April update!

Well I’ve been very busy the last couple of weeks, lots of train journeys back and forth to Cardiff, as we are in the planning stages of Lord of the Flies at the Wales Millennium Centre, lots of meetings and phone calls to get the project under way for the next couple of months ahead. The other day Sian and I (co dance ambassador) went to watch a boys dance event at The Gate in Cardiff, this was great! Lots of young lads from the area coming together and performing, some for the 1st time, it was a great way for us to see how they worked together on stage and scout out possible talent for the LOTF project. After the performance we went round to the different boys and teachers telling them about the project and seeing if they may be interested in attending one of our open workshops. We have been looking at the map of south Wales and pin pointing the most crucial places we want to target for when we both go and deliver workshops in the different communities, this is helping us develop a network of contacts that are very keen to help us promote the project and find the talent. We have been structuring workshop plans and clarifying choreography from the intense Boot camp training back in February, meeting with our partners in the project Rubicon Dance and National dance company Wales to combine a wealth of knowledge and ideas. For the workshops we have been trying to think of ways to engage all males from any or no background in dance. For the warm up we will be using ‘sport’ inspired moves like football, basketball and tennis. We feel like this will really help get the boys interested in what we are doing with them and warm them up for the rest of the workshop. Icebreakers related to the Lord of the Flies story should help the boys feel comfortable with each other and familiarise them with them on the story. Some of the repertoire from the show is very complex so devising a beginner, middle and more experienced levels of the repertoire will give us different options when teaching the boys choreography from the show. As part of the show there are many opportunities for the boys to incorporate their own choreography so by setting different creative tasks Sian and I will be helped to see how they can do this. We also have been devising an application pack for the boys to submit before attending a workshop session. This will also inform participants that we will be filming and taking photos in sessions so all under 16 years old must have parental consent before we can do this. In ‘Boot camp’ we were taught safe touch practice in class and I am currently in the process of updating my DBS license. As there is talk that a possible TV documentary will be made from our process we have been in contact with producers about what they have in mind, we have had filming in February at ‘Boot camp’ training. Last week the show premiered at the Lowry theatre in Manchester, where we were invited to press night. We enjoyed a lovely box to watch the performance and we were interviewed by the film crew after the show about how we felt about the show. It was great to watch the performance and see what is expected from us in Cardiff, the seamless blend of the 24 unprofessional dancers and 9 professional dancers from Rebourne. It was fantastic every dancer performing exceptionally. Sian and I are now are even more eager to start the workshops in Wales and find the talent!