Welcome to the end of October edition of the Articulation Newsletter
Celebrating Halloween and the time of year when ‘the veil draws thin between our world and the next,” tomorrow night the annual Samhuinn Fire Festival will be taking place at Carlton Hill, Edinburgh, details of this spectacularly spiritual event can be found below, along with information about training and funding opportunities coming up.
Best wishes, SJ Couzens, Articulation Co-ordinator.
A child climbs onto an adult’s shoulders and they look out. They see hope. They see destruction. One generation after another reaches higher, sees further, hurtling toward a future they can’t control.
Nosedive is a new intergenerational circus show that explores fear, hope, and recklessness, and how our relationship towards them changes as we get older. Children and adult performers play side by side and push themselves to the physical limit- the risks and challenges of the circus trick becoming a metaphor for how we consider age and youth, and what we view as acceptable levels of risk at different stages in life.
Shasha and Taylor Productions: Everything I See I Swallow
5th November
Summerhall, Edinburgh
Where does freedom of expression end and exploitation begin? And what is the difference?
Everything I See I Swallow is a compelling study of female empowerment and shifting generational attitudes to sex and feminism, fusing theatre, aerial performance and shibari – the erotic art of Japanese rope bondage.
In a world where #MeToo and #TimesUp have become rallying cries against female sexual harassment, how does a woman defend the objectification of her own body and the gaze from those around her? How are the lines drawn and how is the rope tied?
In this provocative and unforgettable examination, rope becomes a metaphor to explore themes of control, gender, dominance and submission.
Edinburgh's spectacular Winter festival returns once more to Calton Hill this October with a fiery twist on Halloween night.
SAMHUINN FIRE FESTIVAL brings the Celtic New Year to a modern audience with a dazzling mix of fire, drumming, acrobatics, and immersive theatre.
The nights are getting longer and the veil draws thin between our world and the next. As we turn to face the dark wintry months together, hundreds of otherworldly creatures will awaken all over Calton Hill and gather for an epic struggle between Winter and Summer.
Hope’s labour is unusual and unexpected. But nothing fazes Joy, the hospital cleaner who supports and befriends her.
When Joy is sacked for letting human-bird hybrids escape out the window, Joy moves in with Hope and her swan-boy son Magnus. Their lives collide in chaos, Hope is learning to love, Magnus is learning
to fly, and Joy is in an unhelpful relationship with a goldfish. Can they survive this shifting world?
Hope and Joy is a seriously funny play that explores love and loss in a changing environment using bold visuals and strong physical elements to imagine a Scotland in a time much like ours but not quite.
Artsadmin offers a unique and free one-to-one advice service to UK-based artists working in contemporary performance, at any stage of their career. Sessions are informal and artist-led, offering an opportunity to talk about anything from artistic ideas and project development to funding and contexts for your work.
To book a session either in person or via Skype, fill in the Google survey in order for ArtsAdmin to understand a bit about your practice and what you would like to discuss during an advice session. There is currently an approximate waiting time of four weeks for advisory sessions.
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland: Keeping You Right Toolbox
6th November
Codebase, Edinburgh
In this introductory session, you will explore how to keep your rehearsal rooms and perfomances safe for participants, audience members and leaders through careful risk management and planning.
Do risk assessments make you break out in a cold sweat?
Always wanted to do a site-specific performance, but felt overwhelmed by the potential hazards involved? Never fear – Andrew Evans, Health and Safety Advisor to many of Scotland’s national performing companies, is here to help!
In this introductory session, you will explore how to keep your rehearsal rooms and performances safe for participants, audience members and leaders through careful risk management, planning and real-life case studies. The course is being hosted by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, but it's not just relevant for youth theatre practitioners.
Little Soldier Productions: Irreverent Idiots Workshop
Devising using Physical Comedy and Clowning
11th - 15th November
London
A physical comedy & clown workshop led by the team behind Little Soldier’s Don Quixote.
This November, join Little Soldier’s Artistic Directors, Patricia and Merc and Associate Collaborator, Stephen Harper, for a brilliant a five-day intensive workshop into two key aspects of their approach to making new work: technique and anarchy.
Throughout the workshop, you will explore the balance between chaos and choreographed material whilst maintaining the truth of the situation. This is one of comedy’s main challenges and our primary focus. Devising collaboratively as a company, we will culminate in a performance showcasing our discoveries at the end of the week.
This acclaimed course will show you how to make plays with young people. It explores how to create the conditions needed for meaningful collaboration and a step by step guide for how to turn source material into a finished play. It includes a practical evening session with Company Three members.
Participants work through a series of exercises, games and discussions including a practical session with young people from Company Three's core company.
Julyen Hamilton: Evolving Technique and Making Dances
4th - 15th January
Amsterdam
Julyen Hamilton’s teaching investigates deeply the creative act and the technique needed to accompany and facilitate it. His vision of technique is one which observes how things are made, how they function and how knowledge, experience and intuition can be used to create the work we each need to make.
It naturally enters the world of physiology, philosophy, culture, imagination
and the future.The basic work is the handling of the body and the ‘speaking’ from it in space, motion and time. Its coordination and its relationship to the material it creates – and then to the sharing of it in performance. His ability to distil and convey essential principles allows dancers from a wide range of backgrounds to engage in his methodology.
What is public space? Why do artists choose to work in these unconventional places? How do they use these spaces around the world? What kinds of legislation and technical characteristics do professionals have to take into account?
From 9 September 2019 onwards, you can access this 4-week MOOC packed with tools and inspiration to help you understand and play a role in artistic creation in public space.
As you progress through the course, you will learn about different artworks designed for public space, the way they interact with their locations, and the specific features of writing and audience relations in this context.
You will be given methodological tools and practical exercises to help you try out these ideas and take on the role of a creator. You will get support from various European artists and professionals, who will share their experience and knowledge with you.
Funding is available for individuals, groups and organisations based in Scotland and working in theatre, dance and music - to be part of Made in Scotland 2020 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Made in Scotland is a curated showcase promoting high-quality music, theatre and dance to international promoters and audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It's a partnership between the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the Federation of Scottish Theatre, the Scottish Music Centre and Creative Scotland, and is supported through the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund - awarded to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.
The purpose of the Programme is to raise the international profile of Scottish artists through the promotion of Scottish work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and this fund supports the Made in Scotland Showcase as well as Onward International Touring. Funding is intended to support the costs of presenting work at the Fringe. The work can be new or an existing production which will be re-staged at the Fringe.
Organisations already in receipt of Creative Scotland Regular Funding or project funds are eligible to apply, but need to clearly demonstrate the additional benefits that support from Made in Scotland will present.
Angus Place Partnership: Arbroath 2020 Fund for Angus Artists
Deadline: 5pm on the 18th November
The Arbroath 2020 Festival is offering project grants of between £250 and £1000 to artists who have an idea that they would like to develop and realise under the banner of the 2020 Festival. The fund is a total of £10,000 and will be distributed through two ‘open calls’, one in November and the other in February.
Arbroath 2020 Festival is celebrating Arbroath and its future through its history. Your project does not need to be linked directly to the history of the Declaration, this fund is about artist development so we are interested in how this can be a good project that will support the artist(s) and their work whilst also making a strong contribution to the Festival. The Festival programme is extremely wide reaching in terms of themes and topics.
The Fund for Angus Artists is open to artists working in all disciplines and who are living and working in Angus including writers, film makers, musician, performers, poets, visual artists and more.
The Fund for Angus Artists has been made possible through The Arbroath 2020 Festival with funding from Creative Scotland’s Angus Place Partnership and Angus Council.
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland: Money Matters Toolbox
2pm on the 4th December
Codebase, Edinburgh
Fundraising - it's not a dirty word! In this dynamic and highly practical session, you will use a variety of exercises to unpack the unique selling points and impact of your work and consider how to translate these into a variety of development platforms, such as funding applications, reports and advocacy.
The course is being hosted by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, but it's not just relevant to youth theatre practitioners. By the end of this session, participants will:
Know what makes a fundable project
Have drafted answers to the most common application or reporting questions
Created a realistic planning and project management timeline
The Foundation has been a consistent supporter of the performing arts for many years. The Trustees intend to maintain that policy and welcome applications which meet the following criteria:
Performing Arts - achieving excellence
The Trustees place particular emphasis on financial support for charities with a record of artistic excellence that require additional funding, not available from public sources or commercial sponsorship, to broaden their repertoire or develop work of potentially outstanding interest which cannot be funded from the usual sources.
Assistance will also be considered for training and professional development for creative talent or the technical professions.
Funding for stage productions is not available.
Performing Arts - education and social exclusion
The Trustees additionally wish to support arts projects that place a particular emphasis on addressing educational or social exclusion outcomes.
Applicants can apply under either or both headings.
Deadline: 1st November
Performance Date: 7:30pm on the 29th November
Looking for an opportunity to show off your skills in an informal setting? Join the Aerial Edge Scratch Night!
Aerial Edge are looking for participants (students, staff etc) to take part in this informal evening. Whether you have a fully-fledged routine or just a germ of an idea, why not present it at Scratch Night! Group acts are also welcome.
For those wanting to take part (or if you have some questions) send an email to the lovely Ellie at events@aerialedge.co.uk
Surge: Spring/Summer Residencies 2020
Deadline: 5pm on the 31st October
Surge is offering a limited number of residences to artists working within physical theatre, street performance and circus. Applications are welcomed from emerging to established artists and from solo artists and groups.
Apply for 1, 2 or 3 weeks of residency at Surge’s studios in Central Glasgow.
You will receive mentorship, space and time to develop your idea. At the end of the residency you will be required to perform a work-in-progress sharing to gain feedback from an invited audience.
As part of the residency you will required to deliver a 1.5 hour workshop to emerging practitioners. This workshop could be an exploration of the style of work you are presenting (e.g. Butoh), or focus of a particular aspect of your practice (e.g. puppet making).
Compass Live Arts: Call for Projects
Compass Festival 2020
Deadline: 5pm on the 8th November
Compass commissions and presents live, interactive art projects by UK and international artists all over Leeds. These unfold in cultural venues, civic buildings, local businesses and out on the city streets.
The Compass Festival will take place in Leeds in November 2020.
Compass invites project proposals from artists working in any medium whose practice is based in interactive public participation, co-creating or engagement. The festival has grown in scale and ambition over the first four editions and is characterised by the exploration of communality, community building, place-making and individual experience.
Please note Compass are not looking for street theatre or works that can only happen in theatres and galleries.
Arts and Disability Ireland: Access to Inclusion 2020
Call for Proposals
Deadline: Midnight on the 12th November
Arts and Disability Ireland and The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Office of VSA and Accessibility are proud to announce a call for proposals for a unique European Summit titled From Access to Inclusion 2020 taking place from 11th -14th May in Dublin, Ireland.
From Access to Inclusion 2020, An Arts and Culture Summit is an international gathering of access professionals and advocates exploring how to provide seamless, person-centred experiences in arts and culture, through a dynamic programme of keynotes, discussion panels, snapshots, case studies and demonstrations. The Summit offers an unprecedented opportunity to exchange ideas and discover new and innovative ways to include and welcome everyone, with an accompanying evening programme of cultural events featuring access and inclusion in action.
ADI and The Kennedy Center ask that proposals focus on the following themes:
Access Services and Programmes
Accessibility Policy
Aesthetically Accessible Performances, Exhibits or Visitor Experiences
Surge: Established Artists Residency
Site Specific and Outdoor Work
13th - 16th January 2020
Deadline: 12pm on the 14th November
Surge is inviting applications for a residency designed to give space for established artists to develop new ideas in the company of skilled practitioners to work on new ideas that are set in specific locations or type of location (e.g. urban/woodland).
The residency will be led by Hilary Westlake, there will also be input from other established professional mentors including Al Seed, Alan Richardson, Bevis Evans Teusch, Simon Meek, Ross Gerry.
Surge welcomes applications from writers, theatre makers, designers, performers and those working in digital forms. Applications are invited from collaborating artists (max 3 per application). Applications are also encouraged from work that involve the integration of digital technologies.
Applicants should:
Have a body of acclaimed professional work behind them in their specialist art form(s)
Have an idea for the creation of a new work that involves working in a specific site or type of site.
The idea should be at an early stage of development
The ideas must include at least one of street arts, physical theatre and/or circus in one form or another.
Surge will provide:
A structured residency in a rural location in Scotland
A balanced group of established artists representing a wide variety of projects
Transport from Glasgow to the residency location
Accommodation and food for the duration of the residency
The potential for further development of ideas in the presence of producers and venues at a later date TBC
To Apply:
Please send a project outline of your proposed new work in no more than 500 words plus a personal biography of you and any proposed collaborators for the project to Alan Richardson at alan@surge.scot
Federation of Scottish Theatre Emporium 2020
Deadline: 18th November
Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, FST can now offer more opportunities for artists and companies via an additional showcasing element for production-ready work. Depending on what stage your work has reached you can apply for:
Early Stage: Idea Showcasing
This allows you to present ideas for work in an informal, roundtable setting, prompting dialogue and discussion on the work and enabling the exploration of a three-way relationship between creator, venue and audiences.Successful applicants will receive support from expert facilitators in presenting work at this stage at a separate event in advance of Showcase Day.
On Stage: Production Showcasing
Allowing you to present production-ready work to secure tour bookings for a work that has been produced or to build support for a fully-realised idea to gain funding for production and touring.
Theatre-style presentation with technical support will be available on the day, with limited rehearsal time.
This opportunity is open to artists/companies based in Scotland and aiming to tour work in Scotland. Applications will be considered by a panel of industry experts with a broad range of experience in terms of scale, genre and industry. The applications are open to both FST-members and non-members.
Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival Job Opportunity: Co-Producer
Deadline: 12pm on the 15th November
Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival looking for a Co-Producer with proven strategic understanding and vision to take forward our business goals and creative ambitions to help shape and grow the Festival.
EJBF is one of the 10 largest jazz Festivals in Europe, with a broad programming scope as well as year-round education and community programmes; Scottish and international jazz, blues and multicultural events. EJBF also produces the Edinburgh Festival Carnival which is the largest UK Carnival Parade outside London, and an event of international standing.
To apply, please send a full CV detailing career and achievements, as well as a covering letter addressing the role description and person. Please send applications in PDF or MS Word format by email to fiona@adjazz.co.uk
Surge Residency: Integrating Virtual Reality and 360 and 3D film into performance
13th - 17th January 2020
Deadline: 5pm on the 18th November
Surge is offering a residency for directors, performers and digital artists who have an interest in the integration of VR and 360 video into performance. The residency will be led by a highly experienced team of mentors whose diverse skills include games design, 360 and 3D video filming and editing, direction and performance. Mentors include Al Seed, Bevis Evens-Teusch, Simon Meek and Ross Gerry.
The residency will take place at Ormidale House and will involve the participants creating a short site specific work over 4 days integrating VR, 360 video on Oculus headsets and performance.
The residency will be a practical exploration with training in skills including the following:
Creating and devising material suitable for the integration digital arts and performance
Developing methods of using existing digital hardware for performance
Directing and performance skills for VR and 360 video
Surge will offer:
A structured residency in a rural location in Scotland
Mentorship by highly experienced practitioners
Transport from Glasgow to the residency location
Accommodation and food for the duration of the residency
Applicants should have:
An interest in the integration performance , VR and 360 video
Experience of one or more of the following - physical performance (outdoor arts, physical theatre and circus), directing physical performance, creating and / or editing VR or 360 video or developing uses for gaming hardware
To Apply:
Please send a CV and a short explanation (max 250 words) outlining your interest in the residency to Alan Richardson at alan@surge.scot
Take a step into the world of outdoor performance. OutdoorArtsUK presents a conference day of expert masterclasses, sector updates and inspiring ideas for anyone wanting to learn more about working in Outdoor Arts and for everyone looking for new creative opportunities.
This year the event will be smaller which is free to attend, in the hope of making it more accessible to a wider group.
Are you a freelance Creative Practitioner living or working within the Renfrewshire area? Renfrewshire Leisure Creative Practitioners survey is now open. Please take five minutes to complete it.
Freelance creative practitioners are a vital part of an area’s cultural ecology. As well as their commercial impact, they often provide services that inspire creativity and help residents live better. They are the bedrock of a lively and vibrant cultural scene.
Call Out to Artists and Makers, groups and organisations involved with Circus, Street Arts, Physical Theatre - let us and others know about your work. Take your place in Articulation’s Directory on the Website by sending your information to info@articulationarts.org
Add to this Newsletter! Please send information about anything to do with Physical Performance together with a picture or a logo to articulationnews@gmail.com
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