Vintage entertainer Dawn Gracie lifting spirits with host of online shows

Chichester vintage entertainer Dawn Gracie has been moving the fun online as she tries to lift spirits, both hers and ours.
Dawn and her mum BrendaDawn and her mum Brenda
Dawn and her mum Brenda

Dawn, a prolific performer in the area and a regular at the Festival of Chichester, has ensured that the music keeps on coming – and the programme is building nicely.

On Monday evenings, she does a private show for the Aldingbourne Trust, especially for their clients and staff. Tuesday afternoon at 2.30pm is Uke Fun with Dawn and Dawn’s mum Brenda from Dawn’s main Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Dawnsvintagedo/.

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“And Friday afternoon is 2.30pm with me and posted directly from Sage House Facebook page and open to anyone who needs a pick-me-up! (http://www.facebook.com/dementiahub). I’d be happy to hear from any other local charities if I can do anything online for them.”

Get in touch via [email protected].

“I had a couple of weeks working hard and cancelling everything, all the admin behind it all, when all this first started” says Dawn.

But then the urge to keep on performing grew too strong.

“I do have a dressing room at home which used to be a big dining room, but it has got all my costumes in and my whole set-up, so I started doing some Facebook live where people could watch me and interact with me and join in with the singing and the dancing, from my Dawn’s Vintage Do Facebook page. It was great to be dressing up again and entertaining and performing… and lifting spirits.

“If you are feeling low, there is something magical that happens when you smile and you sing a song and when people can still manage to talk to you in real time. It lifts my spirits as well as well for people who are staying at home and can’t go out. And then people started sending me pictures of them dancing and singing. It was lovely, and so I just carried on.”

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Dawn also got in touch with Sage House – Dementia Support in Tangmere: “In my day job I go and sing in nursing homes, and I saw that Sage House had a Facebook page called Dementia Support (@dementiahub) and after a conversation with their marketing person, I agreed I would go live working from their Facebook page every Friday afternoon at 2.30pm to their followers and carers. It is a combination of singing and exercises, recreating what I do when I go and do this face to face in nursing homes.”

Dawn is hoping news will spread to other nursing homes in the area through their networks. Dawn is also offering ukulele fun on a weekly basis: “My mum Brenda lives with us. She plays ukulele and I used to play the ukulele years ago. We have started a regular streaming on my Dawn’s Vintage Do Facebook page every Tuesday at 2.30 for a bit of ukulele fun.”

Dawn also approached the Aldingbourne Trust, which supports people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live independent lives. She has started doing a Monday evening stream to their private group on Facebook, a virtual party for their clients.

“I agreed to give my time to this as I know of the amazing work they do, and their activities co-ordinator is doing a stellar job at streaming many times daily. I had an absolute ball whilst singing my set of 50s and 60s songs while introducing lots of fun props including a bubble machine!”

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Dawn is keen for the shows to grow: “It breaks my heart that people are feeling isolated and lonely, but at the end of the day we have got the power of the internet. Part of performing is putting on an act, and my enjoyment of what I do is genuine, but in these very strange and isolated times, putting on an act is fine if sometimes you are also cheering yourself up.

“I just want to be dressing up again and singing and performing, and it is a great way of lifting people’s spirits in this difficult time.”

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