Dorchester Arts Press Releases

THE SECRET GARDEN Locked doors, hidden keys, a curious robin...

2011-12-24T01:17:00.001-08:00

The Secret Garden robin makes a new friend

Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January
DORCHESTER CORN EXCHANGE

7pm + Saturday matinee 2pm
£12 / £10 members / £8 under 18's / family £35 / Member's family £30

If you are looking for first class family entertainment come and see The Secret Garden - a new adaptation by Angel Exit Theatre to celebrate the centenary of Frances Hodgson Burnett's much-loved classic.

It sees spoilt orphan, Mary Lennox plucked from the bright vibrancy of India in 1899 and transplanted to a mysterious old house full of secrets on the grey Yorkshire moors. As Mary battles loneliness she encounters locked doors, a curious robin, hidden keys, and strange cries ringing down the corridor...

Presented in Angel Exit's rich visual style, the show blends storytelling with striking physicality, beautiful puppets, and original music. It is directed by Tamsin Fessey and Lynne Forbes who brought the hugely popular production Moonfleet to Dorset.

Box Office: Dorchester Arts Centre 01305 266926 or Tourist Information Office 01305 267992 or online
Stuck for a Christmas present idea?

Why not give your friends and family tickets to see The Secret Garden.
You can purchase tickets for any of the four shows and your tickets will be sent to you in a special limited edition Secret Garden presentation card. Cards are blank inside for you to write your own message.

If you would like to take advantage of this special seasonal offer please phone the Box Office 01305 266926. We will post you the card and tickets or you can collect them from Dorchester Arts Centre.

We look forward to seeing you.
Merry Christmas!

Lantern procession postponed !!

2011-12-15T04:07:00.001-08:00

Tonight's (December 15th) Lantern procession through Dorchester to the Borough Gardens for carols and a visit by Santa is postponed because of the severe weather warning.We're hoping to re-arrange the procession for next Thursday December 22nd - but this is still to be confirmed.Please check back for more information

Lanterns will bring Christmas magic to the Gardens

2011-11-25T04:26:00.001-08:00

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Dorchester Arts’ magical annual Lantern Parade.

This year it will be part of a fabulous community celebration of Christmas organised by Friends of the Borough Gardens.On Thursday 15 December, children from local schools will lead a procession through the town centre carrying giant lanterns and take part in the Carol Service at the Borough Gardens bandstand at 6.30pm.

Joining the children will be members of VIVA! - Dorchester’s Community Choir, plus bell ringers, members of Serendipity recorder ensemble and the Dunrovia Silver Band.

The carol singing will be lead by the Encore Singers and there will be hot spiced apple juice, hot chocolate and mince pies to keep the spirits up… plus a hoped-for surprise visit from Father Christmas ! Keep a look out for large sky lanterns flying above the trees along with Santa’ reindeers…..!

The lantern parade leaves the Corn Exchange at 6pm. Everyone is welcome to join in the procession and carry a lantern.

This event is supported by Dorchester Town Council.

Secret Garden set for UK Tour

2011-11-17T23:02:00.001-08:00

New adaptation to celebrate the centenary of Hodgson Burnett’s much-loved classic.

The Secret Garden has been created by acclaimed physical theatre company, Angel Exit Theatre. The show will premiere at the Dorchester Corn Exchange before setting off on a four month UK tour, performing 60 times in 36 venues, ranging from Buxton Opera House to village halls around Somerset, Dorset, Kent and Wiltshire. The tour takes in the oldest theatre in Wales - Monmouth’s Savoy Theatre - and the second oldest theatre in England, Margate Theatre Royal.

"Theatrical invention is everywhere...visually exciting throughout, this production never loses the quality of a life-changing adventure story" -THE STAGE (on Moonfleet)

Angel Exit unearth the dark heart of The Secret Garden, which sees spoilt orphan, Mary Lennox, plucked from the bright vibrancy of India in 1899 and transplanted to a mysterious old house full of secrets on the grey Yorkshire moors. As Mary battles loneliness she encounters locked doors, a curious robin, hidden keys, and strange cries ringing down the corridor…

Presented in Angel Exit's rich visual style and blending ensemble storytelling with striking physicality, beautiful puppets, haunting songs and an original soundtrack, The Secret Garden is performed by an ensemble of five. “The story is about grief and about how people push through it, keep going, and eventually grow” says the director.

“There is so much vivid theatricality and inventiveness at work here that I am already looking forward to its next show” – LYN GARDNER, THE GUARDIAN (on Imaginary Prisons)

The Secret Garden has been written by Co-Artistic Directors Tamsin Fessey and Lynne Forbes under the guidance of playwright Phil Porter (Beauty and the Beast – Unicorn Theatre, Alice in Wonderland – Northampton Theatre Royal). It is directed by Tamsin Fessey (The Black Curtain, Moonfleet), with robin and fox puppets created by Polly Beestone (Beauty and the Beast – Unicorn Theatre) and original music by Tom Ball (from the band Marthas and Arthurs). The costumes and sets are designed by Jodie Gardner, who returned to her college, AUCB, in Bournemouth, where students made the costumes. Mary Lennox is played by Ashleigh Cheadle (Blind Summit, Complicite). Angel Exit regulars Lynne Forbes, Simon Carroll-Jones and Henry Douthwaite, are joined by new company member Max Macintosh.

“They delighted and astonished the packed audience with the extraordinary vision and energy of the work.” –BLACKMORE VALE MAGAZINE (on Moonfleet)

The Secret Garden is co-produced by Dorchester Arts and Bridport Arts Centre and co-commissioned by Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts and Activate. It is funded by Arts Council England, and the design of the production was paid for through a crowd funding campaign on the We Fund website.

In Dorchester the company will be joined by members of Dorchester Youth Theatre who will perform in the prologue to the show evoking the sights and sounds of India in 1899.

The Secret Garden will be performing at the Dorchester’s Corn Exchange on Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January at 7pm + Saturday matinee 2pm – to book tickets, contact Dorchester Arts 01305 266926 or Tourist Information Office 01305 267992 or book online

For further information, visit www.angelexit.co.uk

Civil rights play comes to Dorset ahead of New York

2011-11-17T22:43:00.001-08:00

Call Mr. Robeson, a passionate and powerful award-winning play about the African American civil rights activist, actor and singer Paul Robeson, is coming to Dorset ahead of its New York debut at the Carnegie Hall. Written and performed by Liverpool-based playwright and singer Tayo Aluko, with piano accompaniment by Leeds-based pianist Michael Conliffe, this play was recently chosen by The Guardian’s theatre critic Michael Billington as his top pick for things to see in London. The show is a rollercoaster journey through actor and singer Paul Robeson's remarkable life, showing how his radical activism caused his downfall.

Robeson fought for racial justice but when he became too outspoken for the establishment's liking he was branded a traitor to his country, harassed and forbidden to perform or travel.

The play features some famous songs and speeches, including a dramatic rendition of Ol’ Man River, and a spectacularly defiant testimony to the McCarthy’s Senate House Un-American Activities Committee.

Aluko who has performed this play on stages across the UK, USA, Canada and Nigeria said: “Paul Robeson was introduced to me relatively late in life, but has taken hold of me to such an extent that telling his story is now almost all I do.” “It really is wonderful to see so many people – young and old – being so thrilled and moved by Robeson’s story. “I am sure there will be many people who remember him with fondness, and others who will be profoundly changed and inspired by being introduced to him for perhaps the first time. ”

See Call Mr Robeson at Bridport Arts Centre on Thursday 1 December and at Dorchester Arts Centre on Friday 2 December.

Both performances start at 8pm and tickets are £10 plus concessions.

Box Office for Bridport 01308 424204 for Dorchester 01305 266926.

Festival success for young filmmakers

2011-11-17T22:09:00.001-08:00

Film success: Assistant head Craig Holloway with students Jack, Emily, Oli and Jade

Filmmakers from Beechcroft St Paul’s Primary School in Weymouth are celebrating after their film The Sadness of King George was picked for a screening at Britain’s oldest film festival.

The three minute animation, made with a team of artists from Dorchester ARTS was chosen from hundreds of entries by the Co-operative Film Festival at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

“It was too far for the children to go, but two of use from the artistic team went to collect their certificates and badges,” explained Dorchester ARTS Artistic Director, Sharon Hayden. “We met five members of the film selection panel who were very complimentary about the project - they said it had really put Weymouth on the map.”

The Olympic-related drama features King George 3rd in a race against time and a race through time to save the 2012 Sailing events.

Assistant head Craig Holloway whose class made the film said: “I love this film and the children loved making it even more. It means so much to all of them and will be one of those life changing moments in a child’s life.”

Ten year old Lucy, one of the Year Five production team added: “It was an awesome experience to be involved - I am really grateful to have had the chance.”

Sharon Hayden said Dorchester ARTS was planning a number of other Olympic-themed films with local schools over the coming months.

You can watch online at: http://www.firstlightonline.co.uk/movies/the-sadness-of-king-george

The film was lottery funded through the National Film Council’s First Light initiative.

Transglobal Underground in Dorchester - November 4th

2011-10-31T15:51:00.001-07:00

Friday 4th November TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (doors and bar 7.30pm) £12/£10

FREE AFTER SHOW PARTY!

Dorchester Arts is thrilled to be welcoming the legendary TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND for an exclusive performance by three members of this world famous music collective on Friday 4 November. Following the gig at Dorchester Arts there will be a free After Show Party at the Old Ship Inn, High West Street, Dorchester hosted by ShindigNation and featuring DJ's Biggabush and Full Moon Tunes.

Award winning pioneers of the dance fusion scene, Transglobal Underground are regarded as one of the UKs best live acts. Currently in their 20th year, having performed everwhere from London to Kazakhstan, from India to South Africa and from Australia to Morocco, this year they released their 9th album 'The Stone Turntable.'

This show, presented in association with the Urban Wastelands Exhibition at Dorchester Arts Centre, brings together three of the central members of the collective: founder members, producers, DJs and multi-instrumentalists Hamid Man Tu and Tim Whelan, along with sitarist Sheema Mukherjee, known in her own right for her work with the Imagined Village, Cornershop, Andy Shepherd and many others.

Transglobal Underground have been present at some of the most significant historical turning points of the century: they travelled to Eastern Europe and played in Sarajevo to mark the end of the war in Yugoslavia and they marked the dawn of the Millenium in 2000 playing next to the Thames in London at midnight.

Their mix of eclectic sounds, percussion and flamboyant performance has been a sensation on the festival scene and earned them a world-wide reputation for creating ground-breaking dance music. Their performances fuse western dance music with Arabic, Asian and African music and reveal influences from DJ culture, Indian classical, reggae, bhangra, hip-hop, underground art and community politics.

This is a rare treat for anyone who loves great music and dancing. For more information visit: www.transglobalundergound.net

TICKETS £12 / £10 concessions from DORCHESTER ARTS 01305 266926 or TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE 267992

The Dancer and the Devil - exotic cabaret - Thursday 20 Oct

2011-10-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy theatre and cabaret you are in for a treat this Thursday when Cornish company Rogue Theatre bring their latest exotic and entrancing mix of cabaret and theatre to Dorchester Arts Centre....

"This is amazing, I saw it in the woods in Cornwall this summer - it is very, very good" (From one friend on Facebook)

THE DANCER & THE DEVIL
Thursday 20 October 8pm

Set in a secret bar, a club, a speak-easy in a country smothered by war, Cornish company Rogue Theatre present a cabaret of those displaced, those who have had to hide, to run away from their past lives with hastily packed cases bursting with secrets and stories.
Bright, sparkling and full of comic mischief, The Dancer and The Devil invites you to lose yourself in a world of twisted cabaret, the smell of woodsmoke and perfume, the taste of danger, and the wild thrill of the forest..

The company draw on the stories of gypsy and Jewish communities who survived the Second World War as Ollie Oakenshield co-founder of Rogue explains:
"In our story, people have hidden in the woods but they are found by soldiers and have to entertain them with cabaret-style performance. There is also a love story interwoven with it."

With writing and text written by Anna Maria Murphy (Kneehigh Theatre; Red Shoes, Trystan and Yseult, National Theatre and BBC Radio 4) resplendent live music by Julian Gaskell (Julian Gaskell and the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists).

" An exotic and erotic mix of dance, music, poetry, prose and circus skills... surprising and, at the end, devastating."
(Julia Taylor, What's On Stage)
See the review in Dorset Echo What's On Wednesday 19 October
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/leisure/stage/9313637.Exotic_cabaret_mix_hits_Dorchester_Arts_Centre/

Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (door and bar 7.30pm) £11 / £9 members / £8 under 18s and concessions. For ages 10+

www.roguetheatre.co.uk/dancer-and-the-devil

Paper Aeroplanes fly into Dorch - October 7th

2011-09-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

With songs this good, they deserve a far wider audience, says the BBC’s Robin Denselow of upcoming Welsh music sensation Paper Aeroplanes. The duo have added Dorchester ARTS to their busy national tour - and it could be a great time to catch them - especially at a bargain ticket price of just £6.
Although they only launched their debut album two years ago, Sarah Howells and Richard Llewellyn have a lengthy history - and a national following on the Welsh music scene.

Debut album The Day we ran into the Sea with its distinctive sound under Sarah’s beautiful vocals was described by the BBC’s Adam Walton as “brilliantly crafted and stoked from a bruised heart’s embers”, and BBC Radio Wales as “the finest radio album to come out of Wales since Rockferry”.
Since its release they have made the Radio 2 playlist and supported acts as varied as Ron Sexsmith, Ed Sheeran, Marina and the Diamonds and Chris Wood, as well as securing a live session with the legendary Bob Harris.
Having been compared to the likes of Gemma Hayes, Turin Brakes and Hope Sandoval, this year they released mini-album “We are Ghosts” to more critical acclaim and reviews such as “With songs this good, Paper Aeroplanes deserve a far wider audience” – BBC Music’s Robin Denselow; “Album of the Month” – Maverick Magazine and being picked for The Guardian’s “F&M playlist”.

The Final Chapter...

2011-08-19T00:35:00.000-07:00

COMBINED ARTS WEEK 2011
Presents
The Final Chapter

From: THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE - a true account of the mysteries and secrets of Ancient Egypt:
‘The people of Egypt shall now know the greatest of all secrets. It lies in……….’

Lies in what?

Only The Immortal One knows the answer; and she has travelled far off somewhere into the future taking the final words with her.

The Pharaoh despatches a search party to find her and persuade her to return to her own time to complete THE FINAL CHAPTER.

Will they succeed? And will they be hindered or helped on their quest by a biker gang, some schoolchildren, and the proprietors of a burger bar and a launderette?

Led by professional theatre directors Julian Barnicoat and Pete Thorogood, Combined Arts Week celebrates its 21st year in Dorchester. Attended by young people aged 10-18 this year’s production is full of ‘Egyptian promise’ and will include plenty of drama, comedy, song and dance – all put together in just one week.

Performances at Thomas Hardye School, Queen’s Avenue, Dorchester on Friday 26 August at 7.30pm and Saturday 27 August at 2.30pm. (Bar open half an hour before the show starts.) Tickets will be available on the door. £5.00 adult and £3.00 under 18’s

Students' film to be screened at National Media Museum

2011-07-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Young filmmakers are celebrating after the news that their animated short The Sadness of King George - made with a team from Dorchester Arts - has been selected for screening at a major film festival this autumn.

The three minute epic telling the story of Weymouth’s original holidaymaker King George 3rd and his race through time to save the Olympics will be screened at the Co-operative Film Festival at the National Media Museum in Bradford on October 6th.

The film - dubbed the other King’s speech - was made by a class of year five students at Weymouth’s Beechcroft St Pauls Primary School, working with a team of artists and filmmakers from Dorchester ARTS.

“It’s a huge feather in our cap to be selected for this Festival,” said project co-ordinator Alastair Nisbet. “The children are thrilled that their work will be screened at such a prestigious national event and that it is helping to give Weymouth bay and the Olympic sailing events a national profile.”

“We are now planning a series of follow up films with three more Weymouth and Portland primary schools which will be screened at the Sailing Academy and the big screen on Weymouth beach next summer.”

The Sadness of King George was supported by the Lottery through the UK Film Council’s First Light Initiative, the Weymouth and Portland Partnership, Departure Arts, Beechcroft St Pauls Primary and Dorchester Arts.

WE SING !

2011-07-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

Children from four Dorchester schools work with Community Choir VIVA and the Colliton Singers in an extraordinary concert directed by Kathie Prince - WE SING !
The event - part of Dorchester ARTS’ two year Youth Music project Music Live - was staged at Stratton Village hall on July 3rd 2011.
A 45 minute DVD of the concert - including the legendary Frankie Armnstrong - will be on sale at Dorchester ARTS in early August 2011.

Back in Dorchester - internationally-acclaimed Shiva Nova !

2011-06-19T00:48:00.000-07:00

Internationally acclaimed fusion ensemble Shiva Nova return to Dorchester this week for a series of workshops in schools and concert at the Corn Exchange on June 24.

“It’s seven years since we Shiva Nova appeared in Dorchester Festival – and we delighted to be welcoming them back,” said Artistic Director Sharon Hayden.

This time these talented musicians will be in residence for three days working with Year 8 students in Dorchester’s Middle Schools. Over a hundred children will take part in workshops in Indian percussion, African drumming and Indian vocal harmonies.

“We are really pleased to have received funding from West Dorset District Council to support this work. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our school students to work directly with these leading musicians from India, Africa and Europe.”

Following the workshops some twenty-five students will be performing with Shiva Nova in a programme full of energy and spontaneity at Dorchester’s Corn Exchange at 8pm on Friday 24 June. To book tickets ring Dorchester ARTS Box Office on 01305 266926, or book online at: wegottickets.com. To see all Dorchester ARTS events visit: www.dorchesterarts.org.uk.

Teacher Ian scoops Open2011 £500 first prize

2011-05-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

Teacher Ian Dyke from Weymouth has won the £500 first prize in the fourth Dorchester ARTS Open art exhibition with his striking abstract painting System.
Ian, who teaches at St Nicholas and St Lawrence's Primary School said the work started as a study of field systems in Portugal but then gained a life of its own.

"I'm delighted to have won - especially as I was up against some really good competition," said Ian who received his prize from Dorchester ARTS' strategy director Chris Huxley.

Other winners were Lucas Weschke for his block print Token and Sarah Bunnell for her Giclee print Surfsce Tension. The exhibition, in the gallery at Dorchester ARTS is open every day until June 12, admission free.

Winning smile: Ian receives his £500 cheque from Chris Huxley of Dorchester ARTS

Open 2011 winner Ian Dyke explains his painting to Dorchester Mayor Tess James

Round off the weekend with Dorchester ARTS Sunday Sessions !

2011-05-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Spend a relaxed Sunday evening in the company of some of the best of our local musicians and performers. With a mix of acoustic rock and blues, roots, folk, jazz and classical music. And a keenly priced bar that’s open all evening. LOCAL and ACOUSTIC is what the Sunday Sessions are all about, because we’ll be bringing you the very best music in the cool and relaxed ambiance of our new Gallery space.

What better way to finish off the weekend!

Sunday 11th September:
Helen Coombs with Salon Baroque
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (doors & bar 7.30pm) £5 buy tickets
Helen will be rocking out the harpsichord together with her Baroque string players to give us an evening of the very best music and gossip from the 17th century - and beyond!
Its been a long time since Dorchester Arts Centre has hosted classical music and we hope this will be the first of many occasions.

Sunday 9th October:
Bag Of Rats
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (doors & bar 7.30pm) £5 buy tickets

The Bag of Rats musical world, like the world of their furry namesakes, has no borders. They draw on Country, Blues, Punk, Jazz and Traditional songs and tunes, as well as their own original material, to create their verminous, psychedelic concoction. Committed to the swing and primal throb of traditional music, Bag of Rats play with joyous abandon that produces enough energy to give you sunburn.
So come and spend some time on planet Bag of Rats; just remember your sun block!

www.bagofrats.co.uk

Sunday 13th November:
y’Strel’s Band
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (doors & bar 7.30pm) £5 buy tickets
y’Strel’s Band back at DAC for an evening of Music Hall and Victorian Parlour Ballads to help ease your way into the winter months.
www.reverbnation.com/ystrelsband
or just google for the crazy YouTube videos

Sunday 11th December:
Messiah in an Art Gallery
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (doors & bar 7.30pm) £5 buy tickets
Yes, yes - we all try to catch at least one Messiah before the turkey arrives, but this is the one where you’re positively encouraged to turn up with your score and JOIN IN! With a funky band of professional musicians and a director of international repute, this is the Messiah to be seen at!
more info: ystrel@tiscali.co.uk

Judgement day for Open 2011 entries

2011-05-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

Members of the Open2011 judging panel meet today to consider this year's entries in the Dorchester ARTS Open art exhibition.

Entries in this year's show are down, but that was no surprise, says Open2011 administrator Suzie Cox.

"With no Dorchester Festival this year and no Dorset Art Weeks, we were expecting entries to be less than last year, but what has really delighted us is the very high quality of work that has been submitted. It's going to be a very interesting session for our judges."

The juding panel, supported by Suzy Cox and Simon Barber, is as follows: Nigel Lord overall winner of the 2010 Open, Jane Burden of ArtXtra, visual art administrator Selina Malins and artist Julie Herring.

Work selected for the Exhibition will on show in the Dorchester ARTS gallery from May 28 - June 12.

A night to remember...

2011-04-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

The stars were out in force for the glamorous red carpet premiere of Weymouth’s newest movie…

The Sadness of King George - “the other King’s speech” - is the second UK Film Council funded movie about a King George - this time George 3rd.

The film, bringing together the town’s most famous holidaymaker and next year’s sailing Olympics, has been made by Beechcroft St Paul’s Primary School’s year five class working with a team of artists and film-makers from Dorchester ARTS.

The three minute epic is being released on DVD and shown on big screens around the UK.

“It’s a dramatic race against time and a race through time,” explained project leader Alastair Nisbet. “Will King George be able to ride his white horse back to Weymouth in time to save the Olympics from disaster ?”

“The school has been fantastic - they have embraced the project with huge enthusiasm and had the bravery to abandon their curriculum for a fortnight. The result is a wonderful piece of work. The story, drama, drawing, voices and music are all the children’s. Our role has been to support them through the process.

After research ideas and developing the story and script, children acted out dramatic scenes with drama specialist Sharon Hayden before creating them as drawn animated sequences.

Punch and Judy expert Wendy Wharam came into school to give them ideas about using Punch as a character and international artist Nic Rawling from the Paper Cinema helped inspire their drawing. They filmed each other and made their animated characters walk and talk in the same way - and then worked with music producer Mickey Wills to create a soundtrack.”

The finished film is being screened at a variety of locations including the big screen on Weymouth beach this summer. DVDs are available from Beechcroft St Paul’s School and Dorchester ARTS and will be streamed online.

The project has been supported by the Lottery through the UK Film Council’s First Light Initiative, the Weymouth and Portland Partnership, Departure Arts, Beechcroft St Pauls Primary and Dorchester Arts.
pictures by members of the crew

Creative professionals of the future: members of he crew strike a pose on the red carpet

Glamorous: Mandy Powell and class teacher Craig Holloway arrive for the show.

On the red carpet: Nikki Edgar and her escort arrive for the premiere

Dorchester ARTS celebrates increased Arts Council funding!

2011-03-30T03:23:00.000-07:00

Staff and volunteers at Dorchester Arts are celebrating after receiving a 56% increase in their funding from the Arts Council. The charity is among 695 organisations across the country awarded new status as a National Portfolio Organisation - giving it a guaranteed role to deliver a programme of arts projects to the local community.

“We are a tiny arts organisation doing extraordinary work. To have secured increased funding in the light of national cuts is wonderful recognition of our work and great news for the thousands of people involved in our projects and our events,” explained Dorchester Arts Chair, Alastair Nisbet.

“This guarantees Dorchester Festival in both 2012 and 2014 and ensures our programme and community work are secure up to 2015. It’s also great news for Weymouth where we are already running three projects with young people - and have plans to expand. In the past we have had to apply separately for support for Dorchester Festival, and have not always been able to run the festival - now this support is included in our core funding, so it will be embedded in our programme, giving us financial security for the event.”

“Dorchester Festival has been hailed as a regional exemplar championing cultural diversity. In last year’s festival we put on 65 free events, worked with 708 performers and attracted more than 15,000 audience members.”

“Our aim is to provide great art for everyone and guaranteed funding for the next two Festivals is the boost we need to make it an even stronger event, drawing in more people than ever.”

“Arts Council funding is being cut by 30% as part of government cuts so to secure enhanced funding in these circumstances is wonderful recognition of the value of the work we are doing. I must pay a special tribute to the brilliant work of our staff and particularly to Artistic Director Sharon Hayden and our Strategy Director Chris Huxley who together devised our three year strategy. Our success is also down to the wonderful support we receive from our other major funders - Dorchester Town Council and West Dorset District Council, who worked closely with us on the 2009 review of the arts in Dorchester and who continue to be key partners in our work."

“We look forward to an exciting time ahead enabling more people to enjoy high quality inspirational arts and to raising the cultural profile of Dorchester the Jurassic coast and the Cultural Olympiad.”

- Ends -

Celebrating: Dorchester ARTS Artistic Director Sharon Hayden (left) with Strategy Director Chris Huxley, Admin assistant Celeste Hayden and Chair of the Board Alastair Nisbet

Note to editors:

Arts Council England South West have announced guaranteed funding for Dorchester Arts of over £58,000 per annum, for three years 2012 - 2015.

For more information contact:

Alastair Nisbet, Chair of Dorchester ARTS

01305 266926

Desert Crossing - the launch of Dorset's Cultural Olympiad

2011-03-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Dorset’s Cultural Olympiad kicks off!

Friday 1 April - Desert Crossing
State of Emergency Dance Company

Dorchester Corn Exchange 8pm
£10/ £8 members / £6 under 18’s & concessions

Friday 1 April heralds the start of Dorset’s exciting Cultural Olympiad programme. Dorchester will be hosting an exceptional contemporary dance company – State of Emergency – performing their ground breaking new work Desert Crossing.
Inspired by the similarities between our South West Jurassic Coast and the Skeleton Coast of Namibia this exciting work explores human evolution and how the landscape influences us all.

Five dancers from different cultural backgrounds, directed by acclaimed South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma, produce a stunning visual journey across deserts, seas and mountains.

They create life forms that are neither fish nor bird, man or woman, spirit nor flesh but united through their shared history of the rocks on which they stand.

A powerful celebration of our Jurassic evolution.

Friday 15 April - Peeling
Forest Forge Theatre Company

Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm

*** Touch tour for visually impaired 7.30pm ***
Tickets: £8 / £6 members and conc.
Peeling, by Kaite O’Reilly, is a darkly comic play revealing the choices women make and the things they hide...

It gives audiences a unique and compelling experience as it cunningly interweaves audio description and sign language.

Alpha, Beaty and Coral are three actresses hoping for their big break, waiting in the wings, in the chorus of a production of The Trojan Women.

As they wait for their cues the three girls bicker, chat and swap stories. Gradually we learn more about them as they peel away layers of their stories along with their ridiculous and cumbersome costumes!

“A dense and dangerous play… the characters are tragic and comic, heartbreaking and ridiculous... a major piece of Theatre” The Guardian.

SATURDAY 16 APRIL - PHIL BEER - SOLD OUT!
Box Office 01305 266 926
www.dorchesterarts.org.uk

Mesmerising drama from Cube theatre

2011-03-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Friday March 25th, Dorchester ARTS Centre • 8pm (doors and bar 7.30pm) • £8 / £6 members & concessions

Mesmerising, hilarious, heart-rending... Cornwall's Cube Theatre return to Dorchester Arts on March 25th with their wonderful new play Gepetto and the story of a man's obsessive search for his puppet boy.

In New York’s lower east side, in the middle of the 1950’s a teenage girl answers a hastily scrawled, grubby advert on a whim. It invites her to audition for the role of puppeteer in a forthcoming production of Pinocchio.

When she enters the shabby flat where the audition is being held, nothing is quite as she was expecting. Least of all the fact that the odd, foreign-accented, ill-at-ease man she finds there calls himself Geppetto (the name of Pinocchio’s father in the original story).

Unwittingly she sets off on a bewildering journey through descending layers of deception and dysfunction, a journey which in its own, bizarre, horrific, comic way, leads them both to the gates of hell.

Geppetto, written by Jon Welch, combines Cube’s trademark electric dialogue with mesmerizing puppetry. Not to be missed!

Tickets £8 / £6 Members & Concessions
Box Office: 01305 266926 or direct from the website www.dorchesterarts.org.uk

Perseus and Medusa - our half term workshop film

2011-03-05T01:50:00.000-08:00

Perseus must kill the Medusa to save his mother from the evil King. But one glance from the snake-haired creature will turn him to stone...

Animation by a group of children aged 8-14 at a two day workshop at Dorchester ARTS in February 2011

Soundtrack: Somewhere Sunny and Clenched Teeth by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

Haunting melodies and dramatic storytelling - Friday 4 March - venue change

2011-03-02T03:11:00.000-08:00

Please note the change of venue to Dorchester ARTS

The dreamlike myths of Ancient Greece - set to haunting cello melodies, come to Dorchester ARTS this Friday, March 4th when two members of the wonderful Devils Violin return for an evening of storytelling and music.

Daniel Morden and Sarah Moody are well known to Dorchester Arts audiences following their sell-out performance of the Singing Bones with the Devils violin last year. Their shows are quite magical. Using the most basic components of theatre they conjure unforgettable images.

The combination of voice and haunting melody is perfectly suited to the poignant, dreamlike myths of ancient Greece. These timeless stories of love and loss still have the power to move us. This captivating performance features some of the most famous tales of the classical world, such as Demeter & Persephone, Orpheus in the Underworld, Midas and Echo & Narcissus.

The evening opens with the premiere of Dorchester Arts' latest children's animation - Perseus and the Medusa - made by a group of children, aged 8-14 over two days at half term with community filmmaker Alastair Nisbet .

The Sadness of King George - editing in progress

2011-02-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon - the Sadness of King George - a three minute action drama animation by Year Five Children at Beechcroft St Paul's Primary School in Weymouth.

The film - with support from First Light, Departure Arts and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council - is Dorchester ARTS' first Olympic project.

We're planning an end of March premiere and an April release. Screenings at Beechcroft St Paul's School, Weymouth College, Dorchester Arts - and later in the year, the big screen on Weymouth beach.

Stunning dance from Tavaziva - 21st January Dorchester

2011-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Dorchester ARTS spring programme kicks off with stunning contemporary dance company - Tavaziva Dance - with a performance performance of their extraordinary new show Double Take at Dorchester’s Corn Exchange on Friday 21 January.

Eight wonderfully exuberant dancers unravel an inspirational soundtrack by musician and choreorgapher Bawren Tavaziva with the sweet sounds of African vocalist Tsungai Tsikirai.

This intense performance explores the idea that there are two sides to every story…through adversity there comes triumph, through pain there comes love, after a storm comes a calm.

The show is a celebration of culture, hardship, agony and joy and demonstrates the impact of black dance choreographer Bawren Tavaziva on contemporary dance in Britain.

Bawren Tavaziva grew up in Harare in Zimbabwe where football, Michael Jackson, and Kung Fu movies provided his artistic inspiration. He practiced the dance styles, karate moves and football skills in the neighbourhood streets where the children gathered.

In his teens he joined a dance programme created by The National Ballet targeting talented under-privileged youngsters. It was the start of a dance career where he went on to tour extensively the African sub-continent and Euroope. In 1998 he moved to the UK where he worked with Sakaba Dance Theatre, JazzXchange, Carol Brown, Phoenix Dance and Union Dance Compahy. He formed Tavaziava Dance in 2004.

Tsungai Tskirai appeared in the BBC’s Last Choir Standing and has performed with Slyaya at the Glastonbury Festival and is currently working on her own album. She joins Tavaziva Dance as a guest vocalist for their spring season and sites her musical influences as Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekala, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Nina Simone.

There will be a post-show discussion with the audience. Tickets £10 / £8 members / £6 under 18s. BOX OFFICE: 01305 266926. www.dorchesterarts.org.uk

Dorchester Arts' lottery-funded film project

2010-12-31T02:22:00.000-08:00

Dorchester Arts is working with a high profile international visual artist, music producer and drama specialist to make a lottery funded animated film with an Olympic theme.

Our working title - dreamed up by children at Beechcroft St Pauls School in Weymouth is: The Sadness of King George.

Here’s the outline: Something has gone terribly wrong at the Olympic sailing in Weymouth…There’s havoc in the bay where the events are due to be held…

Only one man can save the games…but he has been dead for nearly 200 years

Can King George III ride his white horse back through time to save the event ?

We will be working in school with around 40 year five children over a period of three weeks in January.

The project is supported by First Light Films, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, Departure Arts, Beechcroft St Pauls Primary School and Dorchester Arts.