Cheryl Beer & LegaC Contemporary Dance Troop at D13

 

 

 

 

As you know, The Dragon Tree took up a great deal of my life over the last year. One of the groups that joined me on that journey was LegaC Contemporary Dance Troop, funded by Arts Care Gofal Celf.

 

 

The girls did a wonderful dance to my Mermaid Scales piece, based on the rhythm of sign language and we filmed it down on a private beach at my friend's farm Morfa Isaf.

 

 

 

After the Dragon Tree funding had finished and the initial tour ended, the troop asked me if I would come with them to D13 Dance Festival and sing Mermaid Scales live with them.

 

What a treat and a great way of saying thank you to them for all their incredible work & to thank the wonderful Laura Jenkins, who is the Dance Development Manager, currently on maternity, and Zosia Jo who co-choreographed the pieces and is now covering Laura's role at Arts Care Gofal Celf.

 

I sang live with them on stage and it felt amazing, but to be honest, whilst performing it was hard to see the whole picture.

 

 

They had also choreographed a piece of their own about The Body Politic to one of my older tracks called French Baguettes which was a song co-written with Jeff Beer from my Award Winning Album Little Fish: Bare Bone Songs back in the late 1990's.

 

Well, I can not tell you how absolutely awe inspiring it is to watch a group of young women dance to one of your songs!! I wept at the end. And to be honest, when I watch it back, I weep every time!! Mostly I think because I have watched these young women grow so beautifully as dancers and as people over the last few years, and it is so very moving to watch someone else's interpretation of your work, through another genre.

  

 

 

 

Thank you, thanks a million, no, thanks a squillion to LegaC and even more so to Arts Care Gofal Celf who are genuinely making a difference to the arts community, visibly building self worth via the arts and creating a platform for all artists to come together and collaborate. BIG respect!

 

 

A peek at the film scape!

The wonderful Bob Edwards somehow got left out of the photo's on the day!!
So here is a little clip that not only gives you a glimpse of what we got up to, but proves he was there!

Visionary Arts: Making it so!

 What an incredible day!!

It's very hard for me to put into words the coming together of a collection of ideas

without getting emotional!

 

 

 

Contemporary Dance Troop with Arts Care Gofal Celf LegaC, Rob Latham and Bob Edwards, Sam Collins, Jacqueline Emslie, Rachel Hargrave and the Cardigan Drummers, myself and Amanda Painting made our way down to the secret cove to film the opening film scape for The Dragon Tree.

 

Thanks everyone: YOU ROCK!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Mandy and I went down in July to scope the route down, the sun was shining and we didn't have any drums! We got half way down and it looked easy enough! But today in October with all the gear I have to be honest there was a moment when I thought, 'Oh my giddiest of aunts!'

 

 

 

But I knew it would be worth all the hard work to get down to the beautiful cove in Llangrannog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It became something of a team building experience with people helping each other to make the descent. Certainly the most physical of all my shoots so far!

 

 

 

 

 

While the drummers played, LegaC warmed up on the beach.

 

Let the dance begin ...

 

 

 

 

Bob Edwards and Rob Latham both represented different incarnations of the main character Dafydd as he lay shipwrecked and confused seeing his whole life before his eyes. Dancing around him with waves ... mermaids making a decision whether or not to save him ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mother of all the Mermaids, Guinivere dances with the shipwrecked fisherman in making her final decision

 

 

And then the trek all the way back to Mandy's beautiful Farmhouse, Morfa Isaf

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up & up & up ....

 

 

 

Great BIG team building hugs

when we got to the top!

 

 
And then down to some serious packed lunching!

BIG thanks to Joy, one of the mums who came to support the dancers today, to Laura Jenkins, Dance Development Manager for Arts Care Gofal Celf and to Zosia Jo, Dance Tutor at Arts Care Gofal Celf.

Massive thanks to all the dancers, drummers and actors!! And of course to Mandy Painting.

But ... BIGGEST thanks to the SUNSHINE for showing her beautiful face ... and to the West Wales Coast line for being a constant heartbeat.

... and to The Arts Council of Wales for my Individual Mainline Grant :)

IF YOU FANCY STAYING AT MORFA ISAF OR FILMING THERE, THEN PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT MANDY PAINTING:

http://www.morfaisaf.co.uk/

Interpretation of sign language via Contemporary Dance

 

Last night was AMAZING!

 

I met with some of the dancers from

LegaC Dance Troop at Whitland Town Hall

 led by Development Dance Manager for

Arts Care Gofal Celf, Laura Jenkins.

 

 

 

The dancers watched the film I have made of Maggie Hampton, Director of Disability Arts Cymru, signing the lyrics to Mermaid Scales the first set of songs in the production

 

 

Laura asked the dancers to take 2 signs that stood out to them the most and to make them into dance, listening to the full track which is now recorded.

 

Laura was brilliant at building the dancers skills and confidence in a very short space of time, giving them a set 4 instructions to change and move, increasing their creative development.

 

They then worked in pairs giving each other the the intructions to build Direction skills.

 

 

From here, they were asked to interpret each other's dance improvisation back to each other.

 

 

 

This is the genius part .. she then asked them to do the piece with their eyes closed. The difference in their dance was staggering! ... Explaining that they need to find that same place with their eyes open.

 

 

Then they interpreted each other's work with their eyes closed, so they were really feeling the piece and the movement.

 

All the dancers visibly grew through this process.

 

It was a very moving experience indeed to watch this development of my lyrics and music, via sign and rhythm through to dance. I felt myself overwhelmed by a sense of awe.

 

 

Honestly, I have worked with lots of people throughout my life long career in the arts and there are not many people like Laura Jenkins .

 

Not only is she a visionary manager, her ability to facilitate in way from the inside out, teaching how to dance from the soul ...

I was quite literally blown away.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought, 'I wonder how Maggie will feel when she sees this ... ' having done the sign language film for me and seeing these dancers ... WOW!

 

I think she'll be as blown away as I was.

 

The dancers are coming to Morfa Isaf with me in October for a film shoot, where Maggie will be Guinivere, the Mother all Mermaids signing in the sea, Simon Morgan Thomas will be Dafydd, Rachel Hargrave and her drummers will represent the sea against the rocks and the dancers will represent the mermaids and the waves/shipwreck, as well as the souls of the sailors lost.

 

 

 

They will also be performing live with me as part of the tour in January and February 2013.

 

 

If you live in Carmarthenshire or Pembrokeshire and you're thinking ... 'Mmm I'd like to get into dance.' then all you have to do is to have a look at the Arts Care Gofal Dance schedule because they run many different classes across the 2 counties.

 

Click the link & see if there's one near you folks!

http://www.acgc.co.uk/dance_community.html

 

 

 

 

 

Contemporary Dance Film Shoot at Bishop's Palace, St.David's Cathedral, Cultural Olympiad

As part of the Cultural Olympiad,

LegaC Contemporary Dancers with

Arts Care Gofal Celf

had a site rehearsal on the day of the Event.

They had already invited me to film them and use some of the footage for my production as a film scape, but the weather kept filming at bay.

You can read in my earlier blog telling how we ended up in Whitland Town Hall!

 But on the day of the Cultural Olympiad Launch the sunshine kissed St.David's beautifully.

Bishop's Palace came alive.

However, it was very hard for me to get any film footage that I could use for my production because ...

People were wearing plain clothes, or walking across me .. it was their reheasrsal and so I decided to stay in the background.

Even so, I haven't been through all my film footage yet ... but I'm sure I will be able to get some amazing shots on slow motion.

This piece on the stairs was absolutely stunning  on film. Everyone had gargoyle masks on.

The section where the dancers caught the wind and danced with their wings looked amazing on film .. bit harder to catch with stills though!

Look how dance fills everyone with joy!

Afterwards, back stage, I did manage to get some AWESOME film footage asking dancers to do specific things, but they were exhausted and resting for their performance, so I only filmed them if they felt able.

Arts Care Gofal Celf Dance Co-ordinator,

Laura Hackett, asked me to take a few informal shots back stage.

'Cauldrons and Furnaces'

And then LUNCH!

Or filming for Chez, ME ...

This little lad will represent our character

Dafydd as a child.

The hat and scarf travel through films with the walking stick.

 

Others did what dancers do when they are relaxing! Head Stands off course! lol!

The girls sat chatting ...

... or snoozing

It was very touching to watch some of the dancers supporting each other with extra rehearsals.

And then onto the business of making oneself blend into the stone  ...

  

The Bishop's Palace.

These are the 39 Steps ...

I need to film my character Dafydd crawling up these steps! This is where I want to bring actor,  Simon Morgan Thomas

when we have good weather. 

Oh and I must show you these Bell Ringers who were absolutely wonderful.

I'm thinking they could record a piece with me to signify the bells ringing at the bottom of Cardigan Bay as part of the opening piece: The Legend of the Lost Lowlands. I spoke to the leader and hopefully she will email me.

Meanwhile in town, the streets were absolutely packed with procession and pilgrimage.

On my way home I stopped off at the beach to watch a kite fly across the blue ...

And to sneak one of nature's trinkets into my pocket to remind me of my wonderfully creative day ...

 Thank you Arts Care Gofal Celf

LegaC Contemporary Dancers

& all the wonderful team!

What Fun!

THIS COULD BE YOU! 

If you want to join a dance class,

or you want to get involved in ANY community arts in Carmarthenshire or Pembrokeshire,

why not contact Arts Care Gofal Celf.

www.artscare.co.uk