Tag: dance

The Gang's back at the King's!

This year’s Gang Show is biggest ever

DSCF10114 (1)This year the annual Edinburgh Gang Show will be not only the biggest of its kind in the world but also the biggest production to be staged on the King’s Theatre. With over 330 young people from the Scouting and Girlguiding movements, it will be a busy and exciting show!

Running from 18 – 22 November at the King’s Theatre, the Edinburgh Gang Show includes slick song and dance numbers from Michael Jackson to Disney’s Frozen and many more, as well as topical comedy sketches.

Andy Johnston, the Edinburgh Gang Show Director said: “This is my 12th year as Director and it features the largest cast ever assembled for an Edinburgh Gang Show. Over 330 young people will get to experience the amazing buzz that you only get when the houselights go down at the start of a Gang Show and that almighty roar resounds around the auditorium.

“It is a very, very special show, one which is forward looking, while at the same time keeping in line with the format that was created 82 years ago by Ralph Reader. The show is a reflection on what has happened throughout year and we strive to make sure there really is something for everyone.”

DSCF10275It will be a special occasion for the youngest female cast, the Brownies, as the section turned 100 years old in 2014! In celebration there will be a special Big Brownie Birthday number with 170 Brownies, in two casts, 70 more than usual! This party number includes songs from Sister Act and Hannah Montana.

This modern, fast paced and funny production is not a show about Scouting and Girlguiding it is a performance by those in Scouting and Girlguiding. It allows these young people the chance to develop their performance skills in a professional environment and continue to do something that they clearly enjoy and love.

Edinburgh Gang Show 2014

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

Tue 18 to Sat 22 November

Evenings 7.00pm

Saturday matinee 2.15pm (Audio described & BSL interpreted)

0131 529 6000

0131 529 6005 (Group bookings)

www.edtheatres.com/gangshow

Tickets from £10.00

Edinburgh Gang Show Castle with necky

Dancing the weekend away

YDance? Ynot!

dance_image_5Three of Edinburgh’s top youth dance groups are leaping to new heights this weekend as they participate in Scotland’s leading event for youth dance development – Connections.  The event is delivered by YDance, Scotland’s national youth dance organisation, and is the only event of its kind in the country. 

The groups – Broughton High School, Dance Base and Ihayami Fusion – are sending twenty dancers to the event at Edinburgh College to join fifteen other Scottish youth dance companies.  With over one hundred and sixty participants, Connections is the only event in Scotland giving talented young dancers the opportunity to work with other dance groups and top choreographers from the UK.

Over the three days the groups get the chance to participate in a variety of workshops involving different taster sessions and dance styles, choreographic workshops and informal ‘sharings’.

Yvonne Young, YDance Assistant Director said: “YDance Routes Connections Weekend is an annual weekend of workshops for our young dancers, inspiring them and the leaders who work with them.  There are no other opportunities in Scotland for youth dance groups to come together and spend three days experiencing different dance workshops, see the standard of other groups across the country and broaden their dance experience by introducing them to new choreographers and the ways in which they work.  It’s so exciting to be here and see first-hand just how important this event is for the young dancers of Scotland.” 

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Now in its fourth year, Connections Weekend is taking place at the Performing Arts Studios Scotland (PASS) at Edinburgh College.

PASS Lecturer Jo Turbitt said: “We’re delighted to be hosting this fantastic event again and looking forward to welcoming some of the country’s top young dance talent. The dance studios and performance spaces we have at PASS are first class and up to industry standard, so it’ll be great to give the dancers a chance to use them and learn more about how we train professional performers. An event like this demonstrates that we have so much talent to be proud of across the country. Hopefully we’ll see some of the students back at the college again as students.” 

Connections is part of YDance’s national programme – YDance Routes – motivating and inspiring young dancers across Scotland and the leaders who work with them.

 

Award-winning theatre company seeks young performers

MIRA ÅKERMAN 10Creative Electric Young Company are creating a new piece of theatre, Flux, and are looking to cast young performers aged 16-22yrs.

Flux noun
1. a flowing or flow.
2. continuous change, passage, or movement:
3. a performance by Creative Electric which is subject to change, is yet unknown!

Creative Electric is a critically acclaimed, award winning company who create contemporary performance based on real experiences. Often their work is interactive, sometimes its personal, at times it’s one to one.

Their work has been performed in both Scotland and Sweden, in theatres, studios, skate parks, nightclubs, on trains, in fields, city centre squares and on rooftops!

They are dedicated to working with young and emerging performers and so run a young company in Edinburgh for artists age 16+. Creative Electric Young Company have showcased their work at the Bongo Lives Festival Edinburgh, The National Festival of Youth Theatre (2010, 2011 & 2012) and the National Theatre of Scotland’s Exchange 2010 as well as performing in their resident space The Bongo Club.

Flux will be devised and performed by Creative Electric Young Company. Workshops will take place on Wednesday evenings 7-9pm at The Bongo Club. Young company members pay a fee of just £5 per week for workshops with bursaries (free places!) always available.

There are two start dates for new performers: Wednesday 10th September & Wednesday 17th September.

For more information or to register your interest please email Heather at Creative_electric@hotmail.com

 

 

Cashback: creating opportunities in the arts

cashbackCabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop joined young filmmakers, musicians and dancers who are developing their career skills thanks to the confiscated funds from criminal activity.

Over the last three years £2.25 million has been invested in CashBack for Creativity, providing over 15,000 opportunities for young people in Scotland to participate in arts activities they would not have otherwise had access to.

Ms Hyslop said: “The real impact of CashBack on young people’s lives can’t be expressed by statistics or in stark monetary terms – CashBack changes lives.

“The CashBack for Communities Programme takes funds recovered from the proceeds of crime and invests them in back into communities, putting young people on a positive path in life by providing opportunities for them to take part in thousands of free activities and projects.”

Programme participants have included Yutsil Martinez, who began in making short films with Pilton-based Screen Education Edinburgh project in 2011. Yutsil has gone on to star in the Screen Education film, Man With No Name, and was nominated for the Chris Anderson Award for Best Young Filmmaker 2013 (sponsored by the National Youth Film Academy). He was awarded an acting scholarship at the National Film Youth Academy in London after winning a Best Actor award at the event.

Yutsil said: “Participating in these projects and shoots has allowed me to find opportunities and meet other filmmakers and professionals in the field. The CashBack for Creativity Programme has been instrumental in helping me build my confidence and really develop my passion for working in the industry, and carve a future career for myself.”

Paul Reynolds earned a placement at Edinburgh’s DanceBase through the CashBack for Creativity Programmewhere and he discovered a passion for dance and performing arts. Attending DanceBase and developing as a dancer taught Paul new skills that he believes will see him through life. He now has a love of being on stage and performing for a big audience describing the feeling and rush he gets from performing as “incredible”.

Paul said: “Only a few years ago I struggled to talk to people I’d never met before and I had little confidence and self-esteem, but with my participation at DanceBase through CashBack, I am now more confident and focused regarding what I want from life.”

Leonie Bell, Director of Arts and Engagement at Creative Scotland, said: “Providing opportunities for young people to get involved in the arts, theatre and cultural activities can help improve confidence and broaden their horizons.

“Over the next three years, the CashBack for Creativity programme will enable approximately 20,000 young would-be filmmakers, dancers, musicians, artists, actors, writers and digital enthusiasts to work in professional settings with experienced practitioners, helping to inspire them to achieve their potential in their future careers.
She added: “I was delighted to meet a number of young participants who have been given the chance to work on interesting and educational CashBack projects and develop their personal, social and career skills.”

CashBack for Creativity is part of the wider Scottish Government CashBack for Communities programme. To date over £74 million has been made available to benefit over 600,000 young people in Scotland since CashBack for Communities began in 2011.

Twitter: @CB4Creativity #CashBack4Creativity

Edinburgh College students set to Glow!

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Edinburgh College’s dazzling creative students are about to light up the city with a two-month celebration of their luminous skills!

The Let’s Glow festival will give Edinburgh the chance to enjoy performances and exhibitions from students covering everything from music, theatre and dance to photography, sculpture, illustration and much more.

The programme (see below) shines a beaming light on the inspirational talent of the Edinburgh College students and is a glowing testimony to the outstanding work they have accomplished this year.

Let’s Glow runs from 15 May to 18 July, with events taking place at venues across Edinburgh and some students taking their work down to exhibit in London.

let’s glow programme

Students offer flash mobbing lessons!

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Students offer an education in flash mobbing at Edinburgh College

A group of performing arts students from Edinburgh College is teaching clubbers how to flash mob ahead of their silent disco club event tomorrow.

In the run up to the college’s BodyPhonics: Silent Disco –  a club event that will take place at Summerhall on Saturday 29 March – the Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS) students have created YouTube videos to teach dance enthusiasts how to flash mob and dance like the professionals. The instructional step-by-step videos include everything from how to do the moonwalk and the sprinkler to the classic running man and the freestyle robot.

With a variety of dance, sound production and theatre costume students organising the event, BodyPhonics: Silent Disco showcases a broad array of talent from the performing arts arm of Edinburgh College. The students have worked together to create a night of funk-laden, diva-warbling, glitterball disco music with exciting costumes, dances and the occasional flash mob going on throughout the event.

Jo Turbitt, performing arts lecturer at Edinburgh College, said: “It has been an epic project for the students and it’s been great to watch the event take shape. Students from dance and theatre costume have worked in close collaboration to inject life and energy into the event to produce something that is really outstanding. It’ll be a spectacular event where the audience can choose the DJ they want to listen to, choose if they want to join in and boogie or simply stand back and watch. I’m really excited to see it unfurl on Saturday.”

BodyPhonics: Silent Disco will feature songs from the past decade and from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s together with bursts of dance performances and surprises. To book tickets and to learn the routines click here.

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North Edinburgh’s going Bollywood!

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We are delighted to announce that our NEW community-led physical activity programme has officially begun! It kicks off next Tuesday (25 February, 10-11am) at North Edinburgh Arts Centre with brand new weekly Bollywood Dance Sessions!!!

These will be led by Savita, an energetic and enthusiastic local lady who has been dancing Bollywood as a hobby for years. Savita is looking forward to sharing some of her moves and lots of the joy she gets from doing this fabulous dance with others from the local community!

The sessions are suitable for everyone, you don’t need experience or special equipment to take part. Just come along to the Arts Centre or contact Savita for more information. (see poster)

Please share the attached publicity around your networks and if you know of other local people who have what it takes to inspire others and lead their own activity sessions then please let us know!!!

Lianne Pipskyj

Physical Activity Project Coordinator
Pilton Community Health Project
73 Boswall Parkway
Edinburgh, EH5 2PW
0131 551 1671
liannepipskyj@pchp.org.uk
www.pchp.org.uk

Scottish Ballet success for Waterfront dancers

Scotish Ballet success for local dance studio
Well done to Ballet pupils of Waterfront Dance studio in Granton!
This year four of the girls have successfully auditioned for places on the  Scottish Ballet Junior Associate Scheme. Lara McMahon, Claire Nisbet, Lucy Garrity and Louise Black all travel through to Glasgow once a month to undertake intensive training at the Scottish Ballet Tramway Studios. Places on this prestigious training programme are very limited and competition comes from children all over Scotland.
Laura Saunderson, Fionn Hart and Amy Loughray have been offered parts in Scottish Ballet’s forthcoming production of Hansel and Gretel at the Festival Theatre. Rehearsals will soon be underway and their classmates are looking forward to going to watch them!
The girls all train at the Waterfront Dance Studio -for more information on classes visit:
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Niki Forbes

Ydance weekend at Granton Campus

danceOne hundred sixty young dancers from across Scotland are heading to YDance Connections this weekend – an inspiring programme of workshops and creative sessions created and delivered by YDance and hosted this year by Edinburgh College at the local Granton Campus. The participants and group leaders have travelled from as far afield as Stornoway, Inverness, Lochgilphead and Isle of Skye to be involved in this unique event, which is part of the build up to YDance’s Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival in 2014.

Connections kicks off on the Friday afternoon with sessions in Capoeira, Bollywood, Samba, African and 40’s/50’s period dance workshops led by the Kennedy Cupcakes. The rest of the weekend is full of choreographic workshops, performances and an 80’s themed party on the Saturday evening– where the 160 dancers will join the YDance Team in a celebration of 25 years of YDance (Scottish Youth Dance).

Edinburgh College dance lecturer Jo Turbitt said: “‘We’re delighted to be hosting YDance’s Connections weekend at the college’s Performing Arts Studio Scotland and to be taking part in the celebration of the brilliantly talented young dancers we have across the whole of the country.

“YDance Routes is an important project that helps broaden the range of professional destinations available to the next generation of dancers, so we support it fully and hope the Connections weekend helps them develop along their own paths. The energy and enthusiasm of our youth dance community is always hugely impressive and we hope they can take full advantage of our facilities to learn from each other. We hope to see some of these groups again at YDance’s Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival.’

The groups taking part are 6.1.0. Dance Academy (Fraserburgh), An Lanntair (Stornoway), Dalriada Youth Company (Lochgilphead), Denny High Dance Academy (Denny), East Lothian Youth Dance Company (Musselburgh), Eden Court Young Dance Company (Inverness), Exquisite (Lochgelly), Fusion Youth Dance (Aberdeen), Glasgow Youth Dance Company (Glasgow), Ihayami Fusion (Edinburgh), Indepen-dance Young 1’z (Glasgow), right2dance (Paisley), Runamuk (Edinburgh), Scottish Ballet Youth Collective (Edinburgh), SkyeDance Youth Company (Portree), Unusual Suspects (Edinburgh) and SiMY Dance (Glasgow).

The Connections weekend is part of YDance Routes, a two year programme that aims to inspire, develop and broaden the horizons of Scotland’s youth dance sector and is leading towards a Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival in Glasgow in 2014. YDance Routes is funded by Cashback for Creativity, the Educational Institute of Scotland and The Leverhulme Trust.

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