The Dragon Tree at St.David's Cathedral

 

 

Setting the scene ...

how wonderful to see my beautiful Story Telling Chair in such an amazing place!

 

 

Then everyone started to arrive for a rehearsal.

This is Arts Care Gofal Celf

LegaC Contemporary dancers.

 

Before we started the performance, Laura Jenkins the Dance Development Manager for Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, took me to one side, to thank me for giving the troop this opportunity. I had tears in my eyes, I can tell you. In my mind, my focus has been how beautiful the dancers will be in the aisles, and how wonderful to bring them from the studio, into the sea for the film and then to The Cathedral ... to share this journey with them, as they are start on their own creative adventure.

 

Working with Laura is AMAZING!! She is a wonderful ball of energy and I have total respect for her, her creativity and the way she has planted dance firmly on the map for ALL people of many ages and abilities. She choreographed the piece with Zosia Jo from Cardiff, and the girls have input too. They only formed as a group in October but you would never know and it has been magical to watch them grow in confidence and skill under Laura's wing.

 

 

 

 

 

Then everyone started to arrive. I was totally overwhelmed  to see so many people.

This is Amanda Painting our wonderful pianist with 3 of the Swansea Ukulele Group, Richard Gent, Geoff Coates and Specer Ripley. Don't they look dapper!

After my first track, Mermaid Scales, I did a solo spot on ukulele performing Mad Man.

 

After singing Women Build Fires, Mandy joined me on her piano and we performed my Hillside Giants poem  ... which runs into my Dance the Ribbons song, where we were joined by the children of Johnstown Primary School Eco Council in their welsh costumes

 

Then the Ukulele Lads re-joined me for my

Mr Blueface song ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandy performed piano for me in my 600 Castles poem, which ran into Dolphin Dance, where we were joined by Bigyn Primary School

led by the lovely Sam Collins.

 

 

In Rock and a Hard Place, the children from Bigyn Primary came up with me to play percussion ...

 

 

For the last track Chasing Circles,

we all performed together

and some of the children got up to dance

What an absolutely incredible experience ...

Although it's only now I am home

that I can really take it all in!!

 

After the performance, we headed upto

Oriel Y Parc Gallery for my film ...

The Dragon Tree

 

Thank you so much to The Arts Council of Wales for funding me this year to write and produce the Dragon Tree. I could never have imagined a day like today when I set out on this journey nearly a year ago.

 

Watch out in my next blog when I'll show you what happened at The Dragon Tree Film Showing ...