We are extremely pleased to be able to share with new a new short film looking at the impact of the Highly Sprung Workshops on the young people that attend. What makes it even more special is that it was made by an ex-sprunger now film maker extraordinaire!

Enjoy!

 

For more information about the fantastically spectacular project recently undertaken by Highly Sprung and 450 childrena nd young people visit the project blog:

The Believe Project 2012

believeproject2012.posterous.com

Click here! >>> It's a Joke!

Yesterday was the final day of The Physical Fellowship 2011, which finished on a soaring high with two short performances from local schools followed by Highly Sprung Performance Co.'s 'Shoes'.

It was an end to an exciting week that began behind the scenes on Saturday with a tech. run of 'Shoes' before opening out on Monday when all six of the local schools were invited to attend workshops with local theatre practitioners, including a 'writing for devised theatre' workshop and movement workshops which brought together students from different schools in collaboration. Monday kicked off with a Masterclass in the B2 Studio Theatre with Naomi Said, a creative learning practitioner from Frantic Assembly. All of the schools were able to watch and engage with Naomi as she led eight of the performers from Highly Sprung Youth through a demonstration of devising physical theatre.

From then, each day consisted of intensive tech. rehearsals with the local schools, inviting them to explore the studio theatre environment before performing their work alongside 'Shoes' each night. For some, the experience was exciting, for others overwhelming! but at the end of each night, no one went away without a sense of being part of something extraordinary. The support from the audience was very powerful and the experience of performing in a professional environment was certainly transforming for some groups.

The story of 'Shoes' is adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen story of 'The Red Shoes', in which a girl becomes fascinated and obsessed by the red shoes and everything that they represent, material possession, craving, fascination and longing. In 'Shoes', the girl who enters into the family is representative of these passions, which she evokes in the family members. 

The Shoe keeper guides us through this uncertain world, and the narrative shifts unexpected as he remembers events. Flashes of red fall against a grey backdrop and piles of shoes are stacked against the wall, waiting to be opened.

Everyone at highly Sprung is very proud of The Physical Fellowship 2011 and we hope that it will have a lasting effect in the minds of all people who experienced it. Although this project is now being wrapped up, we are excited to be hopefully returning to the Belgrade next year for another festival of creative performance!

Last week the Highly Sprung team met up for 3 days of intensive rehearsals at Fargo Studios in Coventry in order to create out new production of 'Shoes', which promises to be an exciting performance.

The first 2 days were taken up by the professional cast and emerging artists, who created initial material to inspire the movement and text of the performance as a whole. This was then followed by a day with the complete cast of Sprungers who set to work moving in and out of scenes and creating new material for ensemble sections. 

The piece has been inspired by the story of 'The Red Shoes', taking inspiration particularly from the reactions which arise from contact with the red shoes and everything that they represents- lust, infatuation, longing and love. The story is about a family who fall into these emotions and how the idea of the red shoes can change their lives.

 

Today we kicked off our new project here at highly Sprung Workshops (Thursday) with a day-long workshop held by Frantic Assembly associate Naomi Said.

 

One of the really interesting things for all of the sprungers was that we were re-visiting a lot of techniques that we are already familiar with- but (and this is the crucial bit)- we were coming at them from different angles, different perspectives and we were finding subtle new ways to move our bodies through space. This was great for us because suddenly different doors open. For example, when we are moving another person with hip lifts, we are used to transfering weight with the hands behind the shoulder, or around the waist, but Naomi came in and offered us alternatives, such as hooking the shoulder over another person's shoulder and swinging the hips round- all exciting stuff!

We played lots of games, and Naomi kept stressing to us that she was offering us the same experience as if we were in a Frantic Assembly rehearsal, so we gained a valuable insight into how the company works, and the level of focus and energy that was required to stay on task.

It was really great to work with Naomi. She is a Coventrian herself and she had a real ability to communicate with us and to inspire us to create material out of simple instructions and techniques, like playing in the snow, from which we created routines and stories.

At the end of the day, we finished with an exercise of signing instructions in partners and sharing our stories with the group. This is a good devising technique and ti was great to sit down and share experiences with the rest of the group. Tomorrow, we begin work on the new show 'New Shoes', inspired by today's workshop.

Following the performance of 'The Beauty manifesto' in Warwick Arts centre studio theatre, and the post-show report from NT Connections, here is a discussion between two cast members:

So, how do you think the final showing of ‘The Beauty Manifesto’ went?

 Everthing went really well. The atmosphere was perfect and the audience was full. We had good reactions.

Did you speak to any audience members after the show?

Yes. One of the Friday night Sprung-ers said that they liked how we took a normal script and made it into a physical theatre piece which is a hard thing to do. She told us that the message of the piece really came through. She said that they liked the projections- the effects that we used and just the simplicity of the whole piece- simple costumes and props made it easier for her to relate to the performance.

How was it performing at Warwick Arts Centre and using their rehearsal space and studio theatre?

 Performing in a well known venue was a real privilege and made us step up our game to enable the performance to be the best that it could be. I would like to perform there again- the studio was a good size with a big enough audience for an atmosphere to be created. We were able to experiment in the space as well- with props and movement etc. I’m looking forward to performing in the larger theatre too.

Did you get positive feedback from the Ed Viney the NTConnections director?

Yes! We had a long discussion with him after the performance and he said that from the opening moment, it was an exciting production which captured the audience’s attention. He said that the way in which we interpreted the text physically was both innovative and highly original. Of course, this was excellent feedback and we were all delighted when Mark and Sarah read the feedback form to us the week after the performance.

What other aspects of the performance did he comment on?

He was really impressed with the ensemble work, which we work hard on as a group because that is the nature of what we do at highly Sprung- physical ensemble work. But then he also commented on how the ensemble work enhanced the relationships between individual characters.

Of course, there was also some positive criticism, including making some relationships more clear and, in particular, vocal projection! This will be very important for us, especially in the larger theatre.

Are you excited about performing in Warwick Arts Centre theatre?

Definiely. I have a feeling that it’s going to feel like a completely different performance. But that’s great because it will pose a new challenge and get the group working together doing what we love to do.

 

So the tech run went really well and now we are all set and ready to perform the piece in the studio theatre at 19.00! Here is a wide selection of photos from the last run through in the theatre:

We are going to be meeting one of the directors from the National Theatre before the show goes up and part of our audience will contain the Warwick Youth Theatre group who are performing their own show "Frank and Ferdinand"- another of the National Theatre Connections plays. Fingers crossed that everything goes well and that we can share our different ideas with a full audience.

I am sitting in the foyer at Warwick Arts Centre. The time is 14.30 and the group has just disbanded for lunch after a morning of polishing and running through of the performance. Everything is going very well and the group has a really positive energy as we anticipate the tech run through. There are lots of images to come as we move into the studio theatre so that you can follow our day!