We use piano and drums and Giles and Carol help us and give us some ideas. We write the songs ourselves.

Kashia - I’ve been on stage so many times and on TV. I’m also part of Mencap. At Jackson’s Lane I feel like I’m Carol’s right hand woman. She always asks me for advice and stuff. I’m following in my mum’s footsteps because she was a soprano too.

We really like the Beautiful Octopus Club. It’s got loads of different levels and the view is great! There is disco, slow and an Internet café. The Original Company are brilliant – they make us excited to be part of this group.

Octopus Crew
We are the Octopus Crew. We set up the clubs, pack up all the equipment, sell the merchandise, hang the decorations and backdrops, set up the DJs, make sure everything looks good and sounds good, help the performers on and off stage, set up the stage with the instruments and mics, make sure the cables are safe and when everyone has left the club we pack it down.

We are the people who make the club happen. You can’t see us but you can see what we have done. We start early and finish late and work very long hours.

Lisa – Heart ‘n Soul changed my life. I even met my boyfriend at the crew and we’ve been together six years now. We are planning to get married and I’d like to have the wedding at the Albany. The crew can organise it!

Dele – I joined the team to meet more friends, to stop being bored and have a really good time.

Wayne – I come to the Octopus Crew to learn to set up all the technical stuff.

Jason – I like setting up the play station and rigging up the computers. The crew is like a family.

Heart 'n Soul DJs

Hannah Marvelly - In the beginning Heart 'n Soul wanted to communicate to lots of people with learning disabilities what the club was about. I came because I wanted to help people with learning disabilities and tell them everything that was going on.
I really enjoy doing the club and I’m happy working there. I play all sorts of music, part R+B, part garage and part pop.

Richard West - The Octopus Clubs are a great place to go night clubbing if you are a person with a learning disability. It is also accessible for a deaf person with learning disability.

I do a lot of MC-ing and making people very welcome with laughter. I am a very good DJ and quite a famous person in the arts world. I go to lots of different arts meetings for Heart ‘n Soul, sometimes I do a lot of training for different people. I also helped Heart ‘n Soul in making the web site accessible.

My favourite part was going to Berlin with Hannah. This was part of the Disability Arts festival in May this year. We didn't leave the nightclub until 4.30am and it was lots of fun!! What makes it so good – we are the only two people with a learning disability to DJ at a nightclub in Europe!! I think other clubs should follow our example!!