Spilt Ink developed Home at Trinity in collaboration with local school children
Spilt Ink Theatre, a trio of performers who specialise in movement, clowning and puppetry, created a new piece of work for children through a paid Trinity commission. The company worked in collaboration with a local school to develop a movement piece called 'Home’ - a piece that would celebrate the many cultural heritages of children in Bristol.
"My 4-year-old was totally engaged, repeating the keywords from the main character. She even wrote her own letter!"
Split Ink embedded themselves in the school. Many children felt anxious at first, having recently experienced disruption due to Lockdown restrictions however, through small group workshops, games and storytelling activities the children increased their confidence. As part of the journey children shared their own stories, many of whom had experienced the themes explored in Home, such as experiencing migration.
The final part of the development of the work saw the company inviting the children, their teachers and their families to Trinity to see a preview of the performance Summer 2021. As part of the post-show discussion the children shared their own insight into the themes of flight, home and belonging.
Having developed the seed of Home, Spilt Ink are now in the process of realising this into a full length children’s performance to be completed in collaboration with local school children and presented at Trinity in 2022.
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Image: Nathalie Codsi in Arnold's Big Adventure by Tessa Bide Productions, photo by Kai Taylor
Spilt Ink Theatre Company have been awarded Trinity’s Young Audiences Commission to develop a new piece of work for 3-10 year olds. The £6,000 commission has been made possible through the support of the Cultural Recovery Fund.
Spilt Ink are a physical theatre company who create playful, joyful and fun work with and for communities and children. During their development commission they will be exploring the themes of home and identity.
“We will create a fantasy ‘home’ rooted in real stories of our multicultural community. It will explore both the physical sensation of home and the cultural meaning of home. We will question what home means to ourselves, as diverse artists, and to the multicultural local community of East Bristol.”
They will work with Trinity and local community partners to deliver creative and playful workshops with local children and families; sharing and exploring the stories of the many communities living in Lawrence Hill and Easton.
Spilt Ink were selected for the commission following an open call out that received 20 project proposals. Their project, Home, stood out to our parent-led selection panel - made up of staff, volunteers and community reps - for the way it placed co-creation at its core and young people at the centre of deciding where the project journey would take them.
Between its members - Lebanese/Italian actor and theatre maker Nathalie Codsi, Bristol-based international theatre director, community arts facilitator and performer Hester Welch, and British actor, puppeteer/ theatre maker Sarah Cribdon, Spilt Ink have a wealth of experience of working with diverse communities across the world and we look forward to seeing where Home will take them.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to get involved with the Young Audiences Commission as it emerges, please get in touch or sign up to our mailing list.
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In these challenging times, Trinity and Cambridge Junction have come together to offer a £3,000 commission to a D/deaf or Disabled Artist(s) to create work for an online audience.
We will commission one new piece of work and want the brief to be as open as possible, so you can respond in a way that best suits you as an artist. We welcome artists of any practice, working in any art-form, to apply.
We want to commission:
A brand-new online performance/exhibition that can remain available to experience for a set period of time – we want people to be able to experience your work safely from their homes
One artist who identifies as D/deaf or Disabled, or a collective of artists where at least 50% of the collective identify as D/deaf or Disabled
Work that will be completed and distributed online before the end of October 2020
We expect applications to include:
A consideration of audience access within the commission fee
Confirmation that artist access costs are covered by the commission fee or by Access to Work or similar
We will provide:
A commission fee of £3,000
Producing support: we don’t want anyone to be put off if they don’t have producing capacity at the moment
Marketing and digital content support: we want your work to reach far and wide
The platform for sharing your work: Trinity and Cambridge Junction’s social media platforms and those of our partners are readily available to platform your work
At Trinity we programme using a ‘Programming Forum’ which you can find out more about here. The final decision on who receives the commission will be made by a forum made up of local artists and community members from both Trinity and Cambridge Junction.
To apply:
Applications for this opportunity have now closed.
Team Trinity, pre-lockdown
The Trinity Centre, Old Market, has been given a grant of £35k as part of Arts Council England's £160m emergency package to support the arts sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over 80% of Trinity's revenue is earned income from live music, bar sales, a pay and display public car park, plus hall hire for a range of community events and activities. Trading has ceased since the pandemic and the venue is anticipating a slow recovery once restrictions begin to lift, due to potential extended restrictions on public gatherings.
The grant from Arts Council England will be used to support Trinity through its recovery plan as well as help us to adapt existing projects and move activities online. As this is also a very difficult time for artists and freelance practitioners, Trinity is committing 20% of its grant to pay independent artists and community members for contributions to 'Trinity Presents'. This will include online workshops with Trinity's Associate Artist and local resident, Roxanna Vilk.
"Never have the Arts been more important than now, in these peculiar times. Singing, dancing, painting, drama, poetry - people are reaching out to all the art forms for nourishment, comfort, entertainment & wisdom. We mustn’t starve our imaginations & Trinity has a part to play in refreshing & delighting its followers. I’m thrilled to be one of them." Miriam Margolyes OBE, Trinity Patron
Trinity will be releasing information about an open-call commission for an independent D/Deaf or disabled artist to create a new piece of digital work.
Speaking of the recent support, Tom Marshman, Board Member and Local Artist said:
“Not really a time for a massive celebration party, more of an opportunity to take a breath and pause whilst we all stabilize ourselves and look forward to life after isolation. With this promise of the Emergency Arts Council Grant, Trinity can feel more assured that they will continue to be at the heart of Bristol culture and community engagement that is always people centred”.
Since we began our lockdown Trinity has been working hard to ensure that we continue to reach out to our community and support the independent artists that we work with. We have been providing a digital platform via Trinity Presents. Arts Council support at this crucial point, means we can continue this offer as well as find new ways to support artists to connect communities with relevant and much needed cultural experiences.
]]>Photo Alexa Ledecky
Photo Alexa Ledecky
Trinity has been selected to be one of 40 community arts centres to take part in Here and Now, a national and local celebration of culture within communities running alongside the National Lottery’s 25 year anniversary.
“After speaking to others who are of mixed heritage, and face a similar challenge of how to keep our mother tongues and cultures alive I realised there was scope to dive deeper into this subject but through music, as music has no borders, can touch us all and unites us rather than divides us.” Roxana Vilk
The project, headed by Future Arts Centres, will see 40 new projects created in community arts centres across the UK, co-created between exceptional artists and community participants.
Trinity will be working with award winning multi-disciplinary British/Iranian Roxana Vilk who will develop her project Lullabies.
Lullabies celebrates the diversity of cultures who call Bristol home by gathering & sharing songs from across the globe. Lullabies connects communities through the sharing of songs, celebrating the stories and the heritage behind them.
Roxana during the sharing of the pilot of Lullabies at Trinity.
Credit: BBC
Roxana secured an IGNiTE artist residency at Trinity in 2019 where she began collecting Lullabies during her pilot of the project. During her year long residency she delivering a workshop at Easton Community Centre to residents and families living in the BS5 area as well as meeting with Bristol residents to collect recordings.
In 2020 Roxana will be meeting with communities members throughout the year to collect Lullabies alongside hosting workshops, culminating in a celebratory festival event at Trinity later in the year.
If you're interested in getting involved please get in touch on info@trinitybristol.org.uk
About Here and Now
Here and Now: 40 new projects taking place in and around 40 arts centres as part of a national and local celebration of culture within communities.
@HereandNow2020
Roxana (far right) and Lullabies producer Katy Noakes (far left) surrounded by children from the Rosemary Nursery @ Alexa Ledecky
Trinity neighbours Rosemary Nursery came along for a workshop in the afternoon. They were welcomed in a cosy space that really reflected the warm and intimate feel of the Lullabies project. The children and carers sat comfortably on colourful cushions and carpets and watched an audio-visual piece that showcases the Lullabies gathered by Roxana and her team.
The Lullabies rickshaw created by Designer Ruth Ramsay @ Alexa Ledecky
They then learnt to sing a Somalian lullaby with two project participants before having their photo taken on the Lullabies rickshaw. The rickshaw was created by Designer Ruth Ramsay with the idea to involve further communities by cycling around more cities to gathering more lullabies.
Trinity Engagement Office Edson Burton reading his poem amongst an audience of adults and children @ Alexa Ledecky
The workshop was followed by an evening sharing attended by a larger, mainly adult audience. The audio-visual piece was screened again and followed by a live Kurdish lullaby singing and a poem reading.
Adults and children interact after the screening and live performances before a Q£A with the Lullabies creative team @ Alexa Ledecky
It felt particularly special and soothing to have children and adults come together as part of the sharing. During the feedback session, an audience member said: “Loved having kids around made it beautifully relaxed, comforting and accessible”.
Lullaby contributors serve home made Somalian food to audience members @ Alexa Ledecky
Everyone was able to enjoy freshly cooked Somalian food as part of the sharing, which was kindly prepared and served by local project participants. This brought a particularly heart warming touch to the evening and allowed everyone to engage in informal conversations.
Two audience members sit with colourful pieces of bunting and pens on their knees @ Alexa Ledecky
As well as discussing the project with Roxana and her team in a Q&A, the audience could give written feedback about the sharing, of which: “Beautiful songs, images, words and feelings. Thank you to all who shared. It has inspired me to explore my own heritage through song” and “So much love down the generations. Singing of fears and making them less”.
The IGNiTE and Lullabies teams pose together in front of the Rickshaw @ Alexa Ledecky
Read more about the Lullabies project on Roxana’s website and about our other artists in resident including Ania Varez, Viki Browne and Vicki Hearne.
About IGNiTE
IGNiTE is Trinity's in house programme of world-class, innovative theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. IGNiTE is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by Bristol City Council.
]]>During the afternoon prior to performing his show as part of Trinity’s IGNiTE, Scottee gave a workshop titled “Making Stuff About Stuff”. The session was delivered in an open-minded, safe space, allowing all participants to exchange ideas freely.
Those who attended were able to share amongst one another and with theatre maker and performer Scottee himself. They discussed ways of finding inspiration for creating new work through different exercises.
Scottee introduced ways of finding new themes to develop new meaningful work. He started off by encouraging the participants to create a list of words that reflects their identity in their own eyes and the eyes of others.
In the second phase of the workshop, Scottee invited the participants to create a list of what makes them angry and to choose one of these particular ideas and write a “rant” about it.
"It felt like a really safe and generous moment. I liked having less 'showing work' and more talking about creative process in an interactive way" - workshop participant
There are plenty more IGNiTE workshops around the corner. Why not join Shane Shambhu (Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancer,10 Mar) or Akeim Toussaint in the day time (before Windows of Displacement, 23 Mar), or drop in just before Rent Party (16 Mar) take to the stage for a dance workshop?
]]>Viki Brown during her Hyper Fem sharing (photo credit @ Khali Ackford)
Viki shared her work: Hyper Fem in early January 2019 at Trinity. Hyper Fem asks whether the performance of femininity through Drag can be as powerful, political or subversive when performed on a female identifying body. It is strongly inspired by some of her recent previous projects which involved epic wigs and performing as a ‘make up girl in a tiny dress’.
Many people came along to Viki's sharing, including Trinity staff (photo @Khali Ackford)
The IGNiTE team attended alongside Trinity staff, industry professionals and members of Many Minds the Bristol based arts and mental health charity that Viki is a co-director of. A sharing is the opportunity for an artist to receive feedback on their work in progress and to develop the piece further. For audiences it is an opportunity to 'contextualize the artist’s vision'.
“I work alongside resident artists helping with admin and logistics. Often we talk about road blocks they are facing and their '’break though moments'’. Because of this when I'm given the opportunity to see sharing's I jump at the chance. It gives me the opportunity to push my boundaries and offer perspective that may not come from the artist’s typical audience. ” - Ripley, Admin Assistant
Viki interacts with the audience after her sharing of 'Hyper Fem' (photo @Khali Ackford)
Looking back on her residency Viki says: "Developing ‘Hyper Fem’ at Trinity has been an incredible opportunity for me. I find the building, its history and its placement in the city truly inspiring. It's political past and its dedication to the multiple communities who use the space have challenged me to think and dream bigger than ever before. I felt safe, supported and welcome in the building which after two weeks of working there started to feel like a second home. We are now excited to begin the next phase of the project: finding partners and commissioners to work with on the show!”
In March and April welcome Roxana Vilk whose residency will focus on the lullabies families cross Bristol sing to their children.
]]>Celebrate flab, double chins and getting semi-naked in Scottee’s Fat Blokes (22 Feb). Laugh at the hilarious Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancer, Shane Shambhu's biographical story of cultural fusion and clashes in an East London playground (10 March). Join Darren Pritchard Dance, their artist friends – dancers, singers, musicians and poets in the 1920’s Harlem Renaissance Inspired: Rent Party (16 Mar). Then, explore issues around migration in Toussaint To Move’s autobiographically sourced Windows of Displacement (23 March) where the shifting (and increasingly urgent) politics surrounding the movement of people takes centre-stage.
Explore issues around migration in Toussaint To Move’s autobiographically sourced Windows of Displacement (23 March)
Rent Party (16 Mar): a kaleidoscopic picture of what it means today to be young, gifted, and black – and poor, and gay.
From post-show talk backs (Fat Blokes 22 Feb, Windows of Displacement 23 March) to workshops (Making Stuff About Stuff, Scottee; Creative Dance with Akeim Toussaint Buck; Contemporary Dance workshop with Shane Shambu) there are plenty of ways to stand up and get involved in the season.
Sign up to: Contemporary Dance workshop with Shane Shambu, 10 March, £5
All IGNiTE tickets are £11 / £9 concs (including booking fee) and workshops of £5 (including booking fee). Communities who use Trinity regularly could benefit from subsided tickets, please email marketing officer sarahb@3ca.org.uk to find out more.
Get involved with IGNiTE
Volunteering - from stewarding to photography there are many ways to get involved in IGNiTE. Find out more about the opportunities on offer here.
Test audiences - help shape the work artists and companies create by signing up to be part of an IGNiTE test audience.
Residencies - find out more about our IGNiTE artists in residence here.
]]>Ania sharing her work in progress at Trinity (photo @ Alastair Brookes)
"I just didn’t know how it would go until I had this experience"
Ania Varez is one of four Bristol based artists who are developing exciting new work in collaboration with communities at Trinity over six months as part of our IGNiTE theatre and dance programme.
During her residency Ania is developing ‘Guayabo’ a participatory work that invites people to gather around their pain and the pain of others and is heavily influenced by Ania’s move from Venezuela to leave her country’s violent dictatorship. The crisis is rarely mentioned in mainstream media and Ania has been using her art to share her and her family’s experiences with others.
Ania recently took ‘Guaybo’ to Spill Festival, an international festival of contemporary arts and activism in Ipswich. We asked her to tell us the four things she learnt while she was there.
Maybe not all works are meant for art festivals (or maybe they need a bit more help)
Guayabo is a very challenging piece to share for different reasons. Mostly, because it requires placing myself in a very vulnerable state, my family is also exposed through the videos and texts I read, and the topic is extremely painful and difficult on its own.
I was concerned that those who came to experience the work might not have the capacity to offer the mental and emotional investment this piece requires due to the festival environment which is overwhelming with people quickly moving from one performance to another. I also felt the audience needed more time to process the difficult information that Guayabo conveys, whilst in a safe environment, before leaving the room and returning to a conventional social mode.
Towards the end of the work, I invite people to stay in the room for as long as they need and to chat with me if they wish, but since people had to rush to another show, most of them could not have that time, which felt important in terms of caring for themselves and for me. To know this for future sharings is really positive!
I will think about what needs to change inside the work to ensure people receive the care they need. However, the context is also important. I’m sure SPILL would have made a bigger effort to ensure these things happened if I had spoken about them beforehand, but I just didn’t know how it would go until I had this experience. Maybe arts festivals are not the right context for Guayabo, or maybe it just needs some programming adjustments (have more time altogether, organising a meal to share right after, for example) would really help to overcome these difficulties.
Guayabo connects people in the UK with Ania's family in Venezuela
It’s nicer to meet people outside of performance settings
Whilst being at SPILL I slightly regretted not having the time to see other works and meet many people. Sharing this piece took all of my time and energy and I didn’t have the space to experience much more. In hindsight, I notice that I naturally felt more inclined to encounter people outside of the performance settings (at breakfast, or in the artists green room) in a more relaxed and meaningful way, and most of the time we didn’t even talk about our work which I enjoyed much more.
Before arriving to SPILL, I was quite worried that everyone around me would be trying to constantly pitch their work at each other, but I was glad to discover that most people seemed to agree that having a good time and laughing together was more important.
Self care and support kept everything together
I had severe technical difficulties during my first show and right until the beginning of my second show. This uncertainty added pressure to sharing such personal work, which massively compromised my mental health during the performance days.
Having my producer, Katherine Hall, with me during the first two days really kept me safe and capable of getting through the difficulties, as she took care of many things and allowed me to concentrate on the work. Sadly, she could not stay for the last two days and that would have really affected me if it wasn’t for Shabnam Shabazi (the Wellbeing Liaison of the festival) and Manon Santi (part of the SPILL team) who were there to support me. They gave such gentle and caring attention to me and to the work: this meant I could present the work without having a breakdown or feeling like I was delivering it on my own.
It’s not the end of the line
SPILL felt like an incredible opportunity for me as an artist and a person. It’s the biggest platform I have ever shared work on. But I didn’t want it to feel like the ultimate platform, or the culmination of this long process. I wanted it to feel like another island I stumble upon in the middle of this long trip. A place to pass by, gather things that felt valuable, meet great people and then continue on the journey. Almost one month after the festival, I see this opportunity has brought a few open doors, some new friends and a lot of learning. I enjoy holding on to this feeling of continuation, this long process that exists independently of the platforms that I visit, but continues to be nourished by them. I am looking forward to continuing my research at Trinity Centre next year.
Read more about our IGNiTE programme and artist in residence just here.
]]>IGNiTE Artist Ania Varez is developing the performance piece “Guayabo” as part of her residency (photo @ Alastair Brookes)
Ania Varez is a young Venezuelan artist who left her country’s violent dictatorship and moved to the UK. The crisis she escaped is rarely mentioned in mainstream media but Ania has been using art to share her and her family’s experiences with others.
She joined Trinity as an IGNiTE resident artist in September to develop her new show “Guayabo”, or “heartbreak” in Venezuelan slang. In late October, she invited people to join a sharing session in which she presented her work.
Ania's homeland, Venezuela is experiencing a silent humanitarian crisis (photo @ Alastair Brookes)
All the elements that formed part of Ania’s performance painted a sharp nightmarish picture of her city, a place that has lost all of its warmth and safety. It was brilliant to not just watch but to actually actively take part in the interactive performance Ania created as part of her residency with Trinity.
Prior to entering the performance space, we were greeted by Ania and added to a WhatsApp group by her assistant to receive messages and media during the performance. We were then invited to walk into the space – a dark room with two rows of seats lined up to face one other. At one end of the rows; a TV, at the other end; a large lamp, switched off. The only other light source in the room was dim, the atmosphere was heavy.
Only a few minutes in, Ania invited us to lie down on the floor while she told the story of a murdered corpse being found in a park while she and her lover were peacefully laying down on the grass. This was a tipping point in the performance; by involving our bodies in the story-telling, it felt like we were brought incredibly close to Caracas, her home city, and to the terror that reigns there.
People wrote who they loved on apples as part of Ania's grief party (photo @ Alastair Brookes)
From writing the name of our loved ones on an apple, a mundane fruit that is now impossible to find in Venezuela, to joining efforts to smash a piñata, we were all made part of her grief party. The poems she wrote and read and the ongoing TV screening of the footage she gathered during a rare visit to her family were striking and raw. “In this city, laughter feels like a miracle”, “The last second of panic before you close the front door”, “Until there’s a bullet in the back of everyone you know”.
During the Q&A that followed the performance, we were asked if the stories that involved violence were too descriptive and shocking, but were all positive that they gave the show strength and impact.
Guayabo is about creating connections between places where the connections have been broken. (photo @ Alastair Brookes)
One thing felt very clear: “Guayabo” is not a teary-eyed drama seeking the audience’s compassion. It’s an invitation to connect Ania’s isolated family in Caracas and England. An attempt to create a positive link between two places that have been completely disconnected, if only for an hour. The large lamp that stood unlit in the room was set up to switch on if Ania’s mother replied to her WhatsApp message: “Are you safe today?”. We all sat waiting for the lamp to turn on for a solid minute, but it didn’t. Instead, Ania recorded a voice message of all of us clapping and cheering for her mother as a gesture of acknowledgement and support.
The 31st of October marked the 2 year anniversary of Ania hugging her sister for the last time before leaving. She marked the day by performing “Guayabo” at SPILL Festival in Ipswich.
IGNiTE is Trinity's in house programme of world-class, innovative theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. IGNiTE is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and buy Bristol City Council
]]>Vicki Hearne is part of this years cohort of IGNiTE artists in residence (photo @Megan Ashton)
Alexa Ledecky, our very awesome project assistant on our IGNiTE programme, went along to IGNiTE resident artist Vicki Hearne's sharing of the work she is developing here at Trinity - sharing's are an opportunity for artists to receive feedback about their work.
Read on to find out Alexa's thoughts about 'Practically Perfect'.
Last month, Vicki Hearne and her Untold Dance Theatre fellow female performers brought their work in progress to Trinity for a sharing session. Audience members were invited to attend the performance for free and encouraged to share their feeling and impressions about the ideas that have been developed so far. Vicki has been working on “Practically Perfect” as part of her IGNiTE residency with Trinity since early September.
"Unity definitely shone through the dancers and musicians during the performance."
The show uses dance and theatre to explore how most women are often pushed to mould their body into an idea of perfection that society dictates. As the performance began, the lights dimmed and two musicians sat by the side of the scene set the atmosphere with an acoustic guitar and synth live soundtrack. The dancers entered, carried by the ethereal melody and began to tell us their story. A recurring theme became apparent: the female body being objectified with harsh humour and sarcasm.
Vicki had several solid scenes to present to the audience. To mention a few without giving too much away; robotic Barbie dolls, a restaurant serving perfect female bodies on a platter, a “cooking” class on how to make a flawless woman. All those scenes involved folding, crushing bodies and treating them like objects, quite literally making them submit to society’s vision of perfection. The audience was also very receptive to the challenging subjects tackled and invited Untold Dance Theatre to go deeper and make them feel even more uncomfortable. The exploration of a serious subject did not cut out artistic creativity. Each scene was different and the audience stated it will be interesting to see how the “chaos binds with the more flowy parts” in the final performance. Discussing the overall tone of the show, a viewer pointed out: “There are kitsch moments, but those were so precise and clean. The comedy helps with the more earthy parts”.
Vicki and the cast listened to the audience with poise, eager to use this sharing session to develop “Practically Prefect” further. Some open expectations were expressed: “The rhythm was building into something that was establishing. I would like to see everyone go completely wild at some point”. The viewers repeatedly showed excitement about finding out the answers in the finished piece: “What happens the the reject; are they ‘put right’ or are they ‘celebrated for being imperfect’?”.
A woman concluded the discussion by encouraging to celebrate our imperfections rather than to condemn them: “We don’t have to be whole as an individual, we’re whole as a group”. One thing is for certain - unity definitely shone through the dancers and musicians during the performance.
The sharing of the work took place in Trinity's Ffye Hall (photo @Megan Ashton)
Stay tuned for updates on Vicki Hearne and our three other artist residents here on our website.
IGNiTE is supported using public funding by Bristol City Council and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England
]]>IGNiTE resident Roxana Vilk shares her project during the induction day Sep 2018 photo @ Alexa Ledecky
“My hopes for the residency are that the idea will grow in a very collaborative, beautiful way into a piece that reflects the incredible diverse communities around us here and the heartfelt stories that bind us together as humans.” IGNiTE resident
We’re delighted to introduce the 2018 cohort of IGNiTE artists in residence. Over the next six months, these four Bristol based artists will develop exciting new work in collaboration with communities at Trinity.
Roxana Vilk will invite people to collectively celebrate heritage though lullabies sung at night in her project ‘Across Our City At Night’.
Ania Varez's invites people to experience emotional pain as a collective and across borders in her project ‘Guayabo’ (or, Grief Party).
Vicki Hearne’s ‘Practically Perfect’ is an intergenerational project exploring the common pressures felt by generations of women.
Viki Browne’s ‘Hyper Fem’ explores gender empowerment and the performance of femininity in a male dominated drag world.
Photographer Anita Corbin shares some thoughts with the 2018 cohort during their induction day photo @ Alexa Ledecky
Each artist has been chosen because their practice puts co-creation with communities at its core, aiming to connect to new audiences and sparking debate. Their projects tackle big issues to do with identity and our place in the world, exploring themes such as migration and gender empowerment.
Our residency programme is now in its third year and aims to increase the diversity and representation of art, artists and audiences, whilst offering artists an opportunity to test out new ideas, reflect on their practice and make new connections.
Julia Thornycroft is a member of the IGNiTE programming forum, who collaboratively help select this years residents. Photo @ Alexa Ledecky
Whether artists are at the very beginning of an idea or taking a project they have already developed in a new direction, we encourage artists to use their time with us to take risks and experiment – all within a supportive environment. All four artists will receive professional support, the use of Trinity’s performance space the Fyfe Hall, and a bursary. You can find out more about the featured artists and their projects by visiting their profile pages here.
Roxana, Ania and Vicky in the studio listening to music tutor Dave as he explained more about our Youth Music project, Making Tracks. Photo @ Alexa Ledecky
Through the year we will be blogging about Roxana, Ania, Vicki and Viki’s journeys and letting you know about sharing any opportunities for the public to take part. Sign up to our mailing list to keep updated.
We wish the artists all the luck and cannot wait to see their projects take shape, find out more about IGNiTE here, including our Autumn Season of shows.
IGNiTE is Trinity's in house programme of world-class, innovative theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. IGNiTE is supported using public funding by Bristol City Council and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England
]]>Jackie Hagan's This Is Not A Safe Space celebrates the weird, the wonky, the unruly, and the resilient (Oct 19)
Our Autumn 2018 season of our in house theatre and dance programme, IGNiTE , presents four shows whose themes ask: How far have we actually come?
"Politics, race, gender, sexuality, poverty, crime, austerity, pay gaps, #metoo our society seems deeply polarised. IGNiTE presents four shows that are in different ways providing a snapshot of our divided times and ask: how far have we come?” Rhiannon Jones Programme Manager
Launching on October 19 with award winning comedian and writer, Jackie Hagan’s This Is Not A Safe Space. Commissioned by Unlimited, Jackie conducted interviews with people from all over the country living on the fringes and the spaces in between. These are not sob stories - they are well rounded lives full of the spiky humor and the complicated weirdness of being human. Jackie weaves these narratives together with poetry and anecdotes, in a performance celebrating the weird, the wonky, the unruly, and the resilient.
An all female cast feature in The Forecast, by Limbik Theatre (Oct 20). Based on George Saunders’ short story The Semplica Girl Diaries. Set in the not too distant future, the latest must-have consumer craze and status symbol are Human Garden Ornaments; women, from developing countries, hoisted up in affluent backyards, thin wires through their brains connecting them to news, travel, weather. In The Forecast, we hear what life is like for the four of them in this dystopian theatre piece. It could never happen...could it?
Rachael Young and badass band of super-humans embrace Afrofuturism and the cult of Grace Jones in: Nightclubbing (Nov 2)
Next up, join award winning Rachael Young and her badass band of super-humans as they embrace Afrofuturism, the cult of Grace Jones and intergalactic visions to start a revolution in Nightclubbing (Nov 2). This explosive dance performance traces the connections between Grace Jones’ 1981 landmark album ‘Nightclubbing’ and a London club's refusal to admit three Black women on the grounds of race in 2015?
'It is more than OK to be this way' in Sardoville's For Only An Hour (Nov 24)
Tackling the continuing oppression of LGBTQ++ community, Sardoville’s one man romp For Only An Hour (Nov 24) is a queer manifesto told through dance, song, spoken word and performance art. Created in response to the 2017 persecution of the LGBTQ++ community in Chechnya, this show is about celebrating who we are, and offering support to a new generation by saying: it’s more than OK 'to be this way'.
IGNiTE resident artist Vicki Browne will develop a new piece of work 'Hyper Fem'
Throughout the season there are opportunities for public to take part and get more involved. From joining in the conversation in one of our post show talk backs, dancing the night away at our post show club night following Nightclubbing’s to signing up to one of our Artist led workshops. Keep an eye on our website for updates.
As part of the IGNiTE programme Trinity will be supporting four resident artists across the year who will receiving professional support and developing work in Trinity’s performance space – Fyfe Hall. Bristol based artists Ania Varez, Roxana Vilk, Vicki Hearne and Viki Browne will all receive professional help and support, rehearsal space and a bursary to develop new work at Trinity.
Previous IGNITE residents include performance artist Caroline Williams, dance practitioners Ella Mesma, Sara Dos Santos and Latisha Cesar, theatre makers Uninvited Guests and Back in 5 Minutes Squad who joined up with disability led arts organisation Art in Motion.
Tickets to all IGNiTE shows are priced at £11 standard and £9 for concessions and can be purchased online at trinitybristol.org.uk
IGNiTE is Trinity's in house programme of world-class, innovative theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. IGNiTE is supported using public funding by Bristol City Council and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England
]]>This season of in house Theatre and Dance programme - IGNiTE we are talking about and celebrating change- changes in people's rights and changes in people's opinions and identities.
Our IGNiTE programming decisions are made in collaboration with our Programming Forum, who share their thoughts on potential shows. For this season, it was clear from the start that we had a great selection of strong female led companies interested in bringing their work to Trinity. All three shows are well crafted performances that tackle intimate themes, telling personal stories that have a universal reach. Having just celebrated International Women's day we are really quite proud to have Man on the Moon, by Keisha Thompson (March 23) , Ladylike by Ella Mesma (March 24) and The Headwrap diaries by Uchenna Dance (April 13) on the horizon.
Ella Mesma Company's show Ladylike challenges the representation of women, particualy the notion of what it is like to be 'ladylike'. We asked Ella ahead of her March 24 show at Trinity, to tell us a little more about her show and why she created it:
What drove you to make Ladylike?
We all need real life superheros who reflect and inspire us. Seeing someone who you can fit the shoes of just speaks in a different way. I had a dream to make Ladylike, a piece that reflected real women, latin women, black women, mixed women, break-women, superhero women. In the media: the women I was seeing were beautiful, but they were not heroes, they were ‘sidechicks’ without much script, and they weren’t doing the saving but being rescued… I wanted to make a piece where the women were dealing with the real life day to day… but fighting back like warriors!
Who is Ladylike for?
I think Ladylike is for everyone: all women! real women, latin women, black women, mixed women, break-women, superhero women… but also for men too… Last night I dreamt that one of the roles was played by a male friend of mine… and he smashed it! I think the story could equally be applied to men: It is about smashing the patriarchy (which all men should be on board with!)
What are the benefits of making a dance theatre piece?
I think dance theatre is about healing, speaking up, having a voice,… and so I think it is also a cleansing experience… a ritual, both for the performers and those watching
Catch Ladylike by Ella Mesma Company March 23. 7.30pm at The Trinity Centre. For tickets and more, head to IGNiTE's what's on.
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