New term

A planning week with all the normal and the new:
A new project fully funded and fun, a new research and performance invitation to complete this term, a  new pilot project on shoestring and enthusiasm, an application to resubmit, and awaiting news of another application........the whole range.

Ongoing sessions;
fully funded and growing, partly funded and growing, finishing funding then waiting, no funding and growing on shoestring survival.
Visits and visitors.

Thank you to all....

So, looking forward to an interesting term in the Main co: The Wardrobe Project, afternoons with exciting guest artists alongside morning rehearsals for a project we get briefed on our first day back, working with Barbara Santi and Louise O'Connel at Penlee House and hoping we can use our new format from Always New in some of it. New wave drum adding more to music explorations - so 'food' on all fronts.
A visit to Kneehigh's new show with pre-performance workshop this Friday at Heligan Gardens, and visit from Michael White and Kirsty Cotton of Hall for Cornwall this term.

Shallal Studios residency, is nearly all booked in, interested artists, some travel and volunteer support, and Jo Lumber as writer in residence kindly provided by Falmouth Art Gallery.

Express Yourself combining Friends and Dancing moves on with Colin and Debs this term, Open House continues to grow in Redruth, I'm looking forward to the final 6 sessions of Aiming High at Nancealverne School with new support artist Hannah Kelly, and dear Shallal 2 is looking forward to the new term with Eddie returning and a performance offer in already but no underpinning funding.

Then the other voice,
tidying my desk and found the write up for Always New, I am always hoping that one day one might just get a patron someone who says, " Here we are, we believe in you and here is the money go away and come back with something".......oh bliss! my husband reckons i'll die with that hope but there's always hope!

So our invisible patron "life resiliance" came this year and as we were waiting on funding, we went ahead with three 'cheap' performances Mazey Day, and then Always New at Godolphin Courtyard and The Performance Centre in Shared Vision.
I am so pleased and excited we have worked a long time on this new methodology ( Always New) in rehearsals sometimes it felt we were nearly there and sometimes it had slipped just out of reach again and we had to go searching for it. In Godolphin Courtyard and in The Performance Centre it took off, took flight and was exciting and promising and .......
so it came from my wanting to push our improvisation further, we always play with it once the company reached a certain experience and maturity, but then people often leave and move on and we have to regroup and it goes on the back burner again. George working with us, young dancers, Shallal 2's new model, and people with chronic health conditions have all added to the mix of it happening now.
It allows whoever is there to be involved so we aren't so reliant on certain people being there, this gives freedom and less pressure to those who are sometimes too ill to dance, or are too busy to come to smaller shows, and enables the performance to still to happen.
Artistically it allows exciting choreography and dynamics, gives the artistic process back to the artist/performer far more and remains fresh and relevant. I will ask the performers for more feedback and reflection when we meet again 19th September.

Always New
Shallal have been exploring new methods for group improvisations and working with talented musician George Peers.
The dancers respond in the moment to the music provided and so each piece is "Always New."
This gives the performers greater freedom to follow the instructions: pause/stillness, work alone or with others. Structure, Freedom and Intent.
These simple rules give form and content each time you look at them, and allow each "Always New" piece to hold and develop it's own authentic response and story. This method allows our stories, movement, dances to unravel creating a combination of sound, music, images, movement, acting and dance in something 'Always New."

Our patron Robert Fripp sent us his latest news links the other day and I was pleased to find this on it:
http://www.orchestraofcraftyguitarists.com/words/craft/Seven-Assumptions-For-Work-In-The-Circle.html
Common themes of working with awareness, intent and goodwill.
Shallal artists and performers please read!

Have a good term and now back to my desk and the first day of the school/college term in our house!
I have just realised that we have the whole range in our family this term, primary school, home ed ( starting gcse's, some by correspondence course), diploma - equivalent to A'levels, working gap year and leaving home to start a degree!  fun !!!