28 October 2016
Flourish House in Glasgow is a Clubhouse that enables people with mental health difficulties to gain a sense of well-being. Members recover confidence and skills whilst achieving social, financial and vocational goals. It is part of an international network of Clubhouses that provide a safe environment to help people make the transition from hospital-based mental health care to re-entering everyday life. I was at Flourish House on Thursday evening for a film screening and discussion as part of Luminate 2016 and the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival. We watched the film ‘Young @ Heart’, Stephen Walker’s inspiring 2007 documentary about the Young @ Heart Chorus – a choir of singers in their seventies, eighties and nineties from Northampton, Massachusetts, who sing an unlikely repertoire of songs by Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, Sonic Youth etc. It’s a wonderful film which shows older people having fun, not taking themselves too seriously but working hard towards a communal goal. These are clearly not the greatest singers in the world but the ecstatic reaction of the audiences for the choir’s performances completely rebuffs any concerns about ‘artistic quality’: the Young @Heart Chorus is obviously ‘great art’. The film really shows the individual characters of many of the singers and the deaths, during the filming, of some choir members is incredibly sad. Ultimately, though, this is a life-affirming story – funny, moving and completely inspirational. After the film, Richard Warden from the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival chaired a panel discussion involving a mental health nurse from a South Glasgow hospital and the director of a community choir based in the Gorbals. The film provoked a fascinating and uplifting discussion about mental health, ageing and the therapeutic power of singing. It was a lovely end to my two days in Scotland visiting Luminate Festival events.
Showing posts with label Luminate2016. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luminate2016. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Cha Cha Cha Tea Dance at North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre
27 October 2016
On Thursday afternoon I was at North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre in Motherwell for the Cha Cha Cha Tea Dance – part of Luminate 2016 and the North Lanarkshire Encounters Festival. Like Luminate, Encounters runs throughout October, offering the chance to experience something new in arts, literature and music. The Tea Dance was well attended with around forty participants, most of whom were local care home residents. There was enthusiastic dancing to live music from people with a wide range of physical abilities, including many who were dancing in their chairs. Both the older people and the care home staff were clearly having a wonderful time: I haven’t been to an event for ages with so much smiling! It was a lovely afternoon, with plenty of tea and biscuits for all.
On Thursday afternoon I was at North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre in Motherwell for the Cha Cha Cha Tea Dance – part of Luminate 2016 and the North Lanarkshire Encounters Festival. Like Luminate, Encounters runs throughout October, offering the chance to experience something new in arts, literature and music. The Tea Dance was well attended with around forty participants, most of whom were local care home residents. There was enthusiastic dancing to live music from people with a wide range of physical abilities, including many who were dancing in their chairs. Both the older people and the care home staff were clearly having a wonderful time: I haven’t been to an event for ages with so much smiling! It was a lovely afternoon, with plenty of tea and biscuits for all.
'Directed by North Merchiston' by Duncan Cowles
27 October 2016
On Wednesday evening I was at North Merchiston Care Home in Edinburgh for the launch of ‘Directed by North Merchiston’ - a series of five short films created by residents of the care home working with the film-maker Duncan Cowles. Cowles, who is only 26 years old, spent three months visiting his five collaborators, whose ages range from 84 to 101. In each case he asked them what film they would want to make and developed five very individual pieces, each about 7 or 8 minutes long. The films are beautiful, funny and very poignant, reminding us that care home residents are each fascinating individuals with very different characters. So many arts in care home projects revert to a standard reminiscence format and it was wonderful to see how Duncan Cowles avoided this. Much of each film was focussed on the process of making the film, with us seeing the residents watching footage of themselves speaking to camera to decide what to use. This self analysis helped to give us a very clear picture of these older people as they are today, rather than just focussing on their memories. After watching the films you really felt you knew these individuals well, so it was fascinating to have three of them in the audience for the screening together with many members of their families. It was also interested to see the effect the project had had on Cowles himself who has become a familiar and regular visitor to North Merchiston Care Home and a good friend to the residents. You can read an interview with Duncan Cowles and watch some short teaser videos at: http://www.creativescotland.com/explore/read/stories/festivals/2016/luminate-2016-directed-by-north-merchiston
On Wednesday evening I was at North Merchiston Care Home in Edinburgh for the launch of ‘Directed by North Merchiston’ - a series of five short films created by residents of the care home working with the film-maker Duncan Cowles. Cowles, who is only 26 years old, spent three months visiting his five collaborators, whose ages range from 84 to 101. In each case he asked them what film they would want to make and developed five very individual pieces, each about 7 or 8 minutes long. The films are beautiful, funny and very poignant, reminding us that care home residents are each fascinating individuals with very different characters. So many arts in care home projects revert to a standard reminiscence format and it was wonderful to see how Duncan Cowles avoided this. Much of each film was focussed on the process of making the film, with us seeing the residents watching footage of themselves speaking to camera to decide what to use. This self analysis helped to give us a very clear picture of these older people as they are today, rather than just focussing on their memories. After watching the films you really felt you knew these individuals well, so it was fascinating to have three of them in the audience for the screening together with many members of their families. It was also interested to see the effect the project had had on Cowles himself who has become a familiar and regular visitor to North Merchiston Care Home and a good friend to the residents. You can read an interview with Duncan Cowles and watch some short teaser videos at: http://www.creativescotland.com/explore/read/stories/festivals/2016/luminate-2016-directed-by-north-merchiston
'The Flames'
27 October 2016
On Wednesday afternoon I was at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Glasgow to see the first performance by ‘The Flames’ - a new multi-media theatre group for participants aged fifty and over established by Tricky Hat Productions and directed by Fiona Miller. Their devised work, developed through five days of rehearsal workshops in October 2016 and presented as part of the Luminate Festival, combines drama, poetry, mime, film and specially composed music to explore life after fifty and challenge perceptions of ageing. Seven actors sitting on a line of chairs facing the audience took turns to come forward to one of two standing microphones. In each case we had no idea what to expect – particularly from the actor wearing a brown paper bag over her head. This series of vignettes challenged stereotypes and ruminated on the modern world. Often an individual performance was accompanied by silent black & white film of the same actor’s face projected on a giant screen above the stage. These videos by Kim Beveridge provided a wonderfully intimate feeling of really getting to know the performers and valuing them as individuals. We were also treated to a taste of ‘The Flaming Elders’, a sister project by Tricky Hat which is collaborating with older people in Inverclyde, Dumfries & Galloway and North West Glasgow. Four musicians performed live to accompany video projected on the wall behind them. It was great to see older people engaging in innovative, improvised performance after a very short period of intensive rehearsal and to get a sense of the confidence and joy this collaborative process had given them. You can read an interview with Tricky Hat Artistic Director, Fiona Miller, at: http://www.creativescotland.com/explore/read/stories/theatre/2016/the-flames-at-luminate
On Wednesday afternoon I was at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Glasgow to see the first performance by ‘The Flames’ - a new multi-media theatre group for participants aged fifty and over established by Tricky Hat Productions and directed by Fiona Miller. Their devised work, developed through five days of rehearsal workshops in October 2016 and presented as part of the Luminate Festival, combines drama, poetry, mime, film and specially composed music to explore life after fifty and challenge perceptions of ageing. Seven actors sitting on a line of chairs facing the audience took turns to come forward to one of two standing microphones. In each case we had no idea what to expect – particularly from the actor wearing a brown paper bag over her head. This series of vignettes challenged stereotypes and ruminated on the modern world. Often an individual performance was accompanied by silent black & white film of the same actor’s face projected on a giant screen above the stage. These videos by Kim Beveridge provided a wonderfully intimate feeling of really getting to know the performers and valuing them as individuals. We were also treated to a taste of ‘The Flaming Elders’, a sister project by Tricky Hat which is collaborating with older people in Inverclyde, Dumfries & Galloway and North West Glasgow. Four musicians performed live to accompany video projected on the wall behind them. It was great to see older people engaging in innovative, improvised performance after a very short period of intensive rehearsal and to get a sense of the confidence and joy this collaborative process had given them. You can read an interview with Tricky Hat Artistic Director, Fiona Miller, at: http://www.creativescotland.com/explore/read/stories/theatre/2016/the-flames-at-luminate
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)