Shipley Street Arts Festival: Half Term Theatre School ... A Massive Success!

We're so fantastically happy that the Shipley Street Arts Festival: Half Term Theatre School was such a great success, and we'd like to say a special thank you to all the brilliant workshop leaders and participants who made it so special.

Every day was dedicated to a particular theatre discipline, with an exciting mix of things to try for these young beginners.

The first day was dedicated to Clowning and Circus Skills. The kids had a great time letting out their inner clowns ... the red noses helped! Workshop leader Stephen Finegold (and his son and assistant for the day, Joseph Finegold) were very popular - we had lots of requests to have them back for another Clown workshop!

In the afternoon, they tried lots of different circus skills, such as juggling, diablo and plate spinning. Dan Collins led the exciting class - he's been touring with circuses for a long time and has even been on the big screen!

Day Two was all about Theatre Arts. Jenny Birch - a past student of Calderdale Theatre School, with whom Q20 worked to create this theatre school - led the students in an introduction to puppetry. The kids got to try out some puppets made by Jenny, and also make some of their own, using every day items that can be found around the house.

The theme returned to clowning for the afternoon session - artist Morwenna Catt led a workshop in making clown costumes! Using old clothing and a few special accessories, the kids each made spectacular costumes - perfect for showcasing those clowning skills they learned yesterday!

Even the Corgi got dressed up!

Day Three was all about Stage Fighting. Ian Stapleton is an experienced director and teacher - and his assistant, Patrick Costello, is also one of his past pupils! It was an exciting day of performing armed and unarmed combat - with swords swishing, en garde!

Finally, Day Four was all about Movement. These proved to be a very popular sessions, hosted by our neighbour and friend, DM Academy and ex-Calderdale Theatre School pupil, Katie Allcott (with some assistance by Jenny Birch). In the workshops, the kids learned about how movement is used to express ideas and feelings, and how it can be used for physical theatre and dance.

We'd like to say a special thank you to everyone who was involved and thanks to all our attendees and parents for making the classes such a great success. 

With so many of our participants saying they'd like to do more workshops with us, we can't wait to start putting together the next lot!

Special thanks to: Stephen Finegold, Joseph Finegold, Jenny Birch, Adam Garrett, Morwenna Catt, Ian Stapleton, Patrick Costello, Deana Morgan and DM Academy, Katie Allcott and Gillie Kerrod.

Shipley Street Arts Festival: Half Term Theatre School

We're very exciting about the upcoming Shipley Street Arts Festival: Half Term Theatre School!

The Theatre School - which will be taking place 26th - 29th October - is a great opportunity for all youngsters (aged 11-15) who may be interested in a future career in theatre and the arts.

The four days of fun include taster sessions in four theatre disciplines: Circus, Theatre Arts, Stage Fighting and Movement.

Each day will include two workshops on a specific area within those categories, all run by theatre professionals who can provide a great insight in what being an artist really involves.

The Theatre School is being run in partnership with Calderdale Theatre School and the local DM Academy.

Whether your child would like to attend all four days or just one, they're more than welcome to come along and have a fantastic time dancing, clowning, designing their own creations or taking part in an epic (staged!) duel.

Prices:
4 days: £30 per child
2 days: £17.50 per child
1 day: £10 per child

Contact info@q20theatre.co.uk for further information.

Master Class Workshops: Coming Soon to Dockfield Road Creative Arts Hub

The Master Classes workshops are on their way!

The Shipley Street Arts Festival team have been very busy organising some amazing workshops led by leading theatre professionals, who will be running sessions that are six-hour long for an extensive insight into some of the fabulous skills that are involved in being a professional performer.

Already confirmed is the 'Improvisation' workshop, taking place on Saturday, 24th October 2015 - with Displace Yourself Theatre's Jennifer Nevin and Mike Auger providing indispensable tips on the techniques of movement and improvising.

We're also exciting to announce confirmation of Martin Mor's 'Clowning' workshop on Saturday, 7th November 2015. Drawing upon both ancient and modern principles of clowning, this workshop aims to free the imagination, and allow participants to access their true creative potential.

Martin Mor: running our 'Clowning' workshop

Join the Facebook event to let us know you're planning on coming along! You can also purchase tickets from the link on the FB event page.

Stay tuned for more information on the workshops.

Each workshop will take place on a Saturday at Dockfield Road Creative Arts Hub, Shipley - and will cost £20 for a six-hour workshop with an expert performer. Places are limited so please do make sure to get your tickets for any workshop you wish to attend!

Workshops are intended for intermediate to advanced performers. For more information, please call 01274 221 360 or email info@q20theatre.co.uk

An article about Shipley Street Arts Festival in this month's Saltaire Review

We're very grateful to our friends at The Saltaire Review for publishing an article on the recent Shipley Street Arts Festival, and what the festival means for Shipley on the whole.

You can read the article here.

We even made the front cover!

Shipley Street Arts Festival: Summer School

You didn't think that the Shipley Street Arts Festival was over for another year, did you?

No - this year, we've expanded the event beyond the three days of festival fun: first with our forerunner events, like the Dockfield Road Creative Arts Hub "Open Day", our stall at the Dragon Boat race, and the Windhill Community Centre Arts & Crafts Day ...

But wait, there's more! There are workshop days coming up later in the year, another fabulous evening of "Carabet Heaven" hosted by our good friends at Irregular Arts ... but next on our list is the Shipley Street Arts Festival Summer School.

This is a great chance for young, budding actors, aged 11-15, to get a taster of the many disciplines involved in theatre work. Including everything from physical theatre to mask work and puppetry, the three-day course will be run by seasoned actress Gillie Kerrod, on behalf of the illustrious Calderdale Theatre School, so this really is an amazing opportunity for young people who have an interest in theatre to find out what's involved.

Held at the Dockfield Road Creative Arts Hub in Shipley from 17th August - 20th August, the entire course is just £20 per student - if you know somebody who might be a future Oscar winner, tell them not to miss this fabulous opportunity!

Contact:
Q20 Theatre @ Dockfield Road Creative Arts Hub
Email: info@q20theatre.co.uk
Tel: 01274 221 360

SHIPLEY STREET ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

We're so proud of how well Shipley Street Arts Festival 2015 went this year - it's all thanks to the hard work of a great team of people, which included the brilliant performers, artists, local community groups, charities, businesses, our fellow festivals, the Q20 office team (special mentions have to go to Natasha and Tom for all their hard work!), and friends and families.

Roll on Shipley Street Arts Festival 2016!

Lots of people came to see Circo Rum Ba Ba's enormous whale

With a beautiful mermaid inside!

Another definite highlight was the superhero-themed show, KAPOW!

This fast-paced and funny show was specially commissioned to present its opening performances at the festival by Shipley Street Arts Festival and Saltaire Festival

 

The amazing heron from Faceless Arts was a big hit too.

 

 

The beautiful pavement art by Urban Canvas included contributions from our visitors!

 

 

A great arts and crafts market was included.

  

 

The amazing Day of the Dead Fish was created by Morwenna Catt and decorated with the help from local school children.

Pif-Paf had an amazing 'Planetary' - a combination of artistic structure and aerialist performance

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely contribution included a white boat on which people included their thoughts and memories connected to the canal.

 

 

Our personal favourite!