workshops - new work, main co and news!

Snap shots for main co:

we're approximately 25 in main co at the moment as well as 2 dancing, multi talented backstage supporters!
(Ollie now on Music Performance BTEC and Tina an experienced dance therapist)

 It's been great to return to workshopping for a few weeks and we've had fun, such a lot of talent and ideas present themselves all the time, it's challenging for me, almost too many choices to be made! what to follow, how to initiate structures to frame the work. However this week a dance created itself as 2 Sunsets did a while ago...more down the page....

workshopping is a good way to welcome new people such as Lydia and Daniela, Lydia here in blue Tshirt! Anna in red

Marjorie and Skye enjoy working together and this very humourous piece we want to return to; so adding images here to remind us, ("7 buttons, no 9" is the other key to it for me), they are both versatile artists and their humour was really enjoyable in this piece created from exchanging movement and words

this was the second dance to October by Ruth Wall, harpist
clusters of dancers and it worked first time in both groups, so we will revisit this
Trevor and Zoe producing some sensitive and beautiful work together.
One of our catch ups is to ask who woud like to work on, develop work with other people? and Trevor asked to work with Zoe some time ago

Film; Tom came with Dan and Ned to introduce them and start their work by enabling everyone to meet them.  Really looking forward to what their work will bring, and discussing filming October in Penlee Gardens as a "pop up" when warmer! scattered groups dancing and moving under those lovely big green trees.

Arran, Katie's brother  now dancing with us. 

Enthusiastic spontaneous signing circle last week and this week a visit from Debbie who signs at Hall for Cornwall performances, we hope to continue discussions and learning.

Debs stayed on for writing and 3 poems were created with lots of ideas, for performing, singing. 

Art group gaining more structure to keep focus as well as allow freedom to explore, and Costume coming soon, Anna, Zoe, Debs and Ollie are very enthusiatic.

Good news came in from Diana before we left to say that the application to Duchy Health Trust is successful, so the Aiming High project will roll out and continue, everyone very pleased!

Everyone sends love to Toby and Raindrop ( pictures of Raindrop a wonderful border collie can be seen on the blog "dreaming" in various places), Raindrop fell recently and is getting older and more frail, so they didn't come in this week.

Shallal 2 

really gaining momentum and some enthusiastic participants with wonderful work being created, hopefully some photos soon. 

Daniela came this week and we are really pleased to be working with her in the new year in Shallal 2 and the main co!

Daniela Schlemm 23.12.69  Germany/ Cornwall

works as an actress, Fool (modern fool), as well as a dance and drama teacher.

She is a state-certified clown and trained, in addition to many training courses and workshops (Keith Johnstone, Ka Rustler, Gerry Flanagan, Tony Glaser,...), mainly by TuT (School of Dance, Clown and Theater, Hannover) and Franki Anderson "Fooling" (The Empty Space project, www.theemptyspace.org, Cornwall, UK), to whom she is especially grateful and whose work she passionately supports and passes on.

Interestingly, even Laban’s first piece was called “Fool’s Mirror (“Narrenspiegel”).

Daniela Schlemm studied 6 years psychology and is a CLMA (Certified Laban / Bartenieff Movement Analyst, trained by EUROLAB).

She particularly loves improvisation and the connection of various artistic disciplines. With this she builds on Laban's "Dance, sound, word”!

Her seminars release the creativity of the participants, promote vitality through a supportive and safe atmosphere and leave a lasting impact.

Furthermore she is currently in training to become a Voice Dialogue coach through Dr. Hal and Sidra Stone of Transforming Dialogue        (www.transformingdialogue.com, Dorchester, Dorset, UK) and gives private sessions.

Shallal Studio Day 3 and news of new Edge fund

Shallal Studio - Day 3

This week I am going to let the pictures tell the story.......

News of a new fund;
Edge Fund makes grants with a difference, supporting justice and seeking change from below. Edge Fund members are donors, activists and communities facing injustice. We have seen existing systems of power and wealth benefit the few and not the many. To challenge this we make decisions together - those who donate money and those who receive it.

We support communities, campaign groups and activists who are:
- working for long-term systematic change
- aiming to transform the economic or political systems which create inequality, oppression and environmental destruction;
- facing injustice themselves because of their class, ability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or other reasons, and who are actively working to challenge these injustices to create a more equal world.

We prioritise funding for grassroots or unfunded groups and those seeking real and lasting radical change.

For more information and details on how to apply, please visit the website below.

CONTACT
email edgefund@riseup.net
website www.edgefund.org.uk

Aiming High Project

Aiming High Project
Debbie and Jessie have currently completed 5 sessions at Nancealverne school working with the younger age group of children with life limiting conditions and profound and multiple disabilities.The project is currently funded, by the West Cornwall Youth Trust and they are now applying for further funding to help the project become sustainable.
Kerry from the main co came to join them one week.

The work is really exciting and is a development from working with people with high needs in centres that we used to do and hope to restart. Then Debs through her work as a nurse met these children and the idea for this work was born. We had long wanted to send in a team, a faciltiator and a dancer, they are even more skilled as are; two professionals, a Disability Nurse and Professional Dancer, both facilitators under Shallal and members of Shallal main company.

"We know that what can be achieved by two facilitators is greater than one; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." 

Feedback 

‘Their work has been inspirational.  They have taken a new approach to working with students who are also wheelchair bound, and have introduced new ways of encouraging movement and self-awareness for these students. They clearly explain what they are doing to do, and why, so that the adults in the class can use these skills at other times, both to promote relaxation and to create learning opportunities.  They have shown themselves to be sensitive to the needs and disabilities of the students’.

Class Teacher 

‘We used to be able to do creative activities like this, but now we have to follow the curriculum,........... This is far more beneficial to the children’s independent learning and growth’.

 support worker 

" Shallal –  delivers a weekly session to our young people who have profound and multiple difficulties.

Shallal allows the young people to participate in music and dance – an activity which they would never have access to in the community.

 Through Shallal our young people develop an awareness of themselves within their environment and they are encouraged to explore and extend their physical movements outside the confines of their wheelchairs.

We have also noticed that their mental health needs are being met. We have observed  a noticeable difference in their verbal and physical reactions showing us that their anxiety levels are being reduced and they are becoming more relaxed.

It is an extremely positive experience for all our young people .......

  

Fiona Flindall

Head Teacher 

Rambling thoughts!

Some ideas are just captivating Doorways did/does that to me i see them everywhere ( they are everywhere!).....i may be going into windows soon.....or they may stay on the page in colour who knows.............
and doing the sketchbook project has been, is fascinaiting, liberating......how many themes does one person, one life have.....i am priveliged to watch people move and see their themes develop, return, etc

i am back on old themes from when i started to dance and sat on buses crossing London, sketching and  making sheets of colour with oil pastels in a sketchbook and here i am again....

 i went on Daniela's teacher Franki's website (http://www.frankianderson.co.uk/) yesterday morning and was thrilled to find "flocking " i've been told of "shoaling" but i like the image of flight and had called it flocking and some how connect with that more easily (A past show had a film of the starlings flocking over marazion marshes by Phil)..
the idea of "giveaway" which is behind my faith in showing work, performance, not keeping it close to you, giving it away, sharing, giving back, honouring, thanking, learning from each other....
the sketchbooks are a fantastic giveaway..no-one may ever look at it, there are thousands, but it stands as a part of a living witness, fun, serious, detailed, sketchy, entertaining? none of that is dictated to you...

the way art speaks to you, allows things to emerge, which is why it can be used therapeutically, but where it is symbolic, childish, in the real sense, play is serious, also the fool - light hearted -, truth can turn the world upside down, you can see things afresh, anew, through someone elses eyes.....
we are more that the sum of the parts, Wolfgang also says that in an interview, ( i linked on a previous blog)...
the BSL sign for truth
we are taught and love some of the signs, they can be so universal to our culture, (we laugh as we learn in the lessons we attend ) everyone understands some language of gesture, gestural language, spontaneity, adaption to the moment, where do we meet? freedom and discipline.....

i now treat workshop as my art form, ( see following quote) so i never quite know what i'm going to do; (scary?!) i know what i want to acheive in terms of commitment, opportunity, but i do not know how we'll get there, whether we'll go somewhere else, what everyone else will bring to it, the best things often come from the participants, not me, we are on a journey, a time together, to create, trust, play, speak, move, process to product, but trust the process, i have to do this as well, partly they have to trust me/ each other/ the process we are in it together?!

"The artistic results are authentic because they are participant led and high quality because they are artist guided....................................

We believe that Workshop is an arts practice in its own right – a 21^st century form with unrealised potential for experiential learning, collective creativity and individual transformation. "

http://www.themoveablefeast.co.uk/

Tom is coming in to film the process and Colin pointed out it's happening now any small thing that works maybe used and built on, it's all part of it and i have to hone my observation skills, hard now when so much talent flying around... and where to take it, how to develop, constant challenge, and asking everyone to increase their observational skills...
it needs to be fun, is something i heard myself say over and over again to an old colleague, i enjoy it as well it's a mutual process and requires effort from us all...
better stop rambling.......
off to make and bake buns for birthdays ( Demelza's 20th) and get ready for work in main co today,....
Adrian Bossey from The Performance Centre said how Mike Shephard of Kneehigh observed how many good ideas come from around the table and i wonder if we are so close in the main co as we eat ( our packed lunches) together, share cake on birthdays etc....
food is all about symbolism, sharing, care, generousity and very much in the Celtic tradition

so enjoying casting off some of the worry re big bids that sat on my shoulder all summer, whispering to me! i'm waiting to hear from another one for Falmouth i need to do, but am free these last week or two to think art..oooh fun and Ollie let us visit the Tate, and i wanted to dance and .......
off to work
what a previlige, i heard a friend describe nursing as a previlige the other day, working with people at depth is...........................

quick update

A quick update; in that main company going well with a small window of opportunity for new people to join happening now and 3 came last week. Welcome to; Lydia, housemate and friend of Eleanor's, Lauren from Friends and Dancing and Daniela, trained and highly skilled in improvisation, movement observation and Fool work, from Germany now settled in Penwith, we hope to work together on our next project.
Sign language beginning to embed itself in the company with conversations happening at lunchtime and artistic ideas flying around it, and soon we will meet Debbie - who is an interpreter and does a lot of different work in Cornwall.
A feeling of freedom; as at last someone else has taken over the bid writing for the main company..phew
and thank you to Dot and Barbara..still work to be done, but the creative, logisitical, meeting people, ideas etc..that we can do !

Photos from dress rehearsal coming via Star this Friday...

Next push is to Launceston Town Hall Doorways matinee 1.30pm Friday 23rd November, and then to first Inclusive Dance Day for Cornwall at the Performance Centre, 10am -3pm Monday 10th Dec, in partnership with Access theatre, and the last indoor Doorways performance there on 14th December, 7.30pm.

Lovely to have Laura's blogs re Studios...

Open House groups thriving and attracting more people, both had 20 participants recently.
Friends and Dancing continues to inspire and challenge me, and new volunteer Lucy a dance undergraduate working with us this term.
Aiming High the new group at Nancalverne School is doing really well, hopefully will give you more about it from Debs soon, Kerry from the main company went along last time.
Shallal 2 in Falmouth developing well with ideas and skills and a commited core group, and attracting new people.

Anna, Michael and i have sketchbooks from the Sketchbook Project,
http://mailchimp.com/about/customer-stories/the-sketchbook-project/
worth watching, truly inclusive, accessible art, very exciting
we hope to do something inspired by this in the future...

this was sent to Laura and i asked her to forward it on......