Sunday 31 July 2011

Shallal Picnic and...

The Shallal Summer Picnic was a good social event for us all and the sun shone!
I had hoped to take many photos, but as is the way when, making cups of tea and chatting, the idea was there but the time flew, however we managed one of this pyramid!!!
In the photograph: Joseph is waiting eagerly to join Shallal when he leaves school next year, his sister Katie is in it and Sophie hopes to return this September if her college timetable lets her!
The Shallal summer social is a lovely chance for us all to be together without pressure, to see everyones family and friends, and meet some new faces who may join us. Not everyone was able to come but we numbered nearly 50, so thank you to everyone who came and hopefully see you at Christmas!
Joseph, Jacob, Katie, Steph, Sophie and Aaron

I am writing this to avoid other writing, as usual - or maybe I should see it as a warming up exercise.
Doorways are being researched, really enjoying Cornish Language and Dolly Pentreath, planning to meet Sally this week to discuss it further, ~ for a light touch to the day I recommend her poetry in a can....www.thepoetree.net/wordmart.php
Also planning to meet Kim who is developing an older women's opera project http://powow-projectoperaworksforolderwomen.blogspot.com/.
and planning for Zoe to perform a solo at Access Theatre's next event.

Sadly there beautiful poster won't upload but it's,
Sky's the Limit
Community Platform
Launceston Town Hall
August 19th,  7pm
tickets £6 to book tickets 07968416009



Amongst all this trying to write a big application and have a summer holiday, but the joys of living in Cornwall are high: long sandy beaches, family cream teas and pier jumping with 2/3rds of the family yesterday.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

images and instillations



Terri and Kerry
The other day ( a Cornish expression our eldest daughter always picks me up on) Shallal visited The Exchange and played in the space full of wonderful instillations by Andrew Currie - sadly we didn't get to work with any in our last show as we'd hoped - but i found these old photos today and wanted to share them, partly as they involve; Lisa who isn't able to work with us at the moment, but we hope she will return in the future, and Terri who has left but will return occassionally.



Lisa

 Zoe


Yesterday Echoes Dance Co performed Reflections on Time at a lunchtime Concert at St Mary's church , Penzance..it was lovely to see, beautiful and moving. Toby had wonderful sketches displayed. 

Friday 22 July 2011

Good news

Well after my sustainable partnerships blurb.

Good news yesterday that the Woodward trust have given us money for the next 2 terms to develop work in the Penryn Improvisation and Performance group, with 3 visiting artists, a musician, composer and visual artist.

A meeting with Adrian at UCF today led to more good news, this time regular space for the Penryn group in a studio at The Performance Centre...a sustainable partnership!! with the group being open to any UCF students to attend and gain experience, develop ideas within inclusive community collaborative work.

So all good news, and booking in to use their performance space to film Chromatic with Barbara Santi, our aim with another potential bid is to create a short film piece from it to go in exhibitions, there is potential to involve students and possibly do something i’d thought of ages ago which would be to perform something and let a few people/teams film it and then see what each edits from it into a short 2 or 3 min film.

             So a nice start to the holidays, which will still be taken up with bid writing, but in a slightly happier optimistic frame of mind thanks to Adrian at UCF and the Woodward trust.
Shallal picnic, (cream tea theme) today, hope the sun shines, some new faces coming to meet the company, the fun of being together with our families and friends; it is always snatched socialising at other times and this is a nice unwind after a busy term with old friends coming such as Terri and Sophie .....and i’d better go and get ready!

Tuesday 19 July 2011

photos from Chromatic, gestural language and sustainable partnerships

Zoe and Anna in Contrapunctus

Sam, Eddie and Michael in Coming Together  to Blue Calm by Robert Fripp and Theo Travis

Zoe

Kerry and Colin in Framed I

Sam and Linda in Framed III
Kerry

Toby,( i had to show this large as the light is so lovely!)
  We are so grateful to Steve Tanner for these wonderful photos, a taster, and there are many more to come!

Thanks also to Paul for lighting and thanks again to UCF, Platform Centre, Lesley- Anne, Adrian and all who supported us.

Sitting here with what has become the normal summer struggle for funding, yesterday I came up with an idea for development into sustainable partnerships
The nature of the work is social in that once we commit to work with people I don't want to take that away. It's foundation is also artistic and all that discipline requires especially in dance and performance, access to weekly sessions, for fitness, technique, expression.
Having my foundation of experience in places such as Budock Hospital and seeing that usually the people exhibiting the "worst" behaviour or the most "disturbed," were the most creative. I have no doubt of the necessity of creativity in our lives, for our mental health, for our sharing, fun, humour, communication.
Many people (especially people with LD's ) are fantastic gestural communicators, highly sophisticated, this is their first language, expressive, open, and this is what I love, you can meet and know someone more fully in dance than in conversation. I watch professionals and support workers enjoy this relationship which isn't there in other situations, this was obvious with two people who come to FAD who suffer with dementia and yet are the most moving, engaging, expressive movers and give generously to everyone who works in dance with them. It is an equal experence ( and if you let it, a humbling one) and very precious for that. With my old dance teacher in London, Wolfgang, I saw people change in one session, they came to observe, they were invited/persuaded to join in, they worked in equality with people they had wanted to observe and it changed their perception, radical people politics with not a word said!

So, this rambling comes from sustainable partnerships; How can we create situations where the sessions are able to continue on a base line? and then apply for funding/projects to give the proper pay / income, so we are there for the people we work with, and don't worry every summer how we will continue.
Can we develop mutually beneficial relationships / sustainable partnerships with; buildings- low rent or rent free-, organisations who want the opportunities available - basic costs covered, sponsors? 
and now with the changing world and to survive we have to charge, but keep this low/ open enough to continue to attract the people we work with. (And if you are one of those who say people only value what they pay for, some people also do choose to donate/pay more because they believe in Shallal and want to support it.) People also donate their time / talents if they cannot pay with money, we wish to stay open to everyone.
The main company has survived over the years thanks to the support of St Peter's Church, Newlyn, it's last resident priest Father Robert Strange and it's community, providing us with low rental rehearsal space.



Tuesday 12 July 2011

Chromatic and Friends and Dancing

Well we did it. Thank you to everyone at The Performance Centre. 
What a treat wonderful sound, lights and space, dance floor etc. After Chromatic in art galleries and various out reach venues it was lovely to have a theatrical space to finish with. 
Next term, dependent on funding, we hope to make a short film from it. 
We are really grateful to Steve Tanner for coming to photograph the dress rehearsal for us (as a gift) and for Aga for being our audience! 

We have had some wonderful feedback;
“What a brilliant and inspiring show. Thank you everybody.”

Sadly we didn’t manage to film it, our camera is in need of repair which we can’t afford.
Skye and Zoe in Contrapunctus


Michael in the finale 


Katie around the sculpture in intro, thanks to her mum Zoe for the pictures 
But we will post photographs as they come.
We are busy trying to survive into next term, this is our 3rd summer in this state, we are still here just and everything is blooming apart from finances so on we go.

New members waiting in the wings for main company in September , a professional dance teacher and man with downs syndrome and dementia, which just about sums up Shallal, and the ground where we all meet! Also Sophie wanting to return if college timetable lets her and Elaine coming back. I’ve written it before but Shallal is rich because of the people and all that they bring to it. 
Sponsored Dance ends a successful term for Friends and Dancing today, and we have had many new members this term, people who are really pleased to find friends and something positive to do in their local community. We have much to build on and hope to grow something like the main company in this area over time as there is a lot of talent and enthusiasm. We hope to have a benefit for them before Christmas.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

link to poster,on dgm website, info and tickets. Friends and Dancing Sponsored dance 13th July

Our dear friend and Patron Robert Fripp kindly put the poster and info for our next Performance on his work website, so here's the link....http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm
We had a good rehearsal at the Performance Centre on Monday. We are able to hang Toby's kinetic sculptures, they look great!
After Chromatic as part of the Basically Bach performances at The Exchange we have put the 3 pieces we did there at the beginning of this show.
 2 are new; Chromatic Fantasy and Contrapunctus (played by the robert fripp string quintet), and our old favourite, "Mothers and Daughters," all Bach pieces.
Then Chromatic with guest appearences by Giles and Tina who are new to the company, and Katherine is unable to be with us, but others are standing in for her.
We had worked on Pascagalia by Bach (also played by robert fripp string quintet), a wonderful piece of atmospheric music with fantastic ideas from everyone, but it needs more time to complete, so we look forward to finishing it next term.

Next piece of news;
Friends and Dancing are running a Sponsored Dance, 10am -12.15pm at the Dracaena Centre, Falmouth next Wednesday 13th July.
The aim is to raise money to enable the group to continue next term.
The group continues to be as success.

Antony at Shallal's ( Friends and Dancing) workshop, as part of Health Promotion Sports taster day at the Dracaena Centre 


Sam, Carly and others at same workshop, photos by Toni
We have 5 new members this term.

Do come along and join us, to sponsor or be sponsored, if you wish to give money there is a donate link on our website home page. www.shallal.org.uk