Monday 18 April 2016

Updates and feedback for Shallal 2 Mergecology

Shallal 2
Feedback for Shallal 2 from Mergecology 
"Thank you so much for performing in Mergecology last week. it was wonderful to have your dancers there and the performance was gorgeous!"
Suzie 
Spindrift dance collective

Shallal Dance Theatre
Lots of exciting possibilities coming up, including Jo and Demelza working with Get Changed Theatre company, in June, helping add dance component to the next stage of their Alice In Wonderland productions.
http://www.getchanged.com/projects.html
It includes the joy of working with experienced musician Philip Robinson. We often used to talk of working together and sharing practice, when he delivered the highly successful MAP ( Music Access Project ) project ( which we hope to relaunch in the future, as we now have lovely Stuart who could shadow him - so we get the skills in Cornwall.)

Doorways Visiting Artist
We hope to have Colin's friend Harry Theaker http://www.juncturedance.com/harry-theaker/
visit us again on the 6th May when we rehearse at Godolphin and look forward to his feedback. We are busy threading together the web of images, characters, history and colour Godolphin has inspired.
He came and helped and gave helpful feedback when we performed Contrasts at Falmouth Art Gallery, a few years ago.
It will be good to have someone else's eye on it and then we have 2 weeks to continue working on it before the performance.


Michael has nearly finished the poster..... and Victoria and i are sitting by our computers and phones tomorrow rather than meeting in person.

Shallal Studios 
news in that Hannah Whitlock from Outside In, Pallant House Gallery http://www.outsidein.org.uk/About_2014
might come down to... " meet with artists and help them create an online gallery page on the Outside In website"

Also really excited that we are working with Shallal Studio artist Sam While and his family to enable his first solo show at Helston Museum 4th - 16 July! with a private view involving Shallal 2 - we hope - date tbc. 
Many thanks to Tracey at the museum for her enthusiasm and support.

Express Yourself
Occasionally when Debs can't make it i have the pleasure of working again with Express Yourself, last week we collected comments and thoughts for future developments,

"Friendly group, like the way people interpret the music, so original, lovely atmosphere"  Laura

"It's not classed as ability or disability, it's do-able. 
People allowed to express themselves as they wish when they wish.
Everyones encouraged to join in.
Encouragement given by the group for the group helps people." Leslie

"Love Art and Love Dancing, love coming here feels like a family" Esme

"Fun" Miles






Saturday 16 April 2016

Kerry standing tall!

Wonderful this week to see Kerry so upright and balanced!!
and to see Linda again after a long time.
We are so glad to have her back working with us and supporting us with Godolphin Doorways!
As soon as i saw Kerry I remembered the last post with them both....http://shallal-arts.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/kerry-and-thursdays-art-and-music.html
 many thanks to physio Dominique Royle and her skill! and to Star.....

costume, lovely dress found by Zo



Monday 11 April 2016

Shallal 2 at Mergecology Thursday 14th April 7pm Keay Theatre St Austell ( and link to article on Wolfgang Stange, Amici )

Shallal 2 will be represented at Mergecology by Spindrift Dance Collective this Thursday 7pm, tickets £4
on the door or from Cornwall College Box office 01726 226454

14th April  2016
Mergecology 
Performance of After the Rain by Olivia Lockwood & Freefall piece
Keay Theatre, St Austell 
http://www.spindriftdancecollective.com/pedagogy-research--merge.html
http://www.spindriftdancecollective.com/dates--details.html

          glad i'm no the only one who sometimes has typos it is this Thursday not Friday as on Poster!

Andrew Feasey, Jo Lumber, Skye Mackay and Miles Stead are the dancers and they will perform Bus Stop, ( from Dance on the Grass ) a new piece - they will meet it tomorrow!- and Lullaby ( from Winter Mixture).
Should be a good evening! Lots of variety and inspiring dancers.....


I have eventually entered the world of smart phones and while waiting for Luke's piano lesson to finish found 
this interview with Wolfgang Stange
http://www.inclueded.net/writing/stange.html. 
...who i owe nearly everything to in all my work, as he owes it to Hilde Holger etc. His work was my total vision and inspiration and i am deeply grateful. It has developed slightly differently and that is his and Hilde's strength and attraction that you are encouraged/enabled to be yourself, there are so many people who owe their inspiration to him and his work.
The article is long but has some really interesting insights and some i hadn't seen in print before about devising.

Looking forward to tomorrow Shallal 2 and Friday Shallal Dance Theatre, deep in rehearsals now i eventually have a sort of running order! ( artists block - often creative always scary!) costume now, performers please bring in any ideas...

Sunday 3 April 2016

Inside Out.....

I'm tidying up to go away and someone just asked me what inspired me, so the usual ones, and then i thought about that whole time of changing what i did, and remember living with Mike and Muzz ( Marie) and going to see performance work with Mike that influenced me.
Not easy to forget a 40 min ( or felt like it) piece with just a mime artist, a spoon and a chair.
 I am easily amused and entertained by life and Suzi, Mike's sister, came to stay 5 years ago and showed me what they do now, as last i heard they moved back to Muzz's home country New Zealand and Mike had been in a film shown at Cannes Film Festival.....

I was on their website and read this:

Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework within which the problems were created.

Albert Einstein

which i think is very appropriate when remembering the way people with additional needs were / can be treated...

Their website is

about them on 

I have no photos from that time, early 80's, but many wonderful zany images of them in my memories and it would take more than this small blog entry to do them credit. We lived in 2 colourful houses of characters and artists in North East London. They were performing their first show while my brother and his now wife had just met and were learning to scuba dive, it's interesting to see where people get to, end up doing when they follow their passions, joy and gifts.