Dreaming Our Woods - Rehearsals

Very busy week with final rehearsals for Dreaming Our Woods

Neil Paris in the centre

Barb Jungr

Gareth Fuller

George Reilly and Barb Junger

Neil Paris striding in Kurt's lightsacpe

Dancers

Deep Root Tall Trees Coming Home Concert

I have been a part of the alto section of this wonderful Choir since our first concert in 2012 and it is amazing to reflect on just how far we have come. In the run up to the concert we met together twice a week and had one Sunday intensive rehearsal where the set was brought together. It has been fascinating to see how songs develop, grow and change, just as we as individuals and as a choir have grown and changed. 

Screen shot from the DRTT website

The music, our wonderful Artistic Director Barb Jungr and our ever patient Choir Director Gareth Fuller, keep us on our metal. In this concert the sound and blend of the Choir felt lovely, being together on stage, waiting to begin, we all felt bonded and ready to give our all, together. 

Photo by Andrew Rushton

Photo by Andrew Rushton

I was lucky enough to be part of the group that helped to create new songs for the concert and wrote the words to a piece called Shooting Stars, which was shaped, pruned, transformed, arranged and set to music by Barb Jungr, Mark Brennan, George Reilly and Gareth Fuller. They give us such inspiration and share their talent, skill and time so wholeheartedly it is quite overwhelming. 

When I first heard how magically Barb had transformed my words I was in a beautiful garden, feeling both joyful and sad, celebrating the life and passing of a dear friend who had also had faith in me as a visual artist in the early days of my career. Tom's band The Red Hot Chillies were playing and it was strange not to see him there with his trumpet. I remembered the happy time I had had painting a riotous mural on the walls of his music room in Gretton. I think he would have enjoyed becoming part of the associated memories stitched inside the song. 

The song also contains walks over wet, windy fields with my dear friend Ros, without whom I would not be singing, but most of all it contains memories of three small boys and their Dad and all the walks and picnics we shared in Stoke and Northamptonshire. For quite a long time he didn't recognise what that the song was about us 

" I never showed you parks and gardens" he said

It was only after I listed all the places we had been that he felt happy to accept the song was for him. 

Photographs by Kate Dyer on the DRTT Website

It was a moving experience to be able to sing the song as soloist with the wonderful DRTT Choir. It is hard to put into words everything this journey has meant to me. There is so much still to learn, so much I need to improve, but for the moment all I can say is I loved every moment. 

During the whole day and into the performance there was a real sense of joy and community amongst the Choir which we wanted to share with the audience, I think we succeeded if this comment from Twitter is anything to go by!

"Marian Anderson ‏@MarianSAnderson Oct 3

Cried tears of joy, laughter & sheer emotion tonight @thecorecorby seeing #DeepRootsTallTrees choir. 

Loved @Digifem singing Shooting Stars"

There are many more wonderful photographs of the all the performers By T.J.Driver Photography here

New Town Pioneers - How Was It For You?

Photograph by Andrej  Berezin

Taking part in the New Town Pioneers was an amazing experience and if you'd like to read Barb Jungr's impressions follow this link to her Blog bouquet of barbs. 

If you'd like to join the choir there is a new Deep Roots Tall Trees website here

Lifecycle

Brought together by Nick Finn, the Godmonkey Skyhook Amalgamation gave their third performance at the Core during the Artists Showcase. The band had wonderful support from the amazing team at the Core. There were a few technical glitches so we had to use alternative video clips to those created by the band, many of whom are also visual artists, many thanks to Millie Beanz for coming to the rescue.

"For anyone who wants to find out what our audio/visual project The GodMonkey SkyHook Amalgamation is all about, Andy Eathorne found the time to film our show at the Core Theatre ,while playing bass and creating huge random noises from his own specially invented machine invented machines, well done to everyone, big team effort !!" Nick Finn

The Godmonkey Skyhook Amalgamation (in low res) at The Core Theatre 01.03.13

We are just beginning!

Artists Showcase at the Core!

Your chance to catch the Godmonkey Skyhook Amalgamation performing Lifecycle an audio visual experiment that just keeps developing. Their set aims to create a journey from embryo to afterlife looking at human milestones and emotions on the way. Featuring artists / musicians Nick Finn, Mark Brennan, Lynn Davies, Andy Eathorne, Darren Nimmo, Martin Baldock, DJ Cindy - oh yes, and me! 

At the Core 

this Friday 

7.30 

tickets £5 

also showcasing Head of Snakes, 

writers from The Stand, 

many fine musicians, 

writers & artists and 

Corby Community Choir. 

Miles & Dacombe will be showing an except from their film Flights of Imagination inspired by St Peter and St Andrews Church exploring the spaces we desire, the spaces we get, the lift inspirational space give & the regeneration in Corby. 

There will be laughter, joy, protest, history... so many riches for just £5!

To find out more and book tickets follow the link

Sky Walking

Prior to the walk on February 3rd I was contacted by Nikky Norton Shafau, via Chris Sudworth of The Core. Nikky gives participants rewards for creative input and she bought 6 of my Seeds of Change Multiples to give away during Sky's future adventures. I also received a mysterious email from Sky.......

Dear Friend,

I want to thank you for coming this far on this journey with me. I have heard you are a true adventure seeker. I am awake but very tired. But now I am tired of being tired. My mind and body need to escape - how is another story but for now...

I want to show you how grateful I am. I'm inviting you to a top-secret adventure - THE SLEEP WALK. You can't tell anyone. Don't worry – it's safe, I'll be there, and some friends you can trust. I want you to come somewhere with me. Meet my friend at 4.00pm at The Core at Corby Cube Box Office Saturday 2nd Feb 2013 – she'll be carrying a torch and will get you a hot drink. She'll take you to me, and we'll go on an adventure – a magical adventure in the dark (ish)!

 This adventure is a pre-curser to Digging Deep: The Adventures of Sky the Reluctant Hero which takes place at The Core in The Lab on the 7th, 8th, 9th Feb 2013. You will receive a FREE ticket to the show alongside your Sleep Walk invitation.

 I am on Facebook please add me Sky Thereluctanthero

 RSVP

ASAP

With your address so I can send your official Golden Ticket in the post.

Sky x

We gathered in the Foyer of the Cube and were taken on a walk to find Sky - it's possibly best to describe the walk in Sky's own words, from her Facebook Page ....... 

"Somewhere some hours ago they came. First the police man. Then a man pushing a child and then the ones with the fixed eyes waiting for me to speak. What do they want me to say? Why is there security? Why is she taking photographs? Why are they looking at me? I want them here but I do not want them near. I want it to be dark so they cannot see me. I want it to be dark so I can see the stars instead of the clouds." Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

"I have nothing to say. Lady. Curly hair. Asks if I am OK. I ask who they are. They ask who I am but I cannot answer. Not because I can't. Because I cannot find the words. The right words. I try to tell them about the bakers I try and say about Brown Yard and the bakers but it is hurting me. "Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

"I try to sleep 40 winks. No blinks. I to be like I used to be with Fatty Fatty Johnson I try to be like that again. I try to ask questions. I try to make conversations. Sometimes nothing came. They ask me questions and sometimes nothing came." Sky the Reluctant Super Hero 

"They cross the road and I am stuck. They leave me. I am left. They waited. We come to a fork in the road. The lady with the brown hair chooses the direction. I wish she would tell us where to go all the time." Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

"We come to me and Fatty's spot the lined decking at the boating lake. I try to say when what happened when Fatty fell down the well. The man threw the coin in like Fatty did. I sing Grandmas song. I teach them Grandmas song why did I do that?!! " Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

"No - one knows that song but me. I need to breath I need to think of someone that I know. I feel alone with these people. We think of someone that we love and then I see Fatty." Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

"But they are slowing me down. They needed to run faster. Our torches shine on the forest looking for Fatty. He has gone. I tell them a secret. They help me to yell. How long is a piece of string? " Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

"My Brown Yard to My Grey Town it has not always been like this. They do not believe me. I give gifts as I am not ready to give myself. I leave them alone. It is better that way. Sky the Reluctant Super Hero

Our walk ended in the Rooftop Gallery, we viewed the exhibition and were served delicious tea and cake. We were all given gift bags and questions in plant pots to discuss. Sky left us, we talked and enjoyed our tea.

We had been asked to bring an object to talk about - I brought my blue Mexican dog - a present from Kathy Page and explained why I had chosen it.

We shared other objects and dispersed into the night.

Nikky Norton Shafau leads audiences on a beautiful immersive adventure touching upon issues of mental health, with incredible sound design by Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)and animation from Emily & Anne.

'Ice cream? Polar bear? Desert? = Messy!

Sky has not slept a wink for six whole months. It’s 3am and yet another sleepless night.There’s a sound from deep without. The door opens but the world doesn’t look, feel or sound the the same as it used to..."

• Winner of The Flying Solo Commission 2011
• Presented in association with The Core at Corby Cube, Contact (Manchester) and MC Theater (Amsterdam).

You can write a letter to Sky here 

and find out how to interact further here

The Performance

A comment from the Deep Roots Tall Trees Facebook Page

"A fabulous night after months of hard work, research, development. 

A tribute to Corby, it's history, people and future"

I have had such a wonderful time singing that I wanted to make a little something to say thank you, so I cooked up 4 different versions of my take on the Deep Roots experience and made a wild flower seed paper multiple for each person. I'm hoping people will plant them next year and set a few new shoots growing

It was a wonderful night and amazing to see / hear Barb, Jenny, Gareth and all the musicians making such wonderful sound! Must give a wave to Paula Boulton and her Complaints Choir who gave us much to smile about! Lastly thank you to the amazing Shusha Walmsley choir buddy and wonderful Homeopathist who brought my voice back from the brink of disappearance with an emergency remedy!

You can see still from the evening here

Come and Wish a Happy Birthday to The Core!

From a very early age I loved to sing, I sang at home, in the bathroom or in front of the mirror, I sang at school - Gilbert and Sullivan, I loved musicals and spent my early teens with a Panasonic Panapet chained round my wrist, life events were punctuated by the pop songs I loved. For a very brief moment I belonged to an a-cappella girl group called the Overtones. Then I started working in schools and colleges, became prone to every cold going and seemed to have perpetual ear infections or sinusitis, I lost my voice and I stopped singing. Occasionally I'd try and make some noise, but noise was all it was, the loss of voice became a secret sadness. 

The cloud catching Cube, home of the Core photograph by Andrew Rushton

Earlier this year I was persuaded to attend a voice workshop lead by Michael Harper at the Water Tower in Brigstock and to my astonishment, something like a voice put in an appearance. My voice and I had a rather emotional reunion. Later Ros Stoddart persuaded me to join her at the rehearsals for a choir that would sing for the Queen during her Jubilee visit to Corby. I wasn't able to take part in the performance but loved the experience. 'What to do next?' I wondered. It wasn't long before Ros had inspired a new project at the Core - Deep Roots, Tall Trees. 

Gareth Fuller

To celebrate The Core at Corby Cube’s second birthday singer and international recording artist Barb Jungr has been working with local musicians, meeting people, collecting stories and making music to create the original Deep Roots, Tall Trees: A Corby Song Cycle. This premiere performance features Barb Jungr and her regular accompanist Jenny Carr together with high quality local musicians and a community choir, celebrating the town in song. 

“Now I've seen Barb Jungr perform lots of times...and she's such a great vocalist, she really is, open your ears, sit back and enjoy. She's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.” Paul O'Grady

Photograph from last night's rehearsal by Lorraine Maria Dziarkowska

I am one of the many local people taking part as a member of the Community Choir. We have been meeting regularly for the past weeks, learning our parts in the new songs, joining with the musicians and have had the great joy to sing under the the guidance of Choir Master Gareth Fuller. We have also had the privilege to watch and hear Barb Jungr bring out the best in everyone. We are all enjoying the process and feeling slightly nervous as the performance is just over a week away but we are inspired, fired up and ready to give it our all! The songs are uplifting, we are planning to raise the roof - this will be a night to remember so please join us!

The lovely people at The Core are making a special offer to enocourage the community to buy more tickets and are offering them at £8 each, rather than £14.

To take advantage of this offer, you must contact the Ticket Office in person or by phone 01536 470470 (not the internet) and quote the magic words 

"Birthday Offer"

Corby Community Arts

To find out more about the Community Choir

email info@corbycommunityarts.org.

There are regular updates and photographs on the 

Deep Roots Tall Trees Facebook Page

For more about this exciting collaboration please visit 

Rosalind Stoddart, Independent Cultural Engineer 

PS - To all involved a huge thank you for helping me find my voice!

Sweet Treats

There has been lots of activity and public engagement in and around the Cube in Corby just recently. On the 24th of July I was one of a host of volunteers handing out postcards, badges and jelly beans in exchange for memories or stories connected with the town. The postcards were images taken from the Our Corby photographic archive and are part of a larger Our Corby project and Corby's Cultural Olympiad. We were out in glorious sunshine and people seemed more than happy to share their stories, they also didn't seem to mind being approached by a strangely dishevelled woman wearing a a bright yellow T shirt with the Our Corby logo as a skirt.

The space outside the Cube is rather lovely, although one gentleman recalled that the land had originally belonged to a farmer who was bemused by the plans to build the first new town centre on the land as it was the windiest spot in Corby! That afternoon the breeze was welcome, but it's tendency to blow our postcards out of our hands wasn't! There was a real air of celebration plus a brass band, drama in the form of a specially commissioned play Heritage, poetry from Writer in Residence Joel Stickley and Kevin Fegan and the second screening of the film 24 Hour Corby

This week there is a rather gorgeous vintage Airstream caravan parked outside the Cube, which has been converted into The Knowledge Emporium where sweets are traded for knowledge recorded in the Big Book of Everything We Know. As I was working in my studio today I couldn't resist taking a peep inside this beautiful machine, it's well worth a visit. On Saturday there will be readings from the book.

The interior has a magical quality, there's a circular table with curved seating and brightly coloured cushions at the rear of the van and from there you can see a tantalising array of classic penny sweets.

Once seated you are invited to write in the Big Book of Everything We Know, have a chat with the lovely hosts and then you can choose your bag of goodies.

As schools are closed for the summer and the Cube is so close to the swimming pool, the canny children are making the van a regular stopping point, but this isn't just for children, adults will be warmly welcomed too.