Community Arts in the High Peak
Following on from its brilliant success at Gamesley, Blue John had his second outing to the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on 2nd September. The young performers loved the excitement of a professional venue and to top it all they played to none other than the author herself, Berlie Doherty. She said
“I’m really, really impressed. They’ve captured the elements of the story beautifully. The singing is lovely; the movements are lovely and I think it’s a wonderful production.”
On 5th August thirteen young people from Glossop and Buxton joined forces to perform the World Premiere of their interpretation of the popular children’s story by Berlie Doherty.
Here are some thoughts from the audience:
And here is the lovely piece on High Peak Radio, put together by Izaac Cole:
Blue John is the first performance from our music and theatre project, Tall Tales. Funded by the Foundation for Youth Music, local young people have been working with professional musicians and singers since April and the final work will be performed in Glossop on 5th August and Buxton on 2nd September.
The story, Blue John, is taken from the original book by Berlie Doherty and follows the journey of a young boy and the decisions he faces as he goes through his life. In this brand-new version it is expressed through the theatre and music created by young people in weekly workshops happening in Gamesley, Glossop and Fairfield, Buxton. They have worked with composer and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Smith; Sarah Atter, Flautist and percussionist; and Caro Churchill, digital and spoken-word musician. With the musicians there to help start off the creativity everyone has worked together to write original music for the final performance.
Andy Smith said:
“So far we’ve had an experimentation phase, trying lots of things and exploring the themes of the story and seeing what participants are interested in. The next phase is the Summer School, when we really hone in on perfecting this new piece – ready to perform!”
The groups from Buxton and Glossop will meet for the first time at a week long summer school. In this week there will be added input from operatic singer, Daisy Barker, theatre-maker, Paul Hine, and visual artist Katy McCall, and the new material will be shaped into the final show.
“The production is the only version of Blue John ever made and it is by young teens from the High Peak and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the performance so it is highly recommended you should go and see it whilst you can.” Shane Hodgson, participant.
Performances will be:
5th August, 7.30pm at the Geoffrey Allen Centre, Winster mews, Gamesley, SK13 0LU and
2nd September, 7.30pm at Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre, St John’s Road, Buxton,SK17 6XN.
Tickets for both shows are £3 (£1 children and all concessions) with tickets available from Gamesley Community Café, Buxton Opera House (Box Office 01298 72190) and from High Peak Community Arts on 01663 744 516.
Click below to find out more about the Tall Tales project:
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There is some exciting work going on in the Tall Tales workshops – we have groups running in Gamesley and Fairfield and they have got stuck in to all sorts of music activities, learning about the story of Blue John by Berlie Doherty and putting their own stamp on the ideas for the sounds of the final performance.
But don’t take our word for it – have a look at some of work in progress:
In Fairfield:
and in Gamesley:
Brand new music sessions are running in Gamesley, Glossop and Fairfield, Buxton.
Gamesley sessions run from 23rd April and the next 12 Wednesdays at 4 – 6pm at the Gamesley Community Cafe, Winster Mews.
Fairfield sessions run in the Fairfield Dreamscheme sessions from 29th April and for the next 12 Tuesdays, 6 – 8pm at Fairfield Sure Start on Victoria Park Road.
This programme is funded by the Foundation for Youth Music for two years and there will at least one performance each year. Anyone aged 8+ with an interest in music (you don’t need loads of skills) should come along to see what we are doing. You don’t have to perform at the end just come along and give it a try!
We are working with composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Smith who will be leading the activities; Sarah Atter, flautist and percussionist and Caro Churchill, digital and spoken word musician. They are all there to help start off the creativity and everyone will work towards brand new original music for the final performance.
Watch this space for the performance details!