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Dr Who travels by Tardis to the X Factor Performance

Press Article – Driffield Times

The students of Kings Mill School in Driffield have been working on a Theatre/Music Performance – created by their own ideas and performed on Friday 24th Sept. Performers danced to Pokerface, The Club Comes Alive and Don’t Stop Believing to a packed audience.  A special solo act (Damian) singing “You are my sunshine” with backing group of students signing the song – brought the audience to silence then an applause  Also special guest flying in from outer space The Dr (James) who accidently dropped in on the wrong TV channel.

Donna Riley and Charlotte Gray from ‘We are theatre’ said “it was a honour to work with such talented individuals and they really brought our script to life.  It was a fantastic project that achieved so much in such little time”

Thanks to the Small Grant Bid (ERYCC) who kindly funded this Pilot Project and  the artists, volunteers & performers.  We were lucky to have David Crowe (from America) come as a volunteer for a session. David’s response to the project “Excellent ! Each child was given the opportunity to express themselves openly both in dance, song and performance – they were feeling loved and appreciated all while having fun.  There is no better benefit than being loved.“  David’s comments on the team “I have been working with children around the world from all walks of life for the better part of 20 years. I believe this has afforded me the perspective to recognise quality facilitators in action. The Team is a group of quality facilitators that employ a wide range in talent to both engage and motivate students to achieve their creative potential.”

As a team of artists & volunteers we have set up the Inclusive Youth Theatre Club which is funded by the Short Break Grant Scheme which runs on Monday nights during term time at Woldgate College Performing Arts starting 27th Sept.  Project Manager Jacqueline Dealtry of both projects said, “This has been an ideal start to the Club, the Pilot Project gave the students an opportunity to get to know the team, as well as a visit and guided tour of the facilities at Woldgate College Performing Arts by Martin Trevaskiss, Head of Specialism – thus giving the students an idea of what they will be able to have the opportunity to use which include a dance studio, drama rooms, a recording studio and music IT rooms. “  Students were asked about the visit what they thought – “Excellent!” Amazing!” “Excited and looking forward to coming on a Monday night”

Appreciation and thanks to Woldgate College who are working in partnership on this new and exciting project.

Inclusive Youth Theatre Club

imatalogo154x51 AccessibleArtsLogo85x62 WoldgateCollege67x62

ERYC182x42 WoldgateCollege200x42

SHORT BREAK GRANT SCHEME

Woldgate College are now working in partnership with Accessible Arts & Media, iMATA (interactive Music Accessible To All) and East Riding of Yorkshire County Council.  Other support has been given by Elvington Air Museum, Apollo Creative, HETA (Humberside Engineering Training Association), Pocklington Youth Club – DofE students, Francis Scaife Sports Centre and Kings Mill Special School.

Martin Trevaskiss, Head of Specialism at Woldgate comments, “Woldgate is committed to working with the wider community as part of its role as a Specialist College for Performing Arts and we are proud to be a major partner in this innovative and fairly unique venture”.

The club is free to join and will teach skills in dance, music, singing, drama and performance.  There will also be opportunities for backstage techniques including making props, creating sound effects and recording studio technology.

Jacki Dealtry, Project Manager, said: “This is fully inclusive, allowing students from mainstream and special needs schools/colleges to take part.  It’s a brand new initiative and something that has never been done before in the East Riding”.

“I love working with children and wanted to make a difference”, says Jacki.  I believe in giving all abilities the opportunity to take part in music and to have fun.  I’ve been wanting to do something in my home town of Pocklington for years and wanted to do something for the community itself.  The response to the project so far has been amazing!”.

The club is being funded through the Short Break Grant Scheme from East Riding Yorkshire County Council for Voluntary Youth Services.  The school is giving its facilities – which include studios for dance, recording and drama – free of charge for the duration of the project.

Jacki said: “We have got a lot of people involved including a Theatre practitioner, dance practitioner, community musician and a sensory/switch music artist.  Students will be split into little workshops and have opportunities to have a go with everything.  For people that don’t want to perform there’s a range of other activities, from writing scripts to creating sound effects, backstage skills to prop making.”

New sensory music equipment will be purchased for the project called Apollo Ensemble.  It uses movement to trigger or play sound, light, image, video and special effects.  Students will learn how to create content for the Ensemble, including recording sound effects and designing lighting scenes.  They will then be able to control these with the blink of an eye, the movement of a finger, the stamp of a foot, or a roll from a wheel chair.

The two portable kits will be used throughout the project and additional training provided so that schools, colleges and community groups in the East Riding of Yorkshire will have the opportunity use them.

The first performance will be on the 13th December – a Christmas Celebration.  It will be a show case of work and skills that the students have learnt from the start of the project.

http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=87420#

www.a-arts-media.org

www.imata.co.uk

www.apolloensemble.co.uk


The Art of Inspiration

Musical Monuments Beningborough Hall Review

Performance Review - The Press

Twenty two younsters from across North Yorkshire have used art masterpieces as inspiration to create musical monuments.

The scheme, which was run by York based Accessible Arts And Media, involved the group of 8 to 12 year olds visiting the National Trust’s Beningborough Hall, which is home to paintings from the National Portrait Gallery.

Mollie Taylor, who coordinated the project, said the children selected portraits with military and party overtones and used those themes to develop compositions known as “sound portraits”.

The youngsters spent several days rehearsing the pieces at Welburn Hall School, in Kirkbymoorside, before a final performance in front of an audience in the Great Hall, at Beningborough.

Ms Taylor said “We got a lot of positive feedback from the kids.  They said they would like to come back next year, and for two weeks, instead of the one week it was this time.”

The Musical Monuments course was funded by Youth Music, North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership and Amicus.

Welcome to iMATA – interactive Music Accessible To All

Hello and welcome to iMATA - interactive Music Accessible To All

You will find interesting information here about us and what we do, who we do it with and, more importantly, you will be able to interact with us and share your own comments and experiences so why not register now and join our community.

Feel free to start by telling us what you think of the new website.

Musical Monuments at Bolton Priory

Musical Monuments Logo

What is Musical Monuments?
Musical Monuments is an exciting project where young people can find out more about their local history through music.  Each project is based around a North Yorkshire monument, and in March 2010 Musical Monuments will be coming to Bolton Priory.

Workshops will take place on Thursday 11th, Friday 12th, Thursday 18th and Friday 19th in preparation for the main performance on Friday 26th March.

Musical Monuments 1During the week, participants will be able to find out about the history of Bolton Priory and the canons who lived there.  Then we will use this to make a new piece of music based on Bolton Priory.
At the end of the week the young people will perform their new piece at the Priory itself?

Who is it open to?
Musical Monuments is open to young people aged between 8 – 12 who live in and around Bolton Abbey, however the age range can be more flexible for young people with disabilities.

Accessibility.
Musical Monuments is specifically designed to be accessible to young people with disabilities.  It may be possible to offer some support or help with transport to participants with disabilities, however this is limited so please book this well in advance.

Musical Monuments 2What will I do on Musical Monuments?
To make our new piece of music, we will be trying a range of musical activities including:

Music Technology.
We specialise in using accessible music technology, including MIDIcreator and Soundbeam.  Both MIDIcreator and Soundbeam allow you to create sounds and music by using your body – whether it be pressing a button, squeezing a trigger or waving your arm.  We use this technology because its really easy to use, fun and can be used by everyone, regardless of how much music you’ve done before, or how much movement you have.

Singing & Signing.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn a number of songs as well as writing their own.  We sign the songs because this helps people to understand their meaning, and also because its fun (well we think so!) and really easy to do!
Musical Monuments 3Everyone will have the opportunity to try both singing & signing and music technology, as well as taking part in some fun and games!  The whole week is aimed at getting everybody to work together, make some music and have a good time.
The project is specially designed to be equally accessible to those with and without disabilities, and it doesn’t matter if you have previous musical experience or not – everyone is welcome!

Wolds Wonders

You are all so wonderful

A festive production by the Wolds Wonders company will take to the stage next week.

The independant musical theatre group is for adults with a learning or physical disability in Pocklington and the surrounding area.

They will perform their version of Dick Whittington at Pocklington Arts Centre on Wednesday, and have been busy rehearsing.

Meanwhile, volunteers have praised the generosity of shops around the town who have donated prizes for a raffle with all funds going towards the theatre group.

Dick Whittington and his Cat

Dick Whittington and his Cat

Pearl Tennyson, who has been asking business owners for prizes with Christine and Michelle Bradley, said: “We have been round the shops and the market stalls and they have all given so generously. We’d just like to thank them all for being so kind in donating.  It’s just unbelieveable what they had given, we have all sorts.  With the recession it’s such a wonderful thing that everyone has given so graciously.  People should come and watch the play, it’s so good and it’s all fun.  You come away feeling happy and they put so much into it.”

The production is on Wednesday starting at 12.45pm.  Tickets are £3 or £2 each for groups of eight or more.  They can be bought from Pocklington Arts Centre.

INVOLVEMENT BY AMICUS

Amicus provided sound effects for the performance from sounds of owls, sheep, opening the door, king rat etc to make the performance come to life.  Some of the adults created and recorded the sounds.  On the day Keith (Wolds Wonders) was the Sound Effects Operator with guidance from Jacki Dealtry (Amicus).  The system which was used was  MIDIcreator which allows sounds to be triggered off for example by the blick of an eye, the wave of a hand, or the press on a switch – thus allowing all abilities to participate and feel part of a group.

 Pocklington Post

Wolds Wonders - Dick Whittington

Panto Time ... The Wolds Wonders rehearse Dick Whittington

AMICUS Mystery

AMICUS York have joined forces with Accessible Arts, Cube Media’s unique SoundWeavers, MA Students from the University of York and students from Applefields and Tanghall Primary Schools on a musical extravaganza.

The project, which has been generously funded by the Gannett Foundation, takes ‘The Mercer’s Tale’ from the original York Cycle of Mystery Plays as a starting point.

This tale of Doomsday and Judgement has been put in a modern context by the young people, who have related them to important environmental issues.  The performance develops the notion of the Earth itself being the ultimate Judge, where humankind has ruined the place where it lives and so is forced to seek cleaner air, water and soil.

The sounds and music have all been home grown and developed through the workshop process.  Many of the performers are children with learning and associated disabilities and they have used a range of non-conventional musical techniques to tell the story.  From silence they have woven the sounds of storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, exodus, rocket launch and space travel.  These fantastic group pieces will provide the backbone of the performance on the 12th July – 1.15pm at the National Centre for Early Music.

Amicus is growing from strength to strength and it is good to see that through this project that valuable links are being made.  That Amicus is sharing music and sharing friendships within the community Jacki Dealtry

Musical Monuments at Ripon Museums – October 2008

Musical Monuments is an exciting inclusive music project where both mainstream and disabled young people can work together to create music.

Want to know what it would have been like in a workhouse or prison?

Then come and find out through Music Technology, Singing & Signing

31st October 2008, 9am – 4.30pm at Ripon Museums, Allhallowgate.

What is it?

Musical Monuments is an inclusive project where young people can write and perform their own music, using North Yorkshire monuments as their inspiration.  During Musical Monuments, participants will have the chance to take part in various musical activities such as:

Music Technology

Participants will have the chance to record and perform music using a wide range of accessible technology such as MIDIcreator and Soundeam.  This music technology is really easy to use, and you can use it regardless of how much music you’ve done before, or how much movement you have.

Singing & Signing

Participants will have the opportunity to learn how to sign a number of songs, as well as the chance to write their own.  We use signing because it is great fun (well we think so!) and really easy to do.

Who is it open to?

Any mainstream young people aged 8 – 12 living in and around the Harrogate and Ripon area can sign up to the project.  Any disabled young people can also sign up, however Ripon Museums are only accessible to standard sized wheelchairs.  Please ask for accessibility info when booking.

Details.

Musical Monuments will take place from 9am – 4.30pm at the Ripon Museums.  We will be starting at the Workhouse Museum, Allhallowgate, Ripon, HG4 1LE, however time will also be spent visiting the other museums as well.

Musical Monuments is a partnership project between NYMAZ, Accessible Arts & Media, NYBEP (North Yorkshire Business & Education Partnership), Amicus and Ripon Museums.

For more information or to book telephone 01904 626 965 or email info@a-arts.org but hurry as places are limited!

Musical Monuments at Beningbrough Hall – July 2008

Musical Monuments Beningbrough Hall Page1Musical Mouments Beningbrough Hall Page2

Amicus Fundraising June – December 2006

 Amicus fundraising events.
 
Clyde and Jacki Blessing

Clyde and Jacki at their blessing

9th June 2006 – Blessing
£266.35 was donated at the Blessing of Clyde and Jacki

19th May 2006 – Pamper Night
£27.00 was raised during the evening

7th October 2006
Pilates/Step/Aerobics with Jos At Francis Scaife Sports Centre in Pocklington. £150.00 was raised through 1 hour and 45 mins of exercise

17th November 2006 – Pamper Night
£32.00 was raised during the evening which also included a raffle