performing arts – Page 4 – The NEN

Students offer flash mobbing lessons!

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.

Ydance weekend at Granton Campus

One 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.

Youth theatre? Join the A-Team!

Lottery funding supports new Youth Theatre Company

In February 2013, inspired by our backgrounds in theatre and youth work, a small group met to discuss and develop an ethos and a strategy to build foundations for what later would become ‘A-Team Productions’.

Our vision was to put together a new youth theatre company which would change the image of Amateur Dramatics and youth entertainment. We wanted to encompass new ideas and experience of what has worked in the past to create something which would not only benefit the lives of young people in Edinburgh but the wider community as a whole.

Our ethos is simple: to promote teamwork, equality and encourage individuals with raw and unnourished potential to get involved, give it a go and grow under our roof.

We believe that Edinburgh has a wealth of talented young people, we see it all around us. We want to provide an opportunity for these young people to be the best, allow them to meet new friends and work with them to reach a common goal of putting on a five star production.

We at A-Team aim to do it like the professionals would! Our young people will wear the finest costumes, get star treatment and perform to full houses of eagerly awaiting theatre goers.

However without our funders we would be nothing. In April it was announced that A-Team Productions were granted funding to run productions for 3 years with a generous fund from The Big Lottery. Their Young Start programme will ensure that we have the necessary funds to put on an extravagant show without the families having to pay a penny.

Our first production “Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” will be performed in St Brides Centre in February 2014. Auditions for this production will be held at Ocean Terminal on 28 September 2013, call backs on 29 September.

For any information regarding the company, auditions or our february production please mail ateamproductionschair@live.co.uk or call 07973317031.

www.a-teamproductions.org

United.Passionate.Successful

For one night only: Alice at Craigroyston

Craigroyston Community High School will be staging ‘Alice in Wonderland’ TONIGHT at 7pm.

Marie McGarrol, drama worker at Craigroyston Community High School, said: “Craigroyston Community High School’s senior Drama club is putting on a public performance of Alice in Wonderland at the school tonight at 7pm, adult tickets £2, children’s tickets £1.50. The students involved would really appreciate any external support as the school as not seen a performance of this nature for many years. Please could you pass this email on to your colleagues that work in the area”.

For further information contact Craigroyston Community High School:

Telephone:      0131 477 7801
Email:         Admin@craigroyston.edin.sch.uk
Web Address:      www.craigroyston.edin.sch.uk

Arise, Sir Baldrick!

At last, a ‘cunning plan’ has come together – and in British honours system hierarchy Baldrick now outranks his master Blackadder! Blackadder actor Tony Robinson has been knighted while his co-star Rowan Atkinson receives a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Among the other well-known names to receive honours are Adele, Rob Brydon, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, Clare Balding, golfer Paul Lawrie and former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, but the majority of recipients are unsung heroes – of the 1,180 people who appear on the Birthday Honours list, almost three-quarters are people who are actively engaged in charitable or voluntary work within their local communities.

BirthdayHonoursList2013

Cross Currents dance performances this Friday

Dance students from Performing Arts Studio Scotland at Edinburgh College are inviting dance enthusiasts to attend their annual end-of-year production, ‘Cross Currents 2013’ at The Royal Lyceum Theatre this Friday (31 May). Pass Dance students will perform to over 1300 people on Friday, when performances include a free Schools Matinee at 1.30 and two evening shows 5.30 and 8.30.

Inspired by the rugged beauty of Scotland and the Scots, Cross Currents will bring flavours of urban and rural Scottish movement and music, blending inspiration from contemporary, tap and jazz techniques. This eclectic mix will tantalise the imagination of lovers of dance, music and theatre, of those who have the beat in their veins and music in their hearts.

‘Cross Currents 2013’ features the choreographic work of the dance teaching staff who reflects best practice in knowledge and skills by continually working within the industry. Student dancers range from foundation to degree level – and will showcase a combination of styles. PASS at Edinburgh’s College has an excellent reputation for its accomplishments in dance and the annual ‘Cross Currents’ show is one of the College’s highlights of the year. This year we are proud to announce our first collaboration with the music students from the Sighthill Campus. This will be an exciting theatrical experience brought to you by the dedicated team and talented students from PASS at Edinburgh College.

For further information and tickets for the matinee only, please email Jennifer Figures at

Jennifer.figures@edinburghcollege.ac.uk

Tickets for the 5.30pm & 8.30pm performances can be purchased from the Lyceum Box office, telephone 0131 248 4848 or email https://bookings.lyceum.org.uk

Jennifer Kelly

Community Liaison, Edinburgh College

World Premiere coming soon to North Edinburgh Arts

In their first Scottish Tour since, ‘Tonight Sandy Grierson will Lecture, Dance and Box’ Greyscale are delighted to present Sylvia Dow’s ‘A Beginning, A Middle and An End’ to North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 September.

Commissioned with the support of Creative Scotland, Glasgow University and Fenton Arts Trust and produced in association with Stellar Quines, this is the world premiere of Sylvia Dow’s first play.

A beginning, a middle and an end, that’s how things go, provided you start in the right place.

For Evelyn and Ade time passes; sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes all at once, but always away from what was and relentlessly towards what will be.

Their little family of two, of four, of three, of one, not necessarily in that order, travels together towards a new beginning, or an old ending. Or both. Only time will tell.”

For further information and ticket availability go to North Edinburgh Arts website at: www.northedinburgharts.co.uk/events.php

Telford students get a taste of TV stardom!

Aspiring film and TV actors from Edinburgh’s Telford College had a taste of life on screen thanks to special performance workshops led by two of Scotland’s well known TV faces at the college last week.

Former Taggart star Colin McCredie and ex-River City regular Jenny Ryan – who is also a former Telford student – were on hand to provide advice for students on how to get into TV acting and maximise their performance in front of the camera.

Over 20 students from Edinburgh’s Telford College Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS) benefited from more than fifty years acting experience from the duo, designed to provide a real taste of a career in the film and TV industry.

PASS Programme Area Leader Scott Johnston, who organised the workshops, said: “It is great that two of Scotland’s most hard working and talented TV actors are able to come in and speak with the students. The workshops have been great so far and a real eye opener to the world of television. We have a group of seriously talented individuals here at PASS and we work hard to ensure they get to experience all aspects of an acting career.”

He added: “Most performing arts courses are very heavy with theatrical performance and students get very little chance to experience what it’s like working in front of a camera, which is totally different than being on stage. Thanks to Colin and Jenny, the students now have a real and tangible understanding of how TV acting works and hopefully they will be able to apply this to their future work; some of them may even go on to be the TV stars of the future.”

The workshops covered subjects such as show-reels, auditions and TV script work as well as covering some of what happens behind the camera.

Colin McCredie is best known for playing DC Stuart Fraser in one of Scotland’s most popular crime series Taggart. Since leaving the show in 2010 Colin has gone on to hold many starring roles including Nick Morrison in River City, as well as various film, TV and theatre roles. He said: “It’s been brilliant working with the fantastic students at Telford and sharing the technique & experiences of acting on film with them. And who knows – maybe we’ll spot the next Karen Gillan!”

Ex Telford student Jenny said: “It’s been a pleasure to visit my old college and see the fantastic facilities they have here now and to work with the students who judging by their final performance last week the students are of an exceptionally high standard”.

PASS was set up in 2010 to offer an extensive range of performing arts courses to Edinburgh students. Designed as a training institution for those looking for a career in the performing arts, it allows students to showcase their talents through a variety of performance choices.

Scott added: “The concept of PASS is something we have been developing at Telford for some years now, with an aim not only to provide a state-of-the-art teaching environment for Scotland’s aspiring actors, dancers and theatre technicians, but to also give the performing arts industry in Scotland a boost by providing a dedicated, professional training academy.”

More information about PASS can be found at Edinburgh’s Telford College’s websitewww.ed-coll.ac.uk

St Serf’s Players perform Blithe Spirit

Award-winning local amateur dramatic company St Serf’s Players will be performing Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit in the Church Halls on Clark Road from 24 – 26 May at 7.30pm.

Tickets, from £3, are available from local outlets in Goldenacre, by calling 249 4899 or through the group’s website at www.stserfsplayers.org.uk

St Serf’s Players are members of the Scottish Community Drama Association and recently scooped both first and second prizes in the Edinburgh District’s One Act Play Festival, so you’re assured of an entertaining evening!

St Serf's Players perform Blithe Spirit

Award-winning local amateur dramatic company St Serf’s Players will be performing Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit in the Church Halls on Clark Road from 24 – 26 May at 7.30pm.

Tickets, from £3, are available from local outlets in Goldenacre, by calling 249 4899 or through the group’s website at www.stserfsplayers.org.uk