Explore the discipline and discovery of the dark, and connect with the joy and play of clown, with the extraordinary Peta Lily.  This two day course in clown work will refresh your confidence, ignite your imagination, open up your playing range, extend your physical expression and play with others.  You will also learn secrets of laughter and audience engagement.  Peta Lily has taught at many leading Drama schools and Ecole Phillippe Gaulier in London.  She regularly teaches at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the National Centre for Circus Arts, and will be coming to Cambridge in June for this special workshop weekend.  For actors, improvisers, cabaret, circus, physical theatre performers, and the curious, the course is open to beginners aswell as the more experienced idiot.

WHEN:  Saturday 16 + Sunday 17 June 2018, 10.00am – 5.00pm

WHERE:  Covent Garden Theatre, Covent Garden, Cambridge CB1 2HR

COST: £159 or book by 7 May and save £30 – Early Bird Price £129

CONTACT: StuffTheatre@btinternet.com

Open House invites you to choose an artist to work in your community, Wednesday 2nd May, 5.30pm – 8.00pm at the Meadows Community Centre, 1 St Catherines Road CB4 3XJ 

Come and meet four artists to help choose one artist to create new art works and activities in North Cambridge during 2018.  Head to the Meadows for 5.30pm to chat with the artists over a cuppa.  Artist presentations from 6pm.

Everyone is welcome. Refreshments available.

North Cambridge communities, artists and Kettle’s Yard are working together on Open House.  For more information please email openhouse@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk or call 01223 748100

Unleash your inner bboy with a brand new 10 week foundation course suitable for complete beginners and those with existing experience. This summer we are taking it back to the 70’s and early 80’s with Doze hops, head drills, and Cooper font. We’ll also be looking at tops, drops, and footwork for creativity and musicality; drills, and an introduction to powermoves for technique and fitness; freezes and suicides for character and finesse. Join us every Friday from 4th May until 20th July 2018 (No class 18th May & 29th June), 5.00pm – 6.30pm at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Mansel Way, Cambridge CB4 2ET. Cost: £90 for the course. If you would like to register or have any questions, please contact: education@sincru.co.uk

After graduating from Laban, and performing with Balletboyz, Protein Dance, and Tom Roden, Lauren Stewart received one of the two emerging artist contracts on Fly No Filter’s The Glorious Tour. During the five week intensive, she successfully ensconced herself in the company, in SIN Cru, and discovered the beginnings of the world of hip hop.  Lauren aka Loz, shared a pot of hummus, some pitta, and deep conversation with our cultural affairs correspondent Iona Frisbee on life as a Fly No Filter company artist.  It all started when Loz was sat on a wall waiting for her friend. Loz was wearing trackie bs and had her hood up when a boy approached her and asked if she had a rizla.  When she replied no, he realised that she was a girl, and immediately changed his tact, ‘OI! Do you have a boyfriend darlin?’ and with that chat-up line, Loz new she was onto a winner.  Loz sees love as ever changing and confusing, from the boy in the street to championing McLovin the monkey cat, to The Glorious Tour.  Loz explained to Iona that she would love to continue her involvement with The Glorious Tour because she wants to have a reason to be moody all the time again.  Loz played the part of Roni, a girl who is experiencing life as a teenager for the first time, from the age of 13 until her 16^th birthday.  As Roni, Loz comes face to face with death, with flavoured condoms, and tries to make sense of a body that dosen’t work the way she wants it to.  Not mentioning her stupid name.  As a dancer, learner, performer, company member, James’ no.1 annoyer and Rachael’s wife, Loz learnt how to deal calmly with putting work together from scratch and under the pressure of time constraints.  She found a greater appreciation for breakin and it’s techniques.  The project has taught Loz, what she describes, as ‘an extraordinary amount and everything has helped me so much.  I have learnt a new style which I am now taking forward into my own training because I feel it has helped my contemporary and also my passion to learn and progress in something new.  From being on tour, it helped me adapt to performing in different spaces and audiences very fast, having to work as a group and an individual to change things is an important skill.’  In regards to longer term impact, Loz is now attending regular bboy training sessions because she wants to improve and broaden her skills as an artist.  She would very much like to have the opportunity to continue as a Fly No Filter company member as she feels she has learnt so much and met such great people who she would never have met or learnt from otherwise.  Loz extends her thanks to everyone involved for giving her the chance to be part of the project, and would like the DJ to play out with Bey Bey’s Crazy in Love.  To help Lozza’s dream come true, please support Fly No Filter by checking out our gofundme campaign, donate and share 🙂

gofundme.com/glorious-dance-theatre-development

33yr old James (also known as James Therobot/ NuBoy/ Jimmy Jango/ Foggy) spent a year on SIN Cru’s internship, back in 2014/2015.  At the end of the placement, he battled to join the Sinstars and has been an extremely proactive member of SIN Cru since.  It was therefore a delight that he auditioned for Fly No Filter last summer.  James has performed in many hiphop shows, as a long serving member of Trinity Warriors, and toured with Cultured Mongrel Dance Theatre which included break and poppin rep, so he has been able to bring a variety of experience to the new Fly No Filter company line-up.  Our roving reporter Iona Frisbee, close friend of James’ Russian friend, Vladislav. B. B. Donhurtme, caught up with James eating a bowl of organic broccoli to hear his views on being involved in Fly No Filter’s first work, The Glorious Tour.  To get the party started right, James kicked off with two requests for the DJ, Mighty Healthy – Supreme Clientele, Ghostface Killer, and Gang Starr – Now You’re Mine. James explains that his role in The Glorious Tour project was as a dancer with lines as well as choreography.  Having really enjoyed the rehearsal process which included creative tasks to generate movement around themes, and exploration with text/ audience interaction, James was also pleased to get back into company class which is something he became very familiar with during his internship.  James feels that the project has increased his capacity for learning and remembering lines, and that it’s not as hard as he had initially thought to perform written text and speak to audiences.  These are both skills which he hopes to continue to develop in the future.  James has learnt a lot about his physical abilities: strengths and weaknesses, which are already helping him to inform his practice.  He has learnt by watching and taking part in Lucy’s (Fly No Filter Artistic Director) practice: yoga, breath work, line learning techniques, recovery techniques, creative tasks, Breakin’ technique, stage craft, people management.  James adds that there are things from this list which he has actively tried to take on in his own artistic practice, post tour.  After the rehearsal block Fly No Filter toured the work to six venues, and when asked to describe the work in three words, James chose: undulating, stifling, static. The Glorious Tour is about many kinds of love, something which James defines as an incurable, logic defying addiction. Although he dosen’t admit to ever using a chat up line, one of his favourites is “I’ve lost my phone number, can I have yours instead?” and also, very vaguely, he can only remember having received a chat up line after a night out in Toronto. He danced all night at a dancers party, and the next day a girl from the club added him on Facebook. Her opener: “Winking kissing face, shocked unhappy face, party celebration streamers, crying laughing face, musical notes, smiling sincere face, dancing girl, love hearts face, dancing girl.”  Being involved in The Glorious Tour has informed James’ physical and creative practise, taught him new techniques, and has helped him forge stronger working relationships with other company members. He would love to be involved in future Glorious Tour activity and feels great about continuing to build with Fly No Filter as a company member.  To support Fly No Filter, please check out our gofundme campaign, donate and share 🙂 gofundme.com/glorious-dance-theatre-development

Fly No Filter danced their way from C-Town to London, Coventry, Impington, St Albans, Norwich and back to the Bridge sharing questions of love and collecting the best chat-up lines, whilst covered in Johnsons Baby Talc (or bread mix).  The Glorious Tour may be taking a rest from the road but the work isn’t over.  Thanks to support from Arts Council England we are able to pay our fantastic dancers and creative collaborators, however we have some remaining expenses to cover and we’re looking for your help to support our work and make sure there is still a Fly No Filter in the future.  We have just launched our gofundme campaign, with a month to raise our shortfall of £2,000.  Please take a moment to visit our page, donate, and share with others.  Like any great Blue Peter Appeal, the more of you who get involved, the brighter our totaliser shines.

gofundme.com/glorious-dance-theatre-development

What an amazing all star summer line-up.  These four influential jazz-soul-funk acts are coming together as part of the Innervisions Festival at The Roundhouse this July.  Incognito were formed by Jean-Paul Maunick (aka Bluey) and Paul “Tubbs” Williams, and became one of the most prolific bands in the UK jazz-funk scene.  Incognito have released over twenty albums since 1981 and have worked with Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, George Duke, George Benson, Paul Weller, and many more.  Strongly influenced by their strong Caribbean heritage, Cymande created a new and exciting sound captivating audiences throughout the UK, USA, Europe and the continent of Africa.  Best known for songs like Bra, Dove, The Message, Brothers on the Slide and Changes, Cymande’s music has been sampled by some of the most seminal producers and bands: The Fugees, Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Premier, Masta Ace, De La Soul, EPMD, and Diamond D.  Bobby Byrd’s step-daughter Carleen Anderson who is best known as the lead singer of The Young Disciples, will join the Innervisions Festival performance, along with the most fantastic Omar.  Omar is the British soul singer, songwriter, and musician who, with a glass of cold champagne wine, gave us the soundtrack to the summer of 1991; There’s Nothing Like This.  Tickets for Saturday 7th July are on sale here.

100 years ago in dazzling Istanbul, Hürmüz lived with seven husbands, as is the universally acknowledged truth, that a single fortuneless woman must be in want of seven husbands.  This week, Hürmüz comes to The Arcola –  one of London’s leading off West End theatres, to tell her story.  Arcola Ala Turka are directed by Naz Yeni (Swimming Horses), to share this classic Turkish tale as part of the Creative Disruptions Festival.  Seven Husbands for Hürmüz explores modern love and relationships through musical comedy and all-out farce.  Running until the 12th April, tickets are on sale now.