Indian Dance, hip hopera, churnalism and sheds

Dance Ihayami presents the final outdoor performance of Blue Lotus, a classical and contemporary Indian dance collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and classical music composer Ash Madni. Live music will be performed by the Antonine Quartet (supplied by Music Co-OPERAtive Scotland).

Blue Lotus explores the connection between Indian dance and the natural environment, reflecting the changing seasons. As human beings, we interact with our environment in every moment and with every movement - dance explores the resonance of our body landscapes in tune with the natural surroundings.

Blue Lotus is Dance Ihayami’s public engagement project running from summer 2013 to summer 2014 and is kindly supported by Creative Scotland. Over the past year, Dance Ihayami has worked with many local people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, engaging them in Indian dance movement inspired by the choreographic development of Blue Lotus. Some of the project participants we have been working with will open Dance Ihayami's Blue Lotus performance.

Saturday, 3 May 2014 @2:00pm
Venue: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Outdoor performance spot by the Inverleith House/Café
Closest entrance: Arboretum Place (John Hope Gateway) Edinburgh EH3 5LP
Admission: Free
Additional information: Bring your own rug to sit on. Please arrive at the venue at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the show. In case of severe weather, an alternative indoor venue will be provided.

London, UK - On the 2nd of June 2014 Josephine & The Artizans will release their highly anticipated debut

EP, ʻDies Iraeʼ, alongside an official music video
for the title track, ahead of an intensely busy summer on the stages
of the UKʼs most exciting music festivals.

With their forthcoming EP, the band explore their signature Hip-Hopera style in depth, fusing classical strings

and operatic vocals with Hip-Hop beats, rap and electric guitar. The unique ensemble tackle extremely relatable, and surprisingly diverse, subjects from the cultural pressures on todays youth all the way to isolation in plain sight. Each and every song is carefully crafted to create an incomparable experience set to the backing of ethereal strings and driving rhythms. The accompanying music video tells the story of three different teenagers forced to follow an unchosen lifestyle by an older generation juxtaposed with images of the band performing against the backdrop of a gothic church.

Josephine & The Artizans have received wide spread acclaim since supporting bands such as Maximo Park, The Fratellis and Tom Odell on the main-stages of Galtres Parklands and Brownstock festivals, among many others, last summer. The band have received amazingly positive reviews and airplay on national radio stations from such reputable sources as Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music and Premier Radio as well as an overwhelming response from online and printed press, for example Fresh On The Net, Love Music Magazine, Adam Not Eve and The Times. The group have also been creating a buzz with their unforgettable live show in their hometown, London, with performances on the main stage at the massive O2 Islington, the legendary Bush Hall, Brixtonʼs award winning Hootananny and Camdenʼs world famous Jazz Cafe, and thatʼs only counting 2014.

Josephine & The Artizans have already confirmed a flurry of live appearances this summer including Boomtown Fair, Lechlade and Headlander festivals with plenty more yet to be announced.

Greenock’s iconic Sugar Sheds are to be the stage for an ambitious, site-specific performance, White Gold, as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural programme, this June. 

A 200-volunteer cast will join a team of professional artists and performers to tell the untold stories of the people of Inverclyde, through drama, movement, music and breathtaking aerial performance. As audiences walk through the performance, they will be immersed in the experience.

The multi-art form production is an original creation conceived and overseen by Mark Murphy, directed by Simone Jenkinson and Joseph Traynor of Cuerda Producciones, Argentina. It is produced by arts organisation Iron Oxide, with All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre, Tigerstyle and the Beacon Arts Centre.

The Creative Team said: “Our vision is to create a show that has the power to transform: to find the extraordinary in the everyday; to confound expectation of what a group of people with a united intention can achieve and in doing so get to the very heart of what makes these incredible communities of Inverclyde tick.”

Touching, personal stories have been gathered from across the area. Inverclyde Community Development Trust has worked closely with community groups and individuals to discover memories and anecdotes – old and new - that have in some way affected the lives of the storyteller. Echoing their past industrial use, the Sugar Sheds function as a store for stories and a refinery for their production, before the raw material is turned into White Gold.

Paul Bristow, Story Harvester, ICDT, said: "Our team have collected lots of reminiscences and stories over the years, but this was something quite different, White Gold asked us to look at a series of ten questions, such as ‘who do you wish you’d told you loved?’, ‘which song means most to you and why?’ and ‘tell us the story of a door you wished you had never opened’ and our volunteers sat down with folk from all across the area to see where those conversations would take us.

“We’ve been amazed by the power of the stories and the generosity of those who have given them. We’ve genuinely had moments of people bursting into tears or laughing aloud, sharing their answers and experiences with us. Most people, perhaps because we were strangers, were only too happy to share and there were some really sad and beautiful stories in there. We’re really interested to see how they have been adapted and incorporated into the performance.” 

Edinburgh’s All or Nothing have been running aerial workshops with groups in Inverclyde throughout the year. White Gold aims to develop a lasting legacy of aerial workshops and classes in Inverclyde at the Beacon Arts Centre.

Jen Paterson, All or Nothing, said: “All or Nothing has been leading aerial workshops at the Beacon as a way of introducing one of the main art forms that will feature in White Gold into the Inverclyde area. As well as free taster classes in aerial skills, a group of local volunteer cast will train up more intensively in aerial harness and flying so that they have the skills to perform aerial alongside professional artists in the production."

“It is really exciting to be working alongside Simone Jenkinson and Joseph Traynor of Argentina’s Cuerda Producciones, and to be showcasing some of the leading, most experienced aerial performers in the UK.”

DJs and musicians Tigerstyle have been working with school groups, asking them for their take on the questions, teaching them the fundamentals of digital music creation and using their responses to influence and create music which will inspire the show.

Pops, Tigerstyle, said: “We had a great time working with students from St Andrews and St Francis Primary Schools. The children told stories to each other, we played some word games and then they collectively wrote some lyrics using their wild imaginations. We then worked with them to put together sounds to compliment. Everyone is really looking forward to seeing how the music will fit into the show.”

Creative Team
Conceived & overseen by Mark Murphy
Directed by Simone Jenkinson & Joseph Traynor
Assistant Director & Performer: Brigid McCarthy
Lighting Design: Lizzie Powell
Set & Costume Design: Becky Minto
Set & Costume Design Assistant: Rebecca Hamilton
Musical Director: Nathaniel Reed

Listings Information
White Gold, Sugar Sheds, Greenock
Wed 4 June (preview), 6.30pm, FREE but ticketed.
Thu 5 – Fri 6 June, 6pm & 9pm, tickets £5 (£3)
Sat 7 June, 3.30pm & 6.30pm, tickets £5 (£3)
Tel: 01475 723723 / book online: www.beaconartscentre.co.uk
*Important venue information: Audiences must arrive promptly at the Beacon Arts Centre by the time stated, where they will be transported to the venue by bus. Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock, PA15 1HJ.