Helmsley Arts Centre

Catching up with Chris Ware: Facing the Storm part 3

2012-01-30T15:59:00.001Z

And here's the third part of Chris Ware's diary.

Chris Ware : Facing the Storm part 2

2012-01-30T15:46:00.004Z

Here's the second of Chris Ware's video diaries....in quick succession as we've got behind with updating you!

Chris Ware's Benbecula painting project: Facing the Storm part 1

2012-01-30T15:39:00.006Z

We'll be following Chris on his new project through his video diary reports. Here's the first.

Local performers star in acoustic night - Friday 10th Feb.

2012-01-28T17:46:00.001Z

The next acoustic night in the Studio Bar of Helmsley Arts Centre features 10 of our best local performers doing a couple of songs each. A real mix of styles from a plethora of talent of all ages!

Plus, we’ve a real treat in store from our special guest performers Luke Hirst & Sarah Smout, playing and singing original songs and arrangements with acoustic guitar and cello. Luke and Sarah were winners of last year’s Wath Festival Young Performers Award who you can watch below:

We kick off at 7.30 and finish by 10.15pm.

Our next film - 'The Ides of March' - Wednesday 1st February

2012-01-26T22:06:00.000Z

The Ides of March is a serious film that reveals Clooney as a director capable of welding his fellow performers into a superb ensemble while sustaining both dramatic tension and moral focus. He's a liberal of a critical kind, and his respect for the audience takes the form of expecting us to understand that in bringing a self-critical searchlight to bear on events surrounding the Democratic party he isn't attacking the liberal left. He's simply addressing himself to the complications and vagaries of electoral politics...

...complications in which everyone ends up fighting to save themselves, their careers and ambitions, trapped by human weakness rather than being persuaded by superior arguments or circumstances. But is it better to win and deliver on half your pledges or retain your purity and achieve nothing? ....

From a review by Philip French in the Observer.

Buy tickets here.

Marketing and Development Officer, Helmsley Arts Centre

2012-01-26T21:57:00.000Z

An exciting and challenging opportunity to devise, develop and deliver creative and successful Marketing and Development strategies, working alongside a small team of paid staff, strongly supported by a large team of volunteers, at this well-established hub of the arts in the heart of rural North Yorkshire.

A 2-day per week freelance post for at least one year, subject to review after six months.

Salary: £8,640 p.a (£23,400 p.a. pro rata)

Closing date for applications: Friday 24th February Interview date: Wed 7th March

To start as soon as possible after that date.

For further information email: Em Whitfield Brooks

Our next film - 'Anonymous' - Wed. 25th January

2012-01-19T21:23:00.000Z

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

Buy tickets here.

Watch the Channel 4 David Hockney interview

2012-01-18T10:21:00.000Z

Artist David Hockney speaks to Channel 4 News Culture Editor Matthew Cain about his life in Yorkshire and Los Angeles as a major new show, A Bigger Picture, opens at the Royal Academy of Arts.

'David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture' spans a 50 year period to demonstrate Hockney’s long exploration and fascination with the depiction of landscape.

The exhibition includes a display of his iPad drawings and a series of new films produced using 18 cameras, which are displayed on multiple screens and provide a spellbinding visual journey through the eyes of David Hockney.

Our new video is here: Ryedale Artists at Work 2

2012-01-16T15:29:00.002Z

June had an exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre in November, 2011. Here she shows us how she begins a painting and then talks about some of the paintings in the exhibition. You can see more of her work on her website.

'Tea and a Tale' in Malton tomorrow

2012-01-14T12:51:00.000Z

Sunday 15 January, 5pm

Milton Rooms, Malton

Tea and a Tale

Dominic Goodwin reads two classic short stories:

Uninvited Ghosts by Penelope Lively and

Rumpole and the Chambers Party by John Mortimer

Tickets: £3.50 including tea and cake!

More info.

Our next film - 'The Help' - Wed. 18th January

2012-01-13T16:49:00.000Z

The Help is an uplifting and inspiring movie that shows what happens when a southern town's unspoken code of rules and behaviour is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.

Based on the best-selling phenomenon and one of the most talked about books in years, The Help is an uplifting must-see movie event. Starring Emma Stone (Golden Globe Nominee, Easy A) as Skeeter, Viola Davis (Academy Award® Nominee, Doubt) as Aibileen and break out sensation Octavia Spencer as Minnie, The Help is a funny, heart-warming and thought-provoking book about three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who risk their jobs, reputations and lives when they embark on a secret writing project together. Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humour and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the ability of a small group of people to shine a beacon of light in changing times.

Like us on FaceBook

Read the book

Invitation to a World Premiere

2012-01-13T16:37:00.000Z

Easingwold Players' sister company "Gobbledigook Theatre" will be presenting the world premiere of "Our Night Out" at the Galtres Entertainment Centre in Easingwold on Wednesday 18 January 2012. The play has been written by Phil Grainger and Dave Jarman and stars Bromwyn Jennison and David Pike (of 1812 Theatre Company fame) and - fresh from playing Phileas Fogg for 1812 - John Lister also features as a dodgy policeman.

"Our Night Out" has been selected to be part of this year's ‘Theatre Live Initiative' which means that the performance will be broadcast live to dozens of theatres and picture houses throughout the county. Surely this will prove to be the pinnacle of Bromwyn's and David's illustrious careers. So, wouldn't it be unfortunate if some inmates from a local prison chose this night to tunnel out of their cells? And it would be even more unfortunate if they've got their calculations wrong and the tunnel comes up through the stage at the Galtres ....!

Performances take place at 7.30pm on 18, 19, 20 and 21 January and there is a matinee performance at 2pm on 21 January. Tickets are £7 (£5 for U16's) and are available from the Galtres Centre.

Cameron vs Independent Cinema

2012-01-12T11:24:00.003Z

Riotous debate has exploded following David Cameron’s comments on the state of the UK film industry. During a visit to Pinewood Studios, West London, the prime minister has urged film-makers to produce more films with mainstream box office appeal, in order to better distribute National Lottery funding. This situation would provide successful film companies with extra support, whereas unproven film-makers would be put in an even less fortuitous situation than they already find themselves. Therein lies the problem with Cameron’s postulation; it is difficult to predict the success of a film, as the past few years have provided box-office surprises. However, it is believed that more funding will enable certain film companies to grow, and will therefore have more influence when it comes to marketing, thus ensuring a hit at the box office.

The King’s Speech and Slumdog Millionaire are two such examples of films that were surprisingly successful at the box office, critically acclaimed, and lauded with trophies come awards season. It was impossible to foresee the success of either of these films, despite the involvement of star Colin Firth and director Danny Boyle, themselves proven successes in their own right.

Read the whole article.

Yorkshire - top of the world again!

2012-01-12T10:04:00.001Z

The campaign to promote Yorkshire as a tourist destination has beaten some of the best travel brands on the planet for the second year running, winning a prestigious World Travel Award for the World's Leading Marketing Campaign. It means in the past two years the county's destination management organisation has beaten a who's who of the travel industry to put Yorkshire on the global map.

Destinations and brands of the likes of Brazil, India, South Africa, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Etihad, Kuoni, Expedia, Visit London, Thomas Cook and Visit Scotland have all been beaten by the marketing campaign for Yorkshire which picked up the prestigious award at a ceremony in Doha last night.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "Yorkshire is a world beater and winning this award for the second year running proves it. We have gone head-to-head with some of the best brands with bigger budgets than us and come out on top again.

"The award is testament to the 25,000 brilliant businesses that make up Yorkshire's tourism industry; their quality ensures we are able to compete on a global scale with the best in the world. It also shows how far we have come in three years since Welcome to Yorkshire launched, that we now judge ourselves against the world's best and not just our competitors in the UK."

The back-to-back wins come after an impressive 2011 for the county. It continued to outperform its peers in independent research backed by the award winning marketing campaign, "Welcome to a whole lot more going on". For example the value of international trips taken to Yorkshire are 22% UP compared with a rise of just 3% nationally (International Passenger Survey).

25m people have seen the Welcome to Yorkshire marketing campaigns, just one strand of the high-profile promotion of the county, which also includes innovative use of social media, development of the award-winning yorkshire.com and regional, national and international media interest.

WORLD'S LEADING MARKETING CAMPAIGN FINALISTS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority; Egyptian Tourist Authority, Embatur Brazil, Incredible India, South Africa Tourism, Spanish Institute of Tourism, Welcome to Yorkshire.

Job opportunity with local artist

2012-01-12T09:37:00.001Z

I am looking for a small-business manager/administrator for initially one day a week (from March/April 2012) to keep me and my accounts organised, look after visitors to my studio and help develop my growing business as part of a small team.

The ideal person will like organising, working with the public, getting detail right and developing creative ideas. You will need good IT skills for book-keeping and accounts (Excel), managing the mailing list (email), stock-keeping and ordering supplies.

The job is based in my open studio at Levisham Station, although some home-working on accounts and projects is possible by agreement. A typical day involves dealing with phone calls and post, meeting visitors, ensuring they enjoy their visit, and processing resulting sales of paintings, prints and cards. Heavy and pushy selling techniques are not required - visitors to the studio enjoy a no-pressure environment where they are enabled to buy pictures they like.

While in the studio you would invoice for work, update annual accounts and prepare them for submission to my accountant, log and manage weekly expenses, and manage and record all sales, including spreadsheets for limited edition prints.

There is potential for involvement in exhibitions, running projects such as group visits and painting expeditions, marketing the website and other initiatives as we seek to expand sales away from the studio.

You can visit my website here.

If interested, please email me at chris@warehouseart.com to arrange an informal discussion at this stage.

Profile: Celebrate North Yorkshire

2012-01-11T22:10:00.001Z

North Yorkshire is the largest county in England with a rich history of arts and culture with many professional artists and hundreds of voluntary arts groups, societies and clubs, providing opportunities for thousands of people to take part in voluntary arts activity every week with exhibitions, choral evenings, pantomimes and plays, displays and demonstrations, festivals and outings.

People join these groups because they’re fun, they meet other people with similar interests, and get the opportunity to explore and express their creativity, and maybe learn some highly technical skills. They do it because they want to. In this predominately rural area the voluntary arts play a key part in allowing people access to the arts.

York & North Yorkshire Voluntary Arts Partnership has been set up to provide a connection between these groups, offering support through a website, newsletters, meetings, training events and through being an advocate for the sector.

To join the Celebrate North Yorkshire website database you must be a voluntary or amateur group or organisation based in York and North Yorkshire.

They will accept listings from individuals and organisations that provide services to voluntary and amateur artists and groups in York and North Yorkshire. These eligibility criteria may be reviewed on a case by case basis and the final decision remains with the steering group of the York & North Yorkshire Voluntary Arts Partnership.

Find out more.

Acoustic Music Night - Friday 13th

2012-01-11T21:47:00.002Z

It’s time for another great night of live acoustic music this Friday 13th at Helmsley Arts Centre

We’ve another great line-up so hope to see you there.

Taking part will be:

Peter Reynolds
David Swann
Stan Graham
Lynn Sunley
Issy Zarb
Martin Heaton
J2Ali’s
Nick & Lynn Blair
Maggie Groom
Kyle Frazer

Special guest performer: the one and only Bluesbeaten Redshaw who you can see in the video below playing at the UK's first ever Cigar Box Guitar festival!

The evening starts at 7.30 and entry is only £3.00 payable on the door.

Review - 'Rocking Horse Winner'

2011-11-27T17:22:00.001Z

Many thanks to Jean Richards, a Kirby resident and frequent HAC visitor, for the following review:

North Country Theatre returned to the Helmsley Arts Centre last night (Saturday) with their 2011 touring roduction of The Rocking Horse Winner.

Based on a short story of the same name by D.H. Lawrence, the play follows the fortunes of Paul, a child of uncaring spendthrift parents, whose rocking horse inexplicably gives him the names of winning horses. He makes a fortune, but loses his mind.

The story itself was not particularly gripping, though it may have more appeal if you fancy a flutter yourself. But Artistic Director Nobby Dimon brought his usual imagination and flair to a production which fairly raced along. In particular, he managed, with four actors, a sound track and a bit of projection, to create the excitement of a race meeting as we watched.

Veteran of seven previous North Country productions, Mark Cronfield, had the unenviable task of playing the boy Paul, which he did superbly, with support from other members of the company who have visited Helmsley before, Victoria Brazier (whom many will remember as the brilliant Princess Flavia in ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’) as his mother, Simon Kirk as his uncle, and Thomas Frere as the family gardener and placer of bets. Nobby himself made a welcome return to the stage as the psychiatrist who tried, unsuccessfully, to figure it all out.

In true NCT style, this was ‘a one night stand’, but you can still catch the production, which runs until December 10, at other theatres in the area. Dates and venues are on their website.

At the end of the performance, Nobby reminded the audience that the company had lost the whole of its Arts Council grant in the recent cuts, and so was more dependent than ever on ticket sales, and on supporters joining the Friends group, details of which can be found on the website. Please help to keep this great rural touring company in business.

Sneak preview: the 2012 production will be based on J.S. Fletcher’s Lighthouse on Shivering Sands. The story begins: “When Mordecai Chiddock came to join the lighthouse staff on Shivering Sand, Jezreel Cornish was taking his allowance of sleep, and Chiddock, being new to the place, did not know who it was he would meet when Cornish woke up. Otherwise, the boat which had brought him and a month's provisions over from the mainland would never have gone back without him……”.

Yorkshire arts groups lose lending service

2011-11-18T15:09:00.000Z

A Yorkshire arts resource used by many amateur dramatic companies, choirs and orchestras has been earmarked for closure.

The Yorkshire Libraries and Information (YLI) Music and Drama Service on Balne Lane in Wakefield is due to close in March 2012.

The fate of its collection of scores and scripts will now be discussed at the YLI council meeting.

Critics fear many groups will close without the lending service.

Read more ..... (source).

Supporting Helmsley Library

2011-11-14T13:02:00.000Z

Helmsley Arts Centre is keen to support Helmsley Library and Helmsley Town Council, which are seeking volunteers to help maintain library opening hours and develop new activities in the library space. NYCC Library Service's current proposal is to cut staffed opening hours at Helmsley from 19 hours to 15 per week.

Would you be willing to give a couple of hours per week of your time to help sustain this valuable and much loved amenity of the town?

There will be a meeting for potential library volunteers this Wednesday, 16 November, at 6pm at the Old Library Meeting Room in the Town Hall. Everyone is welcome.

You can register your interest in becoming a volunteer by email.

Welcome to our new Artistic Director!

2011-11-09T14:48:00.010Z

In fact, welcome to Em Whitfield Brooks, the first holder of what is a new post, made possible by a Lottery Grant through Arts Council England. She begins her job later this month.

On Tuesday evening she met the Board of Trustees for the first time at their November meeting (seen here on the right with Margot Cairncross, Chairman of the Trustees)

Many of them she knew well, of course, because Em has been involved with the Centre for the last thirteen years, as a performer, theatre director and singer.

However, she brings to us a much wider experience of leading (and managing budgets for) arts projects large and small, in the north of England. She has particular expertise in working with community performance and arts education, involving people of all ages and abilities. For example, she is well known locally for her Community Opera productions for the Ryedale Festival. Elsewhere she has led and worked on projects in Durham, Scarborough, Leeds, Hull, Bridlington, York, Tyneside.....

Em is a freelance director, vocal teacher, workshop leader and published songwriter; she was a national trainer for the Sing Up Training Programme, running courses for teachers and singing leaders across the UK for four years; and has led corporate arts training courses internationally for organisations such as Marks & Spencer, HSBC, PwC and The Sage Gateshead. She recently returned from running workshops in Milan for the Map Consortium.

Em says, "I'm really looking forward to embarking on what will be a diverse and challenging role in a thriving organisation. I have particular areas to focus on, and will start planning for events and projects that will reach new audiences and participants, as well as continuing to entertain and nourish the Centre's core followers. There's lots that is already great about this place, and I am honoured to have been chosen to lead the artistic team. There never was a more important time for the arts to serve everyone in the community, and I cant wait to get started."

The appointment is initially for one year and is an important part of a two-year development project supported by Arts Council England. If we fulfill our first year objectives then we anticipate further lottery funding for the second. Thereafter, we'll be in a better position to sustain the post indefinitely.

The objectives are: to increase public involvement in the Centre through more effective marketing; to initiate and support Outreach projects and create new partnerships; to develop new activities and events for young people both at the Centre and in outlying areas; to support a programme that celebrates literature in all its forms; and to increase our income.

Quite a job! But Em is up for it, and has our full support.

'Doubt' at the Helmsley Arts Centre last night, an audience reaction

2011-11-07T12:23:00.000Z

The Helmsley Arts Centre is very much Clap Trap Productions home theatre as several members of the company have acted and directed with the 1812 Theatre Company and members of the choir in 'Doubt' are in the youth theatre. As a result the audience was full of family and friends who thoroughly enjoyed their night out as these short vox pops illustrate:

Further information of the 'Doubt' tour, which ends at the Theatre Royal in York, can be found here.

Helmsley Arts Centre Poetry Competition

2011-10-03T15:08:00.001+01:00

Theatre Stage Manager / Instructor wanted

2011-06-26T16:36:00.000+01:00

Ampleforth College seek a Stage Manager with creative flare and technical expertise in equal measure. Ampleforth College Theatre puts on a varied programme of student performances throughout the year and the Stage Manager will be responsible for designing and delivering sets, lighting, SFX and all other technical aspects for each production.

The right candidate will have a talent and enthusiasm for working with young people and would be able to confidently train them in technical theatre production and the safe use of our facilities. Skills in publicity design, web content management, photography and video production would also be highly desirable. This full time role will require flexible working hours during term-time to meet the full demands of our productions but school holidays are given.

Closing date for applications - 4 July 2011.

Interviews will take place 8 July 2011.

Salary - circa £21,000 per annum.

Ampleforth College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and a Criminal Background check will be carried out on all successful applicants.

For more information and to apply, click here.

Exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum

2011-06-08T21:52:00.002+01:00

What's happening at The Milton Rooms?

2011-06-01T16:56:00.007+01:00

Over the last couple of years ambitious plans have been drawn up for the transformation of The Milton Rooms in Malton into a new centre for the arts in Ryedale. A number of dedicated people have been working to translate those plans into action. And this summer sees the first fruits of their labours ripen in a short programme of exciting events both inside the building and outside, in the town.

Helmsley Arts Centre is pleased to be in partnership with The Milton Rooms. We have set up together a framework for future collaboration and mutual support, so that together we can provide Ryedale with an exciting range and balance of arts events and activities.

The Milton Rooms aims to collaborate with established and emerging artists, to make Malton a hub of excellence for the arts, in all creative fields.

With the dedication of a new, energetic team of artists and performers and the support of world famous Patrons (Kathy Burke, Imelda Staunton, Jools Holland and Bill Nighy) the Milton Rooms is set to Launch with an ambitious program of events starting from June an id well under way with the re-animation of this historic building.

"Oh, my word. Brilliant. When can I come up?"

- Imelda Staunton

With the largest sprung dancefloor in North Yorkshire, and a new forty seat Studio Theatre and plans for Artist Studios, the Milton Rooms will be turned into a state of the art venue for visiting productions, community events and in house productions.

"Really Exciting. Makes perfect sense for this to be happening."

- Kathy Burke

The Milton Rooms is launching it’s new program of events with a night of Music, Comedy, Magic and Dance at its Gala Evening hosted by Barry Cryer (June 12th). This is followed on by a night with the Peatbog Faeries and then a unique in-house production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream Directed by Nick Bagnall (The Milton Rooms co-artistic Director). With a cast of over 170 taking place throughout Malton for one night only this promises to be an event like no other (June 26th).

For further information on events or how to get involved get in touch, check out the website or visit The Milton Rooms as the doors are always open.

Click image above to view our events calendar

Remembering Tony Burns, ARIBA FRSA 1936-2011

2011-05-31T20:47:00.002+01:00

Tony Burns was the Arts Centre’s architect for 20 years, and one of its most devoted supporters. He came on board when the project was still no more than a loose collection of ideas about what to do with the semi-derelict Old Meeting House, and his patience in drawing and re-drawing endless versions of what we might build was remarkable — but he loved the design process itself just as much as he loved eventually seeing the building come to life. He even forgave us when opted to keep the stage at the west end, rather than turning the building round and putting the stage where the garden is, which was his preference. His patience in waiting for years before we were able to pay him was also exemplary, and a hugely valuable contribution in kind.

Tony was a modernist at heart — as a student he once hitchhiked to Finland to meet one of his architectural heroes, Alvar Aalto. But like most British architects he was rarely given the opportunity to design anything that approached the avant-garde. So it is good that the Arts Centre shows off some characteristically bold Burns design touches — the roof shape at the east end, the round window from the office to the foyer, the strongly contemporary west frontage. He was very proud of the Arts Centre, both as a building and as a living institution, and I personally felt privileged to have worked closely with a professional who was so tolerant and encouraging of an opinionated amateur architect like me. I miss the Sunday afternoons when he would call in, en route home to Castle Eden in County Durham from his (very contemporary) weekend hideaway in Sproxton, for a session of scribbling on tracing paper to see how we could improve on the latest plans.

Tony had been unwell for some years but was working almost to the end, and had recently received a Gold Medal from the RIBA and been appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. The Arts Centre was well represented at his funeral in Castle Eden on 27 May. All our condolences go to his widow Maureen and their children and grandchildren.

MVW

Website helps companies recycle unwanted sets

2011-05-27T23:05:00.001+01:00

Theatre companies can now advertise and recycle old sets and costumes on a new Freecycle-style website specifically designed for the sector.

With the tag line “giving your unwanted set a new home”, Set-exchange.co.uk has been launched with the aim of encouraging production companies to share unwanted sets, costumes and props with other theatre organisations across the UK for free. Companies including the Royal Court, Glyndebourne and the Lyric Hammersmith have already pledged their support to the website.

Read more ... (source)

Free theatre comes to Yorkshire Quaker Meeting Houses

2011-05-27T22:13:00.005+01:00

All shows start at 7.30pm.

Andrew Lloyd Webber announces £32m arts fund

2011-05-20T10:08:00.000+01:00

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s charitable foundation is to embark on a £32 million grant-giving programme targetted at supporting the arts.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation has announced that it will use the money generated from last year’s sale of the composer’s Picasso portrait - Angel Fernandez de Soto - to help fund culture, heritage and the art.

The foundation today announced a £250,000 donation to UK charity Nordoff Robbins, which specialises in providing music therapy sessions to people suffering from autism, dementia, depression, stroke or terminal illness. It will use the money to help maintain its music therapy unit at the BRIT school in Croydon and to fund their work at the unit.

Mark Wordsworth, chairman of the trustees of The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, said: “Previously we have concentrated on fine art and arts education, but we have decided to help a broader scope of people and projects directly with the funds invested from the Picasso sale. Andrew Lloyd Webber is delighted that the money he gifted to the foundation is now being used to contribute to a wide range of projects and is making a significant difference to many people’s lives.”

Other beneficiaries of the Foundation’s support announced today include Chickenshed, All Saints Church, Margaret St, London, Burghclere Primary School Band, Time Spanners, the Monega Association, Haringey Shed and The Orpheus Centre.

Yorkshire Artspace Starter Studios - apply for 2011 intake

2011-04-19T07:17:00.001+01:00

Yorkshire Artspace are are now inviting applications from artists/makers for the 2011 intake of their 3 starter studio programmes. This year they will be doing it slightly differently in that they will accept applications from talented, commited makers/artists from March 2011 onwards. They will be starting their interview process earlier this year in order to give selected artists enough time to re-locate to Sheffield if needed.

From their website:

The Starter Studio for Designer Silversmiths is located at Persistence Works Studios and offers early career silversmiths access to a large 108m2 shared and equipped workspace at Persistence Works Studios. Now in its 10th year, the programme provides ongoing business, mentor and technical support as well as commission and exhibition opportunities. This year all our current and many of our previous beneficiaries were included in Galvanize Sheffield, our bi-annual festival for contemporary metalwork taking place across the city. For our programme details, background on our mentors and a website list of previous beneficiaries, please click here

First deadline for applications for the Starter Studio Programme for Silversmiths is Friday, 13th May 2011 with interviews taking place on Monday 23rd May.

The Starter Studio Programme for Ceramicists is based at Manor Oaks Studios and offers early career ceramicists/potters access to a fully equipped 55m2 shared workspace for two years with ongoing business, mentor and technical support and exhibition opportunities at Museums Sheffield’s Millennium Galleries. For further details click here.

All our ceramicist starters also benefit from having dedicated time with our Manor Oaks artist in residence which, for 2011, is Edinburgh based ceramicist Frances Priest.

First deadline for applications for the Starter Studio Programme for Ceramicists is Wednesday 18th May with interviews taking place on Thursday 2nd June 2011.

The Starter Studio Programme for Engaged Practice will be located at our soon to be completed brand new Knutton Road Studios in the Parson Cross area of Sheffield. This programme is designed for artists who want to develop a career as artists whose practice is concerned with community/social engagement.

Apart from access to a workspace, the selected artists will also be offered paid work opportunities, dedicated time with the Parson Cross artist in residence (currently Lisa Gallacher) and access to mentor and ongoing business support. You will be based in one of new studios at SOAR Works which houses Knutton Road Studios.

Artist Ruthie Ford, who joined the first programme in 2010, has already benefited from paid work opportunities through the links we have with Sheffield City Council, Museums Sheffield and programme funding through Paul Hamlyn Foundation. For further details click here

If you want to visit us or like further information on our programmes, please contact Mir Jansen, programme manager for the Silversmiths and Ceramicists Programmes on mir@artspace.org.uk or Rachael Dodd, programme manager for the Engaged Practice Programme on rachael@artspace.org.uk or telephone 0114 2130111 or 0114 2130111.

TV arts channel offers funding for new projects

2011-04-14T09:06:00.001+01:00

Sky Arts is launching what appear to be good and extremely welcome schemes for new arts projects and emerging artists.

There are two strands for which the channel is promising generous amounts of cash.

The Sky Arts Ignition Series involves collaborating with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of new works. It will provide cash of up to £200,000 for each one and will clearly be in a good position to help bring them to a wider audience.

The channel's blurb says this:

The Sky Arts Ignition Series seeks to work closely with as yet unselected artists and arts organisations, in order to equip both organisations and broadcasters with a true understanding of each other's process, combining their expertise to produce the best possible work and offering a unique support system in which to develop and produce brand new projects. Sky Arts, in partnership with the organisations, will determine how best Sky can give the project prominence on-air, on demand, online and on the ground, as well as providing marketing, publicity and new media support for each project.

Applications can be made here where there should also be much more detail.

The other scheme is for emerging artists, a Futures Fund which promises to give five individuals a bursary of £30,000 "to help young talent to bridge the development gap from school or college to becoming a working artist."

The director and former National Theatre boss Richard Eyre has been helping Sky Arts to come up with the Ignition series. he said: "This is an exemplary partnership between a broadcaster and the arts. I hope Sky's model will be copied. It's to everyone's advantage." Source

Kirkbymoorside Camera Club members receive international recognition

2011-04-14T08:55:00.000+01:00

To the delight of club members husband and wife, Richard and Janet Burdon, have each recently been granted an international award recognising their artistic skills in amateur photography.

Richard and Janet joined the camera club in the 90’s as complete novices. Their aim, to learn more about their shared new hobby. Many new members do likewise and get their enjoyment from the club activities and from its social life alone. Other chose to challenge their skills by entering our club competitions and exhibitions. Some ‘push the boundaries even further’ and enter competitions and exhibitions beyond club level.

In addition to these challenges some will seek to achieve formal recognition in photographic excellence by gaining national awards. The most well-known being those granted by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) and the Royal Photographic Society (RPS). Hence you may notice that some of our members have letters after their names indicating their acquired award(s). These groups of awards are not mutually exclusive and some members have gained awards from both societies.

Despite their quiet and unassuming nature the couple not only achieved national recognition by way of the PAGB but then chose to look beyond the shores of Great Britain by seeking international recognition by working towards an award from the Fedération International de l’Art Photographique (FIAP).

Thanks to their tremendous efforts the club can now boast membership ranging from beginners to internationally acclaimed photographers. Interestingly though, one of our recent club competitions was won by a relative beginner; beating much more experienced club members!

If anyone seeks to emulate Richard and Janet they should be aware of the minimum criteria for their ‘award’ category:

· 30 acceptances in FIAP approved exhibitions, using a minimum of 10 different works from 10 different salons and 5 different countries, (England, Scotland and Wales qualify as three different countries.)

· And much more!

Their efforts began when they started to enter FIAP approved exhibitions in 2005 and has culminated in both gaining the distinction of ‘AFIAP’.

They have each provided The Blog with one of their images submitted during the course of their efforts. One taken by Janet at Whitby on the sea-front; one from Richard taken at Saltburn when he photographed a surfer practicing his skill on ‘the board’.

Helmsley Arts Centre looks to the future despite funding setback

2011-04-04T09:04:00.004+01:00

Helmsley Arts Centre was disappointed not to be included in the Arts Council’s new portfolio of funded organisations announced on Wednesday 30 March. But the Centre — which provides an arts hub for northern Ryedale and beyond, and runs very successful youth theatre and children’s dance programmes — is ‘not disheartened’, says director David Powley.

‘We felt we put in a very strong and imaginative proposal, and we were given every support both by Arts Council officers and by Ryedale District Council. I think we weren’t chosen in the end because the Arts Council had the very difficult task of creating a ‘balanced’ portfolio, and that meant many good applicants like us were dropped in the final cut. It’s very sad — and perhaps a debate for another day — that the portfolio includes nothing in Ryedale and so few arts organisations across the whole of rural North Yorkshire.’

‘But we are already talking to the Arts Council and the District Council about other funding streams that could enable us to go on developing what the Arts Centre offers — which is unique in this area, and based on very strong foundations and the enthusiastic support of the community it serves. We have a wonderful multi-purpose building, which has just been enhanced with a beautiful new entrance foyer, and our finances are solid.

Most importantly, we have a very capable body of volunteers who enable us to do everything we do on a relatively low-cost basis, plus a very loyal core audience. That is the real secret of our success, ever since we first opened our doors almost 20 years ago.

Of course public funding helps a lot, and we’re grateful for the grants already promised to us by the Arts Council and Ryedale District Council for 2011/12. Not winning a place in the national portfolio is a blow, but I’m certain we’ll recover from it.

Meanwhile, The King’s Speech has been playing to packed houses all week, and we’re going to press with a fantastic programme of music, theatre, cinema, talks, exhibitions and classes for the second half of this year. So we look forward to seeing all our friends, old and new, and talking to them about exciting projects for the future.’

Helmsley Arts Centre loses out on Arts Council Funding

2011-04-01T14:19:00.002+01:00

Around 1,300 theatres, galleries and arts groups applied for funding under the new regime imposed after the Government spending review cut Arts Council England's (ACE) annual grant.

The Helmsley Arts Centre, currently an Arts Council England funded organisation, was one of those groups. Sadly on Wednesday the Centre was told they had been unsuccessful.

Support for Ryedale's most successful arts venue therefore ends next year.

In total, 695 organisations were however successful in their applications for funding from 2012 to 2015, including 110 new groups. But that is down on the 849 organisations funded before now. One of the biggest losers is the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London which faces a cut of 42.5 per cent.

Arts Council Chairwoman Dame Liz Forgan has described the process as a series of "painful decisions".

She said: "This is about a resilient future for the arts in England. We have taken the brave path of strategic choices not salami slices which has meant some painful decisions, and it is with great regret that we have to cease funding some good organisations."

Shadow Culture Secretary Ivan Lewis said the cuts would have a "chilling impact" and warned some organisations would close down and others would have to increase ticket prices.

He said: "I fear a return to the 80s and 90s when the arts were for the few, not the many."

Related articles

York Theatre Royal Dance-A-Thon - 3 April

2011-03-29T09:35:00.000+01:00

Dance-A-Thon
De Grey Rooms
Dance through the decades for Access For All

You could be one of hundreds of people dancing in the De Grey Rooms Ballroom for 1½ hours or from morning ‘til night to provide Access for All. Whatever your age, whatever your talent, try your hand at just one or all of the following: Turn of the century Ceilidh Dancing, Spicy Salsa and Latin American, 1920s and 1930s Jazz, Glamorous ‘40s Ballroom, 1950s Rock ‘N’ Roll, 1990s Hip Hop or classic Disco (perfect fun for all the family).

Each class will be taught by professional dancers, so while you experience something new and take part in this brilliant event, you can help raise money to allow everyone to experience and enjoy these spectacular facilities.

York Theatre Royal is committed to providing Access for All, but we need your participation in the Dance-A-Thon to ensure that these superb workshop, Youth Theatre and event spaces are accessible for wheelchair users, those with physical impairment or anyone who requires the use of push chairs or trolleys for mobility.

This will also be the first of many opportunities to dance in the beautifully restored De Grey Room Ballroom.

To play your part in this exciting event follow these four simple steps:

1) Register for a dance style and slot, or commit to dancing for the whole 10½ hours by calling the box office on 01904 623568 or online at http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/

To sign up for more than one class or the whole 10½ hours, please ring Box Office or visit us in person.

2) Pay your £5 registration fee
3) Receive your sponsorship pack (or download below) and collect your donations
4) Come and dance the style of your choice under professional instruction and help us provide Access for All

10.00am to 8.30pm - Dance All Day
10.00am to 11.30am - Classic Disco
11.30am to 1.00pm - 1990s Street & Hip Hop
1.00pm to 2.30pm - 1950s Rock 'n' Roll
2.30pm to 4.00pm - 1940s Glamorous Ballroom
4.00pm to 5.30pm - 1920s & 1930s Jazz
5.30pm to 7.00pm - 1920s Salsa & Latin American
7.00pm to 8.30pm - Traditional Ceilidh

Sign up to an individual session online or to sign up for more than one class or the whole 10.5 hours then please ring Box Office or visit us in person.

If you would like to donate to our Access For All Fund you can do so by clicking here.

A new wave ripples through Yorkshire's culture

2011-03-21T22:37:00.001Z

As tickets go on sale for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Yorkshire region is beginning to feel the ripple effect of this momentous event which is not just a sporting stage, but also a cultural arena. As the world’s spotlight begins to turn to the UK in anticipation of next year’s games, imove, the Legacy Trust UK programme for Yorkshire, is launching the next wave of cultural events taking place across the region.

imove is bringing together the best creative talent from the region to produce a programme of events designed to inspire the public in the run up to the London 2012 Games. The programme is funded by the Legacy Trust UK - an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK, Yorkshire Forward and Arts Council England. Over the next 18 months, more than 100 events will be taking place across Yorkshire encompassing every artistic medium including dance, drama, music and photography and all sports from cricket to synchronised swimming.

The events will be region-wide, ensuring that everyone has the chance to experience the creative collaborations, many of which will be set against the backdrop of Yorkshire’s diverse and dramatic landscape or in unusual spaces.

These include:

‘The Mill – City of Dreams’, a project by Freedom Studios, uses the derelict Drummonds Mill in Bradford as a grand setting for a theatre production which explores the lives of the mill workers, using a cast and crew made up of the local community and ex-mill workers and their families, with performances taking place in March and April 2011.

The crowds at the Hull Super League Rugby Derby will be treated to a half time performance by Northern Ballet at the Hull Super League Rugby derby in April 2011 as part of ‘Don’t Just Sit There’ – a series of events involving some of the region’s top dance companies which aims to get people off their seats and moving.

A ‘Flying Day’ at Sewerby Hall in July 2011 on the coast of Bridlington will take place as part of ‘Wingbeats’, a music-theatre project which explores the relationship between flying and the striking landscape of East Riding.

‘Stanza Stones’ sees poet Simon Armitage working with the Ilkley Literature Festival and groups of young writers aged 13-18 taking them out onto the Pennines and creating a series of poems in response to the landscape. Alongside this work, a new series of poems by Simon will be carved on a trail of standing stones and rocks along the Pennines from Ilkley to Marsden – creating a lasting legacy from the project.

‘Sea Swim’ is a mass participation project involving sea-bathing at Scarborough. The project has a strong connection with poetry and creative writing and poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy has agreed to be its patron. Led by writer John Wedgwood Clarke and artist-curator Lara Goodband, this project will explore the relationship between swimming and creativity in literature and the visual arts, alongside the history of sea-bathing as documented in Yorkshire's unique museum collections.

New projects are still being commissioned as part of imove. Over the coming months, imove will be announcing more new commissions which will extend the programme into further towns and cities across Yorkshire and will ensure a lasting cultural legacy is left in the region in the slipstream of the 2012 Games.

Tessa Gordziejko, Creative Director of imove, comments: “We are extremely excited about imove and the creative programme that is emerging from the two worlds of sport and art that rarely co-exist. The inspiration and energy from the UK’s hosting the Olympics in 2012, combined with the Legacy Trust resource, has opened up a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the huge pool of creative talent here in Yorkshire to a global stage. We hope that by combining these two disciplines in a fun and original way – we’ve produced a programme which will appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds from across the region.”

To find out more information about the imove projects and events happening in each area go to the imove website at http://www.imoveand.com/. The site will be regularly updated with new events and commissions. Source

'Behind the Scenes' - Appleton le Moors

2011-03-15T22:11:00.001Z

An exhibition of costume and stage sets by Jessica Worrall, who has worked for 18 years with Barry Rutter and Northern Broadsides will take place later this month to raise money for Appleton Village Hall.

Preview Evening 25th March 7.30 - 9.30pm
including Wine and Nibbles
£3.00

Saturday 26th March 10.00am - 12.00 noon
with Morning Coffee and Presentation by Jessica Worrall at 11.00am
£2.00

Sunday 27th March 2.00 - 5.00pm
with Tea and Cakes
£2.00

Further information may be had from nicolaoldroyd@btinternet.com.

JESSICA WORRALL - ASSOCIATE DESIGNER

Jessica has designed the majority of ABSOLUTE THEATRE¹s productions, including Queen Christina, The Misanthrope, The Wizard of Oz, Dona Rosita the Spinster, The Shoemaker's Wondrous Wife and Don Perlimplin. She has worked on several productions in Bath with Andrew and Simon, including Spring Awakening, The Rivals, Electra and The Butterfly's Evil Spell and Twelfth Night.

For NORTHERN BROADSIDES designs include A Midsummer Night's Dream and Anthony and Cleopatra (NATIONAL TOURS). Jessica is a member of performance group THE PEOPLE SHOW, designing and devising on shows 99 to 102. She directed and designed the Elvis-inspired Song Without Sound? People Show 107 (YOUNG VIC, LONDON and NATIONAL TOUR) and in 2002 wrote and directed Second.

Film work includes The Loss of Sexual Innocence. As an artist she has exhibited in London, Glasgow and Los Angeles. She was a short-listed finalist for the Glasgow-based Bulkhead Art Prize, for her video and sound installation Memorial Imoral.

Global Street Art Project

2011-03-05T10:27:00.002Z

Can art change the world? Just possibly. Or at least it may just be able to change the way that certain parts of it look. Coming soon to a wall near you: a vast, black and white, billboard-sized print of a face – which could be yours, your mother's, your child's or a total stranger's.

It's the latest and most spectacular project of the French street artist, JR: one of the biggest global art projects ever attempted, a public art initiative conceived on a truly monumental scale.

For the project which JR is calling Inside Out, and which he launched on Wednesday at TED2011, he's seeking collaborators from all across the world.

He is asking people everywhere to supply him with photos, which he will then return, blown up to billboard-sized prints. He wants us to paste them up for him: on walls, roofs, across buildings, and fences, anywhere it's possible, and preferably in places that matter to us. . It's street art, crowd-sourced and super-sized.

TED Prize Winner JR & INSIDE OUT from TED Prize on Vimeo.

The project won him this year's TED prize the prestigious award previously given to Bono, Bill Clinton and Jamie Oliver, which involves being given $100,000 and "One Wish To Change The World". And he announced that this was it: "I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project and together we'll turn the world inside out."

It's not the first time he's attempted to change a street or cityscape. He's taken photos of teenagers from the Paris banlieue and posted them across the city's more chi-chi quartiers. He's covered roofs in a Kenyan shanty town, Kibera, with huge photographic portraits of women who live there. And in Brazil he pasted the walls of a favela in Rio with vast, black and white eyes, in order to give it, quite literally, a more human face. But Inside Out is a of a different order of magnitude altogether.

This time, he wants to use not just his photographs, but ones taken by as many different people as possible, and for them to post them in as many locations, in as many countries of the world as they're able. It is, he says, "a chance for everyone to share who they are and what they stand for". He's asking people to take a photo of "someone they care about and post it somewhere it matters".

Upload the photo with details of what you want to do, and he'll send you back a huge poster-size print for you to post where you want. "Art is not meant to change the world," he told the TED audience. But it can "change perceptions" which in turn will "change energy" and ultimately it is that will "enable you to change the world".

If JR, who calls himself a "photograffeur" and who started out painting illegal grafitti on walls across Paris, had simply announced this on his website, it would be one thing, but the aim of the TED prize is to lever the power of the TED community, one that includes former presidents and the founders of Google, and given what he's achieved before on a tiny budget with no publicity, the results could well be startling.

The website has already been built – http://www.insideoutproject.net/ – and the printing presses that will make the huge poster-size prints is already in place. All he needs now is your photos. Source

Do you want to take part?

Kirkbymoorside artist Jim Wright - exhibition 5 - 12 March

2011-03-04T10:20:00.000Z

Jim Wright will be showing his latest paintings at his studio gallery in Kirkbymoorside from 5th to 12th March, it’s an opportunity to see his new works, before they are sent to galleries across the North of England.

The work of landscape and seascape artist Jim Wright is all about atmosphere and emotion. His favourite haunts are the moors, mountains and coastal regions, where he can really feel the full force of nature and soak up the energy of the place.

Last autumn he travelled from his home in Kirkbymoorside, to stay at The Lighthouse in Ardnamurchan, it’s the most westerly point of mainland Britain, and experiences some wild and tempestuous storms, perfect conditions for an artist inspired by light and movement. Many artists have been inspired by the quality of the light in Cornwall, the West coast of Scotland also offers this clear unpolluted light, with the additional benefits of a little more solitude. This exhibition will feature paintings done on location and inspired by his journey to the Lighthouse, alongside his paintings of The North York Moors and the sea.

Jim Wright spends so much time away on the moors and at the coast, that in Kirkbymoorside, he is probably better known as a singer and guitarist on the music scene, than as an artist. He began playing soul music with members of Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band at annual charity 'Big Night Out' gigs, which led onto the formation of the band 'Late in the Day'. If you pass the door, when he's painting at home, you may be able to hear a classic soul number, as he always works to music.

The week long exhibition is open daily from 11am to 4pm, at 53 West End, Kirkbymoorside. Further information can be found on Jim's website.

Google Art Project

2011-03-03T16:44:00.002Z

A collaboration between Google and 17 of the world's top art galleries and museums, including the National Gallery and Tate Britain in the UK, the Google Art Project takes the Street View approach into the gallery.

With Google Art Project, users can wander around 17 of the world's top galleries and museums and view 1,061 artworks. There are also 17 special gigapixel images – one for each participating institution's most treasured piece, allowing viewers to zoom right in to brush-stroke levels of detail.

Over the past 18 months, a Google team has been zipping around the likes of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Palace of Versailles using trolley mounted cameras to photograph corridors and galleries. Users can explore each gallery from room to room or create their own collections of masterpieces.

This video explains a little about how it was all done:

The project is explained in more detail here:

The full list of participating museums is as follows:

Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin - Germany
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC - USA
The Frick Collection, NYC - USA
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin - Germany
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC - USA
MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC - USA
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid - Spain
Museo Thyssen - Bornemisza, Madrid - Spain
Museum Kampa, Prague - Czech Republic
National Gallery, London - UK
Palace of Versailles - France
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands
The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - Russia
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow - Russia
Tate Britain, London - UK
Uffizi Gallery, Florence - Italy
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

Oscars 2011 Winners - Film Critics views

2011-02-28T23:29:00.000Z

The Guardian and Observer film team on the winners and losers at this year's Academy Awards, at which The King's Speech scooped four Oscars.

Best Picture: The King's Speech

Best Actor: Colin Firth

Best Actress: Natalie Portman

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale

Best Supprting Actress: Melissa Leo

Best Director: Tom Hooper - The King's Speech

Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland

Cinematography: Inception - Wally Pfister

Costumes: Alice in Wonderland

Documentary (feature): Inside Job

Film Editing: The Social Network

Foreign Language Film: In a Better World

Makeup: The Wolfman

Music (Original Score): The Social Network - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song): Toy Story 3 - We Belong Together

Sound Mixing: Inception

Sound Editing: Inception

Visual Effects: Inception

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin

Writing (Original Screenplay): The King's Speech - David Seidler

'On Yer Bike' budding film makers!

2011-02-23T10:22:00.002Z

For those with a passion for tires, chains, and elegant frames, get ready: Back for an 11th year is the incomparable Bicycle Film Festival, which celebrates bike culture through art, music, and film. The international tour of annual BFF events showcases a collection of short and feature films that explore the beauty, wonder, and joy we find in one of history's most efficient machines. The ultimate goal, according to founder Brendt Barbur, is not only to have fun (though that's part of it), but also think critically about how we get around—and to elevate the position of bikes in popular culture.

As always, the BFF invites you to participate. You have until April 1, 2011, to submit a short or feature film, which might be selected to screen in some of 25 global cities—from Amsterdam to Tokyo to Washington, D.C.—on this tour. Films of any length and format are acceptable, though they must be under 10 minutes to qualify for the BFF shorts competition. Here's a look at the stunning and affecting compilation video.

Source

And just to inspire you here's a short film made by a group of young people from Nairobi.

Stephen Joseph Theatre cuts

2011-02-19T10:15:00.001Z

Image via WikipediaThe Stephen Joseph Theatre will cancel its summer tour to rural venues after North Yorkshire County Council cut the Scarborough theatre’s grant by 84 per cent.

The decision to slash funding from £63,000 in 2010/11 to £10,000 in 2011/12 also will have an impact on the work carried out within the community by the SJT’s OutReach department.

Artistic director Chris Monks said: “As a result of our cut from North Yorkshire County Council, we will no longer be able to tour our summer shows to venues across Yorkshire, such as the Evron Centre in Filey, Whitby Coliseum and Pickering Meeting House, as we have in previous years. As a direct result, residents of North Yorkshire will have less access to the arts and culture.”

The theatre management believed strongly in the value of its OutReach work, despite the severity of the cut, said Mr Monks.

“Last year 4,000 children participated in educational projects run by the SJT. We will continue to deliver workshops and classes within the community. However, we will not be able to sustain this level of activity without finding support from elsewhere,” he warned.

Source

Bands wanted for Rock School 2011

2011-02-16T19:16:00.001Z

February half term sees the return of Pied Piper's collaboration with Leicester based band Delta Sly, and their extremely successful Rock School.

This project is for young emerging bands, and those who are more established but want some extra help and support on specific areas of their development.

Participants are supported by a 5 piece band of professional gigging musicians, ensuring that there is plenty of opportunity and support within workshops to focus on specific instrumental techniques, develop original material, explore how to develop cover versions of existing songs, band skills - including promotion and ensemble playing, record their original material and have a professionally produced album.

The week finishes with a gig on the Friday night where all the bands who have been involved get an opportunity to perform to a live audience wtih professional lighting rigs and PA systems, giving an authentic gigging experience!

When: Monday 21st - Friday 25th February 2011

Time: 10.30am - 4.30pm daily

Where: Brooklyn Youth Centre, Norton

Gig: 7.00pm Friday 25th February @ Brooklyn Youth Centre

How much: Workshops and Gig are FREE

Visit the Pied Piper website

How to book a place for your bandIf you are in a band and would like to take part in this project please email us or call 01653 669410 to book your place. Alternatively if you take part in either the Atmosphere or Brooklyn Rock School you can book your place through the youth worker.

This project is part of the NYMAZ programme and is being delivered with funding from NYMAZ, The Earl Fitzwilliam Charitable Trust, North Yorkshire County Council and Arts Council England, Yorkshire.

The BAFTAS

2011-02-15T23:10:00.002Z

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) hosted their annual awards ceremony to honour achievement in cinema at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden last Sunday. Period drama The King’s Speech was named best film, while the star of the movie, Colin Firth, picked up best actor. In total, the picture, which focuses on the relationship between Britain’s King George VI and his speech therapist, collected an impressive seven awards.

After winning the accolade, Colin, who won the best actor BAFTA last year for A Single Man - recalled the first time he had met with director Tom Hooper, joking about his “invasive” style of working.

"I had to postpone a routine but somewhat uncomfortable medical examination,” Colin said. "I am happy to report that the meeting was rather less uncomfortable than the exam, but as time went on it became clear that Tom's working methods were just as thorough and invasive as my doctor's.

"But when you see the results you're grateful, so I am thankful as I am to my doctor."

If you want to see Colin Firth's acceptance speech here it is -

The King’s Speech went on to win best original screenplay and best British film. The movie also saw Helena Bonham Carter pick up best supporting actress, while Geoffrey Rush took home best supporting actor for his role as the king’s therapist.

Helmsley Arts Centre will be showing The King's Speech on the following dates - Tue 29, Wed 30 Mar, Fri 1 April 7.30pm & Sun 3 April 6pm - book tickets here.

Here are all the results:

BEST FILM

The King’s Speech Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

DIRECTOR

The Social Network David Fincher

ANIMATED FILM

Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich

LEADING ACTOR

Colin Firth The King’s Speech

LEADING ACTRESS

Natalie Portman Black Swan

CINEMATOGRAPHY

True Grit Roger Deakins

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

Four Lions – Chris Morris (Director/Writer)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The King’s Speech David Seidler

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Toy Story3 – Michael Arndt

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Søren Stærmose, Niels Arden Oplev

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech

ORIGINAL MUSIC

The King’s Speech – Alexandre Desplat

EDITING

The Social Network – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Inception – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat

COSTUME DESIGN

Alice In Wonderland – Colleen Atwood

SOUND

Inception – Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

Inception – Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb

MAKE UP & HAIR

Alice In Wonderland – Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch

SHORT ANIMATION

The Eagleman Stag – Michael Please

SHORT FILM

Until The River Runs Red – Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD

Tom Hardy

THE ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP

Sir Christopher Lee

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA

The Harry Potter films

A look inside the Pixar Studios

2011-02-12T19:29:00.000Z

If you think you have a great work environment then check out what the creative folk at Pixar Studios have, jealous me....?

Latest funding news from Arts Council Engand

2011-02-11T09:26:00.001Z

Source: The Stage

Arts Council England chair Liz Forgan has vowed that the organisation’s forthcoming spending review, when it will overhaul its porfolio of funded companies, will be “as good and fair as it can be”.

Speaking at the State of the Arts Conference, Forgan said that she had faith in the ability of the arts council to make the correct decisions and said it had worked hard so that it did not repeat “the worst experiences of the last investment round”.

She said: “We have been entirely open in our guidance about what will shape these (funding) decisions. Everyone knows what we are looking for and we know exactly what we’re doing.

“This time the process is transparent. I hope that the criteria on which decisions will be made are equally clear. And I hope that they will be respected by artists and arts organisations because the process of formulating them has been open and collaborative.

“I certainly don’t imagine that when the time comes to announce our funding decisions there will be universal peace and light but we have really done our damndest to make it as good and fair as it can be.”

Her speech comes 48 days before ACE is due to announce its decisions on which arts organisations will receive funding from 2012 to 2015. As many as 100 organisations are expected to lose funding.

A new ‘national portfolio’ funding system will be in place from April 2012 and replaces the regularly funded organisations system, which currently provides funding to around 850 arts organisations across the country. 1,340 organisations have applied to be part of the new portfolio, with around 750 expected to be successful.

Applications are currently being assessed and decisions on which organisations will receive funding will be announced on March 30 2011, with the ACE operating with a 29.6% cut to its grant in aid funding from government.

Following ACE’s last investment round in December 2007 there was widespread protest from within the arts sector, including a meeting at the Young Vic Theatre when a vote of no confidence in the arts council was taken by assembled artists.

Sherlock Holmes: The Death & The Life - this Friday 11th Feb.

2011-02-09T22:51:00.002Z

In this wryly humorous tale, of murder, mystery & the occult..... The World's Greatest Detective refuses to leave the stage!

Arthur Conan Doyle tires of his intolerably arrogant Sherlock Holmes, and creates arch villain Professor Moriarty to dispose of him. But the author's dangerous strategy, combined with his passion for raising the spirits of the dead, has rather more bizarre and dramatic consequences than he bargains for!

This fantasy, based on a fiction, is a light-hearted illustration of the battle between an author's intentions, and the rebellious ambitions of his literary creations.

After his international success in ‘Sherlock Holmes.... the last act!’ Roger Llewellyn returns in this spine tingling new play

Roger Llewellyn won a scholarship and the Shakespeare Prize at RADA; has had a long career in classical theatre, television, the West End and repeat seasons with the RSC, before 8 years touring worldwide with the hugely acclaimed solo drama: "SHERLOCK HOLMES ... the last act!".

"..the last act " (1999); & "... the death & life " (2008), were written for him by the renowned author and specialist in adaptations of the Conan Doyle canon, David Stuart Davies.

Created and directed by Gareth Armstrong, with thrilling original music by RSC composer Simon Slater, both productions offer a memorable, mesmerising, and intensely theatrical experience.

"...the last act!" won 5 stars at the Edinburgh Fringe 1999 and was selected as one of "The Top Ten Fringe Plays". It has played over 450 performances in 270 theatres around the world, and enjoys many repeat visits.

To view scenes from " ... the last act!", (note not the current show " ...the death and the life") watch the video below:

Roger Llewellyn is an amazing actor, holding us, gripping us, with a bravura performance that is, I think, truly one of the glories of the age!

The piece is marvellous - wonderfully constructed, full of fun and heart and revelation, with unexpected depths.... all immaculately directed.

Llewellyn's performance is extraordinary - bold, brilliant, bedazzling, heartening, exciting . . . often very, very funny, but also touching and true.

It was a treat - a real treat: a privilege - to watch him in action. There was high comedy and melodrama as well as drama - but never (not once) was there a false note: it worked in every instance. He is a great artist.

We watched in awe, gasped, marvelled and cheered. I can't wait to see it all over again.

Gyles Brandreth. BBC Radio 4

Friday 11th February 7.30pm

Buy tickets

Northern Art Prize 2011

2011-02-07T22:45:00.000Z

A packed crowd came to the prize giving ceremony at Leeds Art Gallery in January to hear who would win the fourth Northern Art Prize of £16,500. Mark Lawson announced the winner as Haroon Mirza. David Jacques, Lubaina Himid & Alec Finlay each received £1500

Haroon Mirza in conversation

Art in Yorkshire

2011-02-07T22:24:00.001Z

Art in Yorkshire supported by Tate, is a year long celebration of the visual arts in 19 galleries throughout Yorkshire. Works from Tate's Collection of historic, modern and contemporary art will be showcased through a compelling programme of exhibitions and events.

A brand new microsite will be live on the 9th February 2011 so please come back to view. In the meantime, check out their booklet for full details of this exciting programme.

Participating Galleries & Museums

Arts Council Collection
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford
Impressions Gallery, Bradford
National Media Museum, Bradford
Shandy Hall, Coxwold
Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
Huddersfield Art Gallery
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton Le Hole

Harewood House, Leeds
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Leeds Art Gallery
Museums Sheffield: Millennium Gallery
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
The Hepworth Wakefield
National Railway Museum, York
York Art Gallery
York St Mary's

Programme highlights

● David Hockney's multiple canvas East Yorkshire landscape, Bigger Trees near Warter showing at York, Hull and Bradford galleries.
● Tate's Henry Moore exhibition toured from Tate to Leeds Art Gallery
● ARTIST ROOMS exhibitions in Leeds (Damien Hirst) and Hull (Francesca Woodman)
● Key works by Barbara Hepworth and early 20th century British & European art at The Hepworth, opening in Spring 2011; British 20th century works loaned to the new exhibitions gallery at National Railway Museum, opening February.
● Engagement programmes focusing on contemporary artist and practitioner led events

West Yorkshire Playhouse seeks 21 new writers

2011-02-06T20:49:00.000Z

New writing and West Yorkshire Playhouse have always been synonymous with one another. This year, successful course So You Want to be a Writer?, returns and to celebrate the Playhouse’s 21st Birthday, 21 people from across Yorkshire, who share a passion for writing will be able to take part in this free course, meet like minded people and be inspired and challenged. The deadline for applications is Friday 11 February.

This free course has been developed and co-ordinated by West Yorkshire Playhouse to encourage everyone with a passion for writing, regardless of experience, to explore and develop their talent. A series of workshops will be held at the theatre, where writers will have the opportunity to gain some invaluable advice from one of Leeds’ most successful writers Mark Catley among others. The course will run from 7 March – 9 May with a showcase of work on Thursday 21 April.

All aspiring writers should apply. Applicants must submit a one page letter describing themselves, why they want to write and why they want to join. Applications must be no more than a single sheet of A4 paper - the deadline is 11 February. Applications are to be sent, via post, to Alex Chisholm, Associate Director (Literary), West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UP.

Source

New website looking for contributors

2011-02-05T12:36:00.000Z

Yorinspired.com is a new website dedicated to highlighting the people and trades that make the region of Yorkshire great!

So what can you expect to find there? Their aim is to highlight people from all walks of life who are making a positive effect on our region. They are specifically looking at arts & crafts, antiques, food & drink, traditional trades, plus a special look at local animal charities. They are also interested in people who have made a life change such as leaving long term employment and are starting up a business on their own.

Do you have an exciting story you’d like to tell? Are you an established business or just starting up? From fledgling artist to theatre director, microbrewery owner to antiques dealer, jam maker to farm shop owner, blacksmith to silversmith, photographer to potter, singer to music teacher and everything in between, they’d love to hear your story and publish a article on their site.

How To Get Featured

1. Are you based in Yorkshire?

2. Does your work or business fall into one of these categories?

Arts & Crafts – Food & Drink – Traditional Trades – Animal Charities – Antiques

If you’ve answered ‘Yes’ to both questions, you can be featured on www.yorinspired.com

The content is up to you and only needs to be a few paragraphs of editorial, plus 3 or 4 photo’s. Please then email your information and pictures to info@yorinspired.com It’s that simple to get involved.

Golden Globe Winners at Helmsley Arts Centre

2011-02-04T16:56:00.001Z

At the Golden Globes ceremony last month, three of the films coming to the Arts Centre this season picked up the gongs. Colin Firth won Best Actor in a Drama for The King’s Speech, Natalie Portman won Best Actress in a Drama for Black Swan and Social Network won Best Motion Picture, Drama as well as Best Director, Best Score and Best Screenplay.

Tickets for all of these films are available from the Box Office on 01439 771700 or on the website.

North Yorkshire council plans to cut arts funds by 80%

2011-02-03T22:46:00.000Z

North Yorkshire County Council is proposing to cut its arts budget by £115,000 from April, significantly reducing subsidies to Harrogate Theatre, Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond and Rural Arts.

Under the proposals, NYCC’s overall arts budget will drop from £145,000 to £30,000. In a statement, it added that a fifth arts organisation, Blaize, which had received funding in 2010/11, would not be supported in the next financial year. The proposed cut will go before the full council in a meeting on February 16.

The news follows the drop in the council’s central government funding, announced in December, which has forced it to make savings of more than £57 million over the next two financial years.

NYCC’s statement concludes: “It is against this backdrop that difficult budget decisions have to be taken. The county council recognises the valuable economic, social and cultural benefits that are delivered by the arts organisations in question.

“As a result, it has striven to maintain a degree of funding for arts organisations in the face of an extremely challenging financial settlement for the county council.”

Harrogate Theatre chief executive David Bown said his venue’s annual subsidy would be cut from £63,000 to £10,000 from April, which represents a reduction of 85%. Speaking to The Stage, Bown said at a consultation meeting last summer, a number of arts organisations had told NYCC that the tipping point for funding cuts would be a reduction of 10% in the first year.

He pointed out that the theatre will also have to cope with a 8.7% real-terms cut in its Arts Council England subsidy in 2011/12. It was also one of the organisations to suffer most severely during ACE’s last round of funding decisions in 2007, with its annual support reduced from £400,000 to £150,000.

If the proposal is taken up by the council, Bown said there would be redundancies at the theatre and its education services would become vulnerable.

“The priorities that North Yorkshire [County Council] have that we were delivering against, ironically, are the things that are going to suffer here - rural outreach and education in particular,” he said.

“It will certainly affect artistic delivery in some form.”

Chris Monks, artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, said: “Although we have had a communication from NYCC, the extent of our funding cut has not been confirmed and we are still lobbying the council before the announcement on February 16.

“We are prepared to take our fair share of the pain associated with the Coalition’s financial policies.

“However, the signs point towards a loss of investment from local and national sources, which can only lead to the demise of theatre companies and the closure of buildings.”

Source: The Stage

Win an exclusive print of your favourite painting

2011-02-03T21:55:00.001Z

With some of the finest collections of oil paintings in the country, museums and galleries in Yorkshire have something for everybody. This year many of these paintings are available to view online for the first time and to celebrate Dig Yorkshire would like you to take part in this project to make the most of the fabulous art on your doorstep.

They are offering you a chance to win an exclusive print of your favourite painting by telling them why you like it and where you'd like to hang it. The most enthusiastic and popular entries will be selected and the winners announced in March. You can post your entry on Facebook and encourage your friends to vote for you, or send them a customised e-card.

Dig Yorkshire have already asked people to help create a shortlist of favourite paintings in Yorkshire. There are all kinds of paintings on the list which people love for different reasons.

You can see all the competition entries so far and select the story you think should win. Dig Yorkshire will keep you up-to-date on Twitter with the latest and most popular entries. You can also vote in some of the museums and galleries taking part.

They have put together trails to help you to visit these beautiful paintings. You can customise your trail to your mood or the paintings you like best or the museums and galleries nearest you. How about the love trail? The local heroes? A bit of escapism?...

Get involved and help celebrate Yorkshire's favourite paintings. Get the picture.

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1812 Theatre Company - Newsletter - 02/2011

2011-02-03T20:24:00.002Z

Dear All,

As this is the first newsletter of the year may I wish you all a belated happy new year.

First, I have to tell anyone who will be visiting The Old Meeting House that it is not for the time being possible to enter by the usual route. Building work is going on in the entrance and the booking office, so that for the time being it will be necessary to access the bar via the auditorium.

"Mother Goose" seems to have been enjoyed by all (I fear the snow stopped me) but everyone concerned had a horrendous time travelling and struggling to get all the items necessary to get the set built and the show on and they all deserve our heartfelt thanks.

The first show of the year is Richard Noakes' compilation of Pinter pieces, "Pinter's Greatest Hits", which runs from Wednesday 2nd March to Friday 4th March in the bar. As the bar seats only 40 early booking is advised. You may be interested to know that Richard will be talking about the show with Russell Walker on Radio York on Saturday 26th February.

We had our Annual General Meeting on Monday last to which about 20 members turned up. After wine, nibbles and a chat we settled down to the business of the evening. Our Chairman reviewed the last year and set out plans for this. We have decided to hold a play reading/ social evening before the audition for each show. Apart from being a pleasant evening it will mean that anyone interested in reading at the audition will not come to the audition cold. The first such evening will be held prior to the audition for "Oh, Clarence" (which is based on "Blandings Castle" by P G Wodehouse) on Monday, 18th April. David Goodwin is directing so fun is assured.

That's it for now.

Find out more about the 1812 Theatre Company.

Cinema: 'The American' - showing 9 February

2011-02-03T16:30:00.000Z

Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of this suspense thriller, filmed on location in Italy. Alone among assassins, Jack is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact that his next assignment will be his last.

Watch the trailer:

Get your tickets here.

This Saturday: Feb 5th - The Tom McConville Big Band

2011-02-03T13:09:00.002Z

The Newcastle fiddle player, Tom McConville, is one of the leading folk fiddle players of our time. A virtuoso musician and fantastic singer, his rich, warm voice makes his interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs greatly admired by singers throughout the world. He has played on literally hundreds of albums and whilst he has shared stages throughout the world with many big names he has never forgotten his roots in Tyneside.

Watch Tom here:

His big band line-up includes David Newey, Shona Kipling and Phil Murray, whose performances combine a roller coaster of musical delights.

“Scintillating fiddle, a silky smooth tone, a wide grin and a dry Geordie wit.'”

"Tom is a great player, and a terrific singer, he happens to be a number one bloke too." Dave Swarbrick

"This band is quite simply the top of the tree." Mike Harding

Get your tickets here

Ryedale Artists at Work 1.Christopher Ware

2010-10-20T10:24:00.005+01:00

Welcome to the first of a new occasional series of short films about artists in Ryedale.

We hope to make plenty more. So if you are an artist in Ryedale and would like to us to make a film about your work, please let us know.

There will be no charge.

Why the Arts Matter

2010-09-28T10:30:00.007+01:00

This is what Arts Council England has to say

A UK-wide international success story thanks to 15 years of sustained investment

Thanks to 15 years of sustained support, including the introduction of the Lottery in 1994, the arts are thriving. We have visionary leaders; entrepreneurial business models; a global reputation for excellence and innovation; enhanced facilities; a transformational Olympics opportunity; and a growing cultural economy built on a new spirit of creative confidence.

The arts budget is tiny; the return on investment is huge

The arts budget is tiny; it costs 17p a week per person - less than half the price of a pint of milk. In return we have: world-class arts and artists; a sector that gives Britain an international edge as a dynamic place to live, work and do business; a sector which fuels the creative industries and generates future jobs in one of the fastest growing parts of the economy; and a sector with a proven track record of regenerating towns and cities and contributing to a cohesive and engaged society.

The story is clear: small amounts of public money work hard and stimulate a mixed economy culture that is admired the world over and delivers a real return for the country in economic terms, and in terms of the kind of society we want to be.

Sustained support of the arts will allow them to play a vital role in Britain's economic recovery

Arts investment plays a vital role in the journey from talent to the creative industries, which are fundamental to the future competitiveness of British business and are seen as our best route out of recession. Between 1997 and 2006 the creative economy grew faster than any other sector, accounting for 2 million jobs and £16.6 billion of exports in 2007.

Arts and culture are central to tourism in the UK: this was worth £86 billion in 2007 - 3.7% of GDP - and directly employed 1.4 million people. Inbound tourism is a vital export earner for the UK economy, worth £16.3 billion to the UK economy in 2008.

Liverpool 08 was the most successful European Capital of Culture ever, with 15 million cultural visits and £800 million worth of local economic benefit.

Artistic enjoyment and creativity has never been more universal, more innovative, more easily distributed, shared and exchanged. The UK has the largest creative sector in the EU, and relative to GDP probably the largest in the world.

The arts are central to a government that places a healthy society at the heart of its agenda

Arts leaders and organisations occupy a major place in the 'Big Society': as civic leaders they contribute to the cohesion of their local communities, civic pride and quality of life.

Any cut to the arts will have a disproportionate effect for a relatively tiny saving to the public purse

For every £1 that the Arts Council invests, an additional £2 is generated from private and commercial sources, totalling £3 income. At a local level our investment can lever five times its worth.Arts Council investment acts as a stamp of approval that draws in funding from the private sector and philanthropic sources: philanthropy follows success.

We have developed a modern and progressive model for cultural organisations, bringing together public funding and private enterprise - a truly public-private partnership. But it is a finely balanced economy: if public funding is significantly reduced, the knock-on effect will be profound and the private sector will not make up the shortfall.

There is no firewall between the public funded arts and the private sector: the success of the commercial arts sector and the creative economy depends on both.

Spending Review

The Arts Council has already had a 5% Grant-in-aid in-year cut. DCMS share of the Government's in-year reduction is 4.1%, or £88 million. The Department has reduced the budgets of all the bodies it funds to help meet this reduction. The Arts Council's original 2010/11 budget has been reduced by a total of £23 million from £468 million to £445 million.

Arts Council England has also made a £6.5m a year saving on its overall support costs (Lottery and Grant in Aid). Support costs are currently 6.6% of overall spend - of which 3% is spent on management and administration. The remainder is spent on direct support to front line delivery.

While the Arts Council received a 5% reduction in funding, it limited the funding reduction to RFOs to just 0.5% through the exceptional use of £9 million of historic reserves (access to which was previously blocked by government).

The Arts Council has now been asked by DCMS to model a 25 - 30% cut across four years (along with other DCMS funded bodies). A 30% cut would, if passed on equally, amount to a reduction in the Arts Council's budget for regularly funded organisations of £134m a year. This would mean the loss of many arts organisations - large and small.

While the proposed return of Lottery money to the arts will be greatly welcomed, Lottery money will only be phased in over time. Any increase in Lottery funding will therefore not mitigate the impact of grant-in-aid cuts in the early years, and Lottery cannot substitute for government funding because of the important principle of 'additionality'.

Any cuts need to be spread intelligently over four years so that they can be managed in the best way. Any dramatic cut in funding in 2011/12 will hit organisations hardest in the Olympics year and it will take many years to recover.

The arts sector recognises the need to contribute to the economic recovery - and has already sustained significant cuts (£112.5 million of Arts Council Lottery funding has been diverted to the Olympics, in addition to the in-year Grant-in-aid cuts). From a business point of view there is a point at which the operating models of many organisations will have to be radically reappraised, and some will not have that option. There is a tipping point of 10-15% for most arts organisations.

Cuts of this magnitude will have a real impact on the frontline and will cost far more that the extremely small sums they save government overall. This is because cuts in local authority funding, a reduction in private sector support and escalating running costs will create the 'perfect storm' for many successful organisations who operate on the mixed economy model.

We will all have to get better at new ways of doing things - for example, making philanthropic giving much more effective for the arts. However, this cannot be done overnight and there will need to be changes and incentives to really take advantage of this.

Remember: the arts are valued, they really matter, they are essential to our quality of life

The financial climate is tough, but the arts remain a compelling case for public investment. Work with us to put that case as loudly and clearly as possible to government in advance of the next spending review so that we can minimise the potential damage.

We know that arts organisations are already finding new approaches to arts funding and to partnerships, collaboration and delivery - there are great examples of organisations thinking differently within this changing context. This is even more important given the challenges of the current economic climate: we must be as resourceful as we can and work together.

The arts broaden horizons, stimulate new thinking, provide pleasure and raise aspirations - they inspire and sustain the spirit. More people are enjoying the arts than ever before (76% in 2008/9)

The considerable benefits the arts can bring in other areas - social, economic, and to general well being - begin with the quality of the art itself. And this country has invested in artistic excellence for the long term.

We are committed to ensuring that public funds are used in the most cost effective way to deliver the greatest public value. In addition, we see the need to think of the long term.

We want to make the most of a range of extraordinary opportunities around the Olympics, to substantially build the digital and innovative capacity of the arts, and to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to access the very best of the arts and that the arts continue to thrive. This is why the Arts Council is developing a 10-year framework for the arts that will deliver the mission of great art for everyone.

As an Arts Council we will work with the sector to ensure the entrepreneurial genius of the arts continues to thrive.

We have evolved into a strong, efficient, outward looking organisation, and will continue to drive down costs while maintaining the quality and effectiveness of our advice, support and expertise.

Since 1 April the Arts Council's overall operating costs are down to 6.6 per cent (reduced from 11% in 2001/2), and of that only 3% is spent on administrative costs. DCMS has asked the Arts Council, along with other Non Departmental Public Bodies, to model a further 33 - 50% cut to its administration costs. If a cut of this size is implemented, the Arts Council will no longer be able to operate effectively on behalf of the sector, or manage the profound change to the sector that will be required over the coming years.

Do add your comments.

Sir Ken Robinson and a plea for creativity

2010-09-13T13:38:00.004+01:00

We watch in a kind of limbo, as the government's Sword of Damocles swings above us on its slender thread. The "Spending Review"! October....

In spite of the relatively small amount spent by Governments on the Arts and in spite of considerable cuts already made by the Arts Council and in spite of the fact that the return on money spent on the Arts is exceptionally high, there is little evidence from past experience to suggest they will be protected from the sword's sharp edge.

And in so far as the cuts about to be made are really necessary, we wouldn't expect them to be. We must accept our fair share of the pain.

However, the size of cuts, if applied in one blow, could be fatal. For those with small and already very tight budgets 25% is like cutting the legs off runners and telling them to win the 100 metres. And that's just the sort of thing people expect of the Arts.

At the very least we must have the time to make the big adjustments that will be needed, to what we do in the Arts and how we do it. If it really is to be as much as 25%, let it be spread over a number of years. In those years, too, we need as much help as possible to find ways of keeping us up and running.

Our Arts organisations and activities are too valuable to the country, its people and the economy for us to lose them. Along with Schools they provide the environment in which our creativity can flourish - or they should do, for we will need every drop of creativity we can muster to cope with what the future will bring us and our children.

And that is what Ken Robinson talked about at a TED conference . Do see below what he had to say on the subject. He's very funny but also deadly serious

Local Talent to launch our new season with a musical feast...

2010-08-04T22:07:00.012+01:00

Ryedale is brimming with talent so don't miss the chance to enjoy some of it at Helmsley Arts Centre on September 11th at 7.30pm in an evening of live music.

Four Quarters is an acappella harmony quartet: Lynn Sunley & Carolyn Jarvis from Farndale, Rachel Shackleton from Kirkbymoorside and Rob Davies from Malton. They sing an eclectic mix of popular and contemporary songs - jazz, barbershop, duwop, gospel and songs in Creole and Zulu.

Based in Scackleton Holly Cawte specialises in singing Jazz. Her repertoire includes the soulful sounds of Peggy Lee, Cleo Laine, Nina Simone. She will be accompanied on the piano by Ed Osbourne from Malton, who will also entertain us with couple of jazz solos.

Natasha Jones from Kirkbymoorside and Robin Bunton from Appleton-le-Moors sing, play and write songs drawing on soul, blues and jazz, as well as contemporary songwriters, blending styles, vocals and rhythms as they please.

£7 / concs £6 / students £5

Buy now

The Amazing Mr Carroll...

2010-07-12T22:06:00.004+01:00

I never knew so many different sounds could come from a guitar. Clive Carroll's gig was an eye and ear opener for all of us. The extraordinary range of sounds was matched by the variety of the music styles played. Classical Dowland to Johnny Cash, Albeniz to Chet Atkins, and atmospheric music of his own composition.

He played everything with such apparent ease, yet with a body totally engaged in the rhythms and nuances of the music. His technique was so good, producing so many layers of sound, it was difficult to believe at times there was only one guitar.

All this presented with a friendly and self deprecating commentary, funny stories and fascinating little insights into the guitar playing world.

The audience didn't want to let him go. But go he did. We hope he'll come back and if he does, look, please don't miss the chance to see him work his magic.

At last, we're back!

2010-07-05T15:23:00.014+01:00

It's a long time for a blog site to go quiet. Since April, for heaven's sake. But life has been a bit too full to manage blogging on top of the extra work involved in responding to the present financial ouch factor.

The last entry was about the 1812 Theatre Company's production of "The Memory of Water". I'm delighted to say - particularly so, as I was the director - it was a great success. It even made a profit. Most pleasing, though, was the high quality of ensemble acting by the cast, especially of the three sisters and their dead mother.

Even more successful was the Russian Orthodox Choir. So popular were they we had to put on an extra performance on the same day. Lucky for us they were willing to do it. And that sold out too.What a wonderful sound they made. The acoustic of our auditorium was perfect for them.

Heatseeker(theAC/DC Tribute Band) pulled in a keen crowd of fans, as, by way of complete contrast, did the Audience with Michael Mansfield, QC . He was a relaxed and fluent speaker and held his audience with ease. As ever, the Mardi Gras Jazz lunches were popular, and though "The Land Girls of Yorkshire" played to a full house, many in the audience felt it was a disappointingly flat. Maybe the Company had been touring it too long.

The 1812 Youth Theatre production of the world premiere of "Won't Be Long", by Tom Needham (of TV fame) and David Griffiths, was funny and moving and full of excellent performances from individuals in a very big cast. The story of evacuees in World War II

touched many in the audience. And for the first time in their history the company took the show to another venue - in Thornton le Dale, where their performance moved the audience to tears. We were particularly lucky in having sponsorship for this production from the Helmsley Freemasons Lodge No 7075, for which many thanks.

Disappointingly, a number of shows since then haven't done so well, for all that they were excellent entertainment and thoroughly enjoyed by those who did come. Ali Cook and the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, for example. Ali Cook's magic tricks are superbly executed and the puppets outrageously funny. Perhaps the publicity didn't make it clear that "puppets" doesn't necessarily mean "for children". It was definitely a show for adults.

Likewise the usually very popular "Ryedale Live", with its 2nd birthday celebration, brought a smaller than hoped-for audience. But they filled the studio/bar and in a relaxed and appreciative atmosphere, with french doors open to the balmy evening air, they enjoyed some first-class performers .

Actually, the scheduling did load the dice against us more than a bit, what with 10,000 attending the Simply Red concert in Dalby Forest, the Wombleton prom down the road, the World cup on the telly, not to mention the beautiful summer weather.

And I guess the latter plus Wimbledon and the local Steam Fair kept the audiences down for "The Wind in the Willows", though 40 on the first night and 60 on the second was pretty good under the circumstances. Ratatat Theatre Company were on sparkling form in a witty and inventive, high-energy version by Martin Riley, with Dominic Goodwin in his element as Toad.

And what a shame only 32 made it to "Dancing the Ramayana", a beautiful tour-de-force of Kathak(north Indian) dance and music, with the graceful and powerful dancer on the move,

non-stop for an hour and a quarter.

Now then, we hope more of you come to see that exceptionally talented young guitarist, who can play just about any sort of music, Clive Carroll, in the intimacy of the Studio/bar on Saturday 10 July at 7.30pm. Buy your tickets now.

We're very keen that as many of you as possible come to support the incredibly accomplished young players in Ryedale School's award-winning Wind and Jazz Bands on Sunday 11th July at 2.30pm. Buy your tickets now.

And then you mustn't miss the 1812 Theatre Company's latest production of "84 Charing Cross Road" 21st to 24th July at 7.30pm.Buy your tickets now.

Right now we're just putting the finishing touches to our autumn brochure and very soon the whole programme will be in our website and your online booking can start.

Don't miss "The Memory of Water"

2010-04-13T14:02:00.017+01:00

The1812 Theatre Company presents

Shelagh Stephenson's award-winning play

"The Memory of Water"

at the Helmsley Arts Centre

from 21st to 24th April at 7.30pm.

On the eve of their mother’s funeral, three sisters meet and once again clash, as old conflicts flare up and reveal their continuing grip on the present. Events may have been shared but memories of them differ wildly. With a husband and a lover also drawn into this bewildering whirlpool, the play offers

“...a superb mix of wild humour and bruising emotion.” Daily Telegraph

“Blessedly and mercurially funny...Stephenson combines a flair for witty dialogue with a relish for the dynamics of theatre...a mistress of comic anguish.” Guardian

The play won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2000

Buy tickets now

Whatever you do, don't miss the Sacconi Quartet!

2010-03-17T14:45:00.005Z

Performing at Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday 27th March at 7.30pm

They will play the String Quartet in D, opus 76 no. 5 by Haydn, the No 2 in D by Borodin and Dvorak’s opus 96 in F, the “American”.

"This young quartet is a revelation, playing with a mastery which is quite stunning. These three quartets are superbly performed and brilliantly recorded. They are amongst the best ever recordings of Haydn Quartets."
RECORDING OF THE MONTH - MusicWeb International

Read the full review of their Haydn CD

The Quartet is the New Generation Scheme Ensemble at the Royal College of Music and is Quartet in residence at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre. Their outreach programme takes music out of the concert hall and into the community – playing to prisoners, refugees and the physically disabled.

Listen to excerpts from their CDs

BOOK NOW

"The Wreckers" - back at Helmsley on March 6th

2010-03-01T16:53:00.008Z

Tom Needham's new play, The Wreckers, played to a full house at Helmsley Arts Centre on February 20th and has held audiences in its grip at other venues before then and since.

It was a masterly bit of storytelling, as each character was laid bare and the desire to know what happens grew. This is a ghost story but we are never sure if there is really a ghost or if it is an elaborate game or simply hallucinatory. We never see one but.....

The play was well served by the actors, who conveyed the see-sawing emotions and unravelling relationships with an intense restraint.

The play was a good example of how little technical trickery one actually needs to grip the imagination. The art of suggestion, good timing and richly suggestive language. Well, that's quite a lot really.

The really, really good news is that we have another chance to see this play at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday March 6th at 7.30pm

Better still from our point of view, Clap Trap Productions has offered to donate all ticket receipts for that performance to the Arts Centre. An offer we accepeted with gratitude. Thanks CTP.

So do make sure you come to see it if you missed it first time round. To support them and the Centre and to have an excellent night out.

Here's what some people said about it:

"Very atmospheric, a great story and, as always, great acting"

"Absolutely riveting"

"Terrific piece of writing"

"It was like being in the same room as the four characters: almost feeling you shouldn’t be there, but not wanting to leave..."

"Everyone hurried back after the interval, we all couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen"

"It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck"

"The woman in front of me leapt out of her chair!"

"far exceeded our already high expectations"

Book now.

'The Wreckers' coming back for a second night

2010-02-22T09:42:00.004Z

Following on from the hugely successful performance to a packed house on Saturday night, Clap Trap Productions will be returning with their show 'The Wreckers' on Sat. March 6th.

All proceeds will go the Helmsley Arts Centre so if you haven't seen the show do try and make it - you'll both have a great night out and support your local arts venue.

For tickets - call 01439 771 700 or buy online.

Interview with Tom Needham

2010-02-07T09:07:00.009Z

Find out more about the forthcoming production of 'The Wreckers' by watching this interview with author Tom Needham talking about his new play specially commissioned by Clap Trap Productions and touring in 2010. The story, located in a cottage built from the wood of a ship lured onto the rocks by wreckers, is haunted by the ghost of a child who drowned on that night. She’s been waiting over a hundred and fifty years for her revenge. And now, finally, the time has come.

Tom's numerous television credits include Cold Blood, Silent Witness, Dalziel & Pascoe, and The Bill.

The production features the acting talents of Cal Stockbridge, Chris Laishley, Katie Turner and Simon Waley and is directed by Gareth Jenkins.

Tour dates:

Fri 19th Feb 7:30pm Kirkbymoorside Methodist Chapel 01653 669554
Sat 20th Feb 7:30pm Helmsley Arts Centre 01439 771700 or online.
Fri 5th Mar 7:30pm Kirk Theatre, Pickering 01653 669554
Sat 6th Mar 7:30pm Helmsley Arts Centre 01439 771 700 or online.
Sun 14th Mar 7:30pm Galtres Centre, Easingwold 01347 822472
Sat 20th Mar 7:30pm Georgian Theatre, Richmond 01748 825252

A Grand Auction Of Art Work

2010-01-20T13:36:00.007Z

Friday 26 February 7.30pm

Ever since the Arts Centre reopened in 2001 - after the fire the previous year - we have been collecting works of art, donated by artists who have exhibited in the foyer and the Studio Bar, with the intention of auctioning them in due course to raise additional funds. We now have some 40 paintings and drawings in hand, many by well-known local artists - and we also have pressing demands to fund improvements to the Arts Centre's facilities and equipment.

So the long awaited auction will be held in the Arts Centre on Friday 26 February from 7.30pm.

Artists include Sir David Goodall, Jim Wright, June Emerson, Anne Lang, Bridget Gillespie and many more.

Admission will be by catalogue - one per person - now available. You can buy them at the Box Office, by telephone or online but will receive a catalogue instead of a ticket.

The catalogue also entitles you to canapés and your first drink at the social gathering at 7.30pm before the auction itself starts at 8.00pm.

Auctioneer: the former Director of Helmsley Arts Centre, Martin Vander Weyer

Tel: 01439 771700

www.helmsleyarts.co.uk

£5 admittance by brochure (includes canapés and first drink) .

More good news for Folk at Helmsley!

2010-01-16T12:33:00.007Z

We said we'd get another Folk Weekend up and running for September, 2010, and that's what we've done - thanks to Kate Bramley.

We are delighted to welcome some wonderful artists to the folk weekend this year- SONY Radio Academy Award Winning songwriter Jez Lowe, 2008 Scots Singer of the Year Emily Smith and 2006 Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year Shona Mooney, as well as from Canada, Juno Award Winning Songwriter James Keelaghan, and BBC Young Folk Finalists 2009 The Carrivick Sisters.

Add to that the soft spoken 'Whisky Bard' songwriter Robin Laing, the delightful Edwina Hayes, the great traditional singer and song collector Steve Gardham and many more wonderful Yorkshire artists, as well as the beautiful setting of the North York Moors, and you'll find it to be an unmissable weekend.

Bring your instruments and voices, walking boots and dancing shoes and join us for a spectacular Helmsley Folk Weekend 2010!

Keep in touch with details on the Helmsley Folk Weekend website.

Ryedale Young and Live!

2009-11-30T17:43:00.006Z

Helmsley Arts Centre Studio Bar - Friday 22 January 2010

Ryedale Live is launching a new series of performance evenings at Helmsley Arts Centre, specifically aimed at teenagers within the area. Called “Ryedale Young and Live!”, they are designed to give young singers, songwriters and musicians of all levels the opportunity to perform to an attentive audience, but in a relaxed and non-threatening environment.

The first of the series is scheduled for Friday 22^nd January from 7.30pm and will take place in the Studio Bar. To support the evening there will be performances by two of the region’s most talented youngsters, Amaya and Alastair James.

Commenting on this new development for Ryedale Live! Rob Davies said: “We have felt for some time that there is little or no opportunity for Ryedale’s talented youngsters to perform, other than at school or in their bedrooms! This will allow them to sing or play 2 or 3 songs amongst their peer group and thus to raise their bar a little and gain valuable performance experience. We have been using Helmsley Arts Centre for quite sometime now for our Ryedale Live! Songwriters Circle concerts and we felt that the Studio Bar is the perfect location for this exciting new series.”

If you would like to participate in this or any future evening, please send your details to mail@ryedalelive.co.uk or call Rob Davies on 01653 690503.

Good news for the Helmsley Folk Weekend

2009-11-16T20:48:00.027Z

The Arts Centre Management has regular meetings to discuss how the programmes we present have been going and what we can learn from experience about what to do next.

Recently we shone the spotlight on our (for us) ambitious weekend of folk music in September. We had three nights of events and two whole days' worth of music in the Centre, the town square, the Town Hall and in various local pubs.

For those who came, the weekend was a great success. There was an exciting "buzz" in the air, they said. But, alas, not enough people came and we lost £2,200. And we had no sponsors to help us out. Not good news. So should we give up on an event we've been developing over the past three years?

The answer is a resounding "NO!"

OK, so we've been a bit over ambitious. And there's no doubt the recession is biting us and our customers harder. But the good news is that a couple of people, very experienced in the world of folk events, has offered to help us build the event more solidly in the future.

The Management of the Arts Centre voted unanimously to learn from the experience and get on with organising next year's Weekend of Folk. Which is also a firm endorsement of all the hard work our Deputy Director, Jean Kershaw, has put into organising this event for the past three years. Thank you, Jean.

And a big "thank you" for all those supportive comments we've received from people who enjoyed the weekend this year.....

From Kate Bramley : "The success of the folk weekend in previous years has proved that there is an interest in the music, and the huge amount of local support from musicians and other organisers shows their partner commitment to slowly growing an annual folk event in Helmsley

The theatre and town have such a great potential as a host venue and our focus for the future is to make sure the theatre is at the hub of the action, drawing people in to the venue across the weekend for session and concerts as well as general 'bonhomie'."

From Linda Hencher:
"The ceilidh was much enjoyed by all those who attended and everyone was keen to dance. The Town Hall is a really good venue for it. The selection of dances was good and the Jellybeans band was easy to dance to and had an excellent caller. The simple pie and pea supper worked well."

From Richard Abrahall:

"I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Folk Festival, although you must be a little disappointed at the turnout to some of the daytime events.

I went to nearly everything and it was so intimate we got to know each other quite well by the Sunday evening concert.

I do hope that you can do it again next year, but thanks for doing so this autumn."

From Ray Padgett:

"Very many thanks for all your work at Helmsley this year. as organiser. It is not easy getting these things up and running. I wouldn’t bother too much about the ‘fringe’ pub events – use the Arts Centre and use the café bar all to maximum to create revenue and as a stage for musicians and a singaround area………lots of potential here."

From Christine Bishop – Acorn Morris Dancers:

"I would like to say what a good dance spot you gave us as part of the folk weekend (courtesy of RDC!) This spot allowed us to dance properly and safely and also gave the spectators a better view."

A special evening of music

2009-11-04T09:27:00.002Z

Susan Allen from Cawton sent us this:

I am writing to say how much I enjoyed the violin and piano recital on 17th October at the Helmsley Arts Centre (see picture left). It was a very special evening and I think many in the audience felt as I did, that we were privileged to be there.

Once again I drove home thinking how extremely fortunate we are to have music of such quality on our doorstep. It helps to make Helmsley and the wider area such a very special place to live in.

I am looking forward to the Cello and Piano Recital in November and to Michael Lunts as Rachmaninov (see picture right) in A Meeting of Minds. Many thanks to the Arts Centre for providing so many wonderful evenings.

Current Exhibition: Chris Ware

2009-11-02T09:30:00.002Z

Chris Ware has a secret. The country's only professional Artist in Residence on a heritage railway sometimes deserts the precision of railway art for the world of flowing colour without a train in sight. Loved landscapes describing, in watercolour, emotion and form are, for this Kirkbymoorside painter, 'Along Different Lines'.

Come and see Chris at the Arts Centre every Sunday working on his 'Turner' painting - for more details watch the video.

Tue 27 Oct - Fri 20 Nov - Helmsley Arts Centre, North Yorkshire

Are you aged between 13–21 and interested in theatre?

2009-10-31T09:44:00.002Z

Do you want to be part of the most dynamic national theatre company for young people? Do you want to make great new friends across the UK? Do you want to do something exciting? Do you want your voice to be heard?

If the answer is "YES!" to any of these questions and you are aged between 13 and 21, the National Youth Theatre, Britain's Premiere youth theatre company is just the place for you!

National Youth Theatre members get to work with some of the best professional writers, directors, designers and technicians from the UK theatre industry so why not join them?

Whether you want to pursue a professional career in the entertainment business or not, the National Youth Theatre can offer you many exciting opportunities to learn new skills, develop your own talents and to have great fun, all of which can be applied to whatever you choose to do in later life.

Why not take this chance to flex your acting or technical muscles and give it a try?

The 2010 Intake Acting and Technical Auditions will take place in February at the Yorkshire Artspace. We are however, open to applications at present, and wish to spread the word about these auditions in Yorkshire.

Applications are now being accepted and the closing date is January 8th (but we do advise individuals to send off applications as early as possible).

WANT TO AUDITION OR INTERVIEW?

Don't worry, it's straightforward, painless and a bit fun.

If you're successful you get invited on a course. After the course you can audition for our productions or join the production team.

Auditions take place up and down the country in local centres in February. But you have to apply NOW!

Nice people run them; it's nothing like X Factor.

Find out more about the National Youth Theatre and apply here.

Skylight - a tour de force

2009-10-25T23:04:00.008Z

If you haven't managed to get to the Arts Centre for the 1812 Theatre Company's production of David Hare's "Skylight", then please do catch up with it on its short local tour. It's a tour de force of a production.

Here's where you'll find it : Friday 30 October at 7.30pm at Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall, for which you can book your tickets online through the Helmsley Arts Centre or by telephone on 01439 771700

Or Saturday 31 October at 7.30pm at Easingwold Galtres Centre, for which you can book tickets at Easingwold on 01347 822472

Kyra is surprised to see the son of her former lover at her apartment in a London slum; he hopes she will be reconciled with his distraught, now widowed father. Tom, a restless, self-made restaurant tycoon, arrives later that evening, unaware of his son's visit and aghast at Kyra's new vocation teaching underprivileged children. Is the gap between Tom and Kyra unbridgeable, or can they resurrect their once passionate relationship?

Skylight premiered at the National Theatre and won the Guardian's coveted Best New Play award.

'Luminously beautiful and wildly truthful, Skylight is deeply and truly about people... it is a fascinating play'. N.Y. Post
'Undogmatic and unafraid, unforgiving but compassionate'. Sunday Times

Buy 'Skylight' by David Hare from Amazon.

A long way home

2009-10-25T11:02:00.007Z

"I write on my lap with the wind rocking the wagon"

North Country Theatre have made another visit to Helmsley on their latest long tour of the North. They've appeared regularly at the Arts Centre now for about nine years and have built up a loyal following, such as filled the theatre on the evening of Sunday 18th October. This time they brought a revival of their Home on the Range, a tale of women on the famous 2000mile Oregon Trail, based mainly on the diary of Annis Harker from the Dales. Most of the audience were once again impressed by the company's invention and skill. But some were a little disappointed.

It's true the pace was slow and the lack of a strong through-line of narrative providing the shape and forward moving drive did mean we had to let ourselves settle into the images and the recurring ritual and let them give us a sense of the long and heavy trudge on the trail. For me that worked well. The ritual was enacted right from the start in the fluidly choreographed construction of the canvas topped wagon and continued in the transitions from one episode to the next.

The episodes themselves, little scenes of life and family relationships on the trail, seemed true to the matter-of-fact way Annis Harker reported them. They were not spectacular. Much like one would experience anywhere. It was the context that was unique. I liked this juxtaposition of the everyday with the epic.

Then there is the Company's approach to theatre. They make a point of engaging with the audience as actors. This started in the bar before the performance. Nobby Dimon, their writer/director/lighting & sound man/general factotum, made quite a performance of selling programmes. This continued in the auditorium, where he involved "our youngest actor" in selling more.

This talking to the audience continued within the play itself. They joked about just being three women and assured us there were men too. And, lo, they duly appeared as life-sized puppets, sketchily dressed, a bit like scarecows, manipulated by the three women (double meaning intended). They do it again, though more theatrically, in their repeated mantra in the between-scene trudging, "imagine three women..." Think of the Prologue to Shakespeare's Henry V exhorting us to ..." entertain conjecture of a time ..." And of Brecht's ways of reminding us these are only actors. It's in a long tradition and one that has been well mined in the North not so long ago with issue plays and documentary drama. Alan Plater's "Close the Coalhouse Door" comes to mind.

For me it doesn't break the spell, as it does for some, so much as intensify it - when, that is, the scenes that follow are effectively done. And here I was a bit frustrated. The actors had done so much to create these scenes and the ideas were there. But they needed to take a moment or two longer to express and hold on to the significant moments of feeling and relationship. All right, we don't want it overegged, but we do need to be drawn in to the emotional drama of each scene, withheld in the diary entries, be it the death of the father/husband, or a sense of love and unity in singing round the harmonium. That's what theatre is about, making visible the invisible. They did seem to jump too readily out of the scenes into the trudge, and thus flattened out the drama as a whole.

Maybe making more music would have helped. Like with so much else, they did that beautifully. I longed for more of that.

If you've not seen it, do try to catch it on its tour, the schedule for which you can see on their website
It's well worth it.

A welcome for young people

2009-10-24T09:03:00.004+01:00

Good to see the reminder (posted 7 October) of the achievements of our 1812 Youth Theatre. It has been remarkably successful over the years since it started in the 1990s. It has at any one time at least sixty members and a waiting list. Many stay with the company for years.

Recent memorable productions have included The Visit, Dracula, Do We Ever See Grace, and their next one is Willy Russell's Our Day Out, showing on 13th and 14th November, at 7.30pm, tickets £5 (or £3 concessions).We hope to see you there.

But they're not the only young people to use the Centre. There's the regular ballet classes, on Mondays and Saturdays, with nearly a hundred dancers. The quality of teaching is high, as is the commitment of the students. Many of them work towards Royal College of Dance exams and this year 24 entered and 24 passed, 6 with distinction.

In addition, each summer we organise theatre and dance workshops, such as the highly successful five days of work this summer with Pilot Theatre from York.

We're particularly pleased this year to have become a centre for the Arts Award programme for young people aged from 11 to 25, with a team of seven newly trained advisers. For more about this see our website newsletter. Added to which we are now applying to be registered as an Arts Award Welcome Centre.

And we are delighted to be a centre for a project organised through the Ryedale Theatre Association called Inspired, which has already begun to take groups of children from a number of Ryedale schools to various theatrical venues to see good theatre or to join in theatre workshops.

As well as making sure we have theatre and music in the theatre to appeal to a wide range of ages, we also welcome other youth theatre groups to perform, such as the Scarborough based company, Raised Eyebrow Youth Theatre.

Finally, we've just started a filming group which includes people from 14 to 30, to find out more contact Jez Coram, and finally we have a song writing group has recently begun meeting here once a month - further details from Jean Kershaw.

It's a busy place!

Is Judi Dench right – are young actors only obsessed with fame?

2009-10-14T09:49:00.004+01:00

Wannabe stars don't always understand the importance of theatrical history, but it's showbusiness that's to blame.

So members of the 1812 Youth Theatre ... is Dame Judy (one of the patrons of the Helmsley Arts Centre by the way) correct in her assertion?

Read more and comment below.

Local heroes: the theatre companies who deserve our support

2009-10-13T09:34:00.003+01:00

'Now is not the time to get sniffy about the struggles of local theatre companies – they are the artistic epicentres of their communities'.

Excellent posting yesterday on the Guardian Theatre Blog by Paul Allen, who provides an interesting northern-based slant on theatre.

Read the whole article here.

TS Eliot is the Nation's Favourite Poet!

2009-10-12T22:35:00.008+01:00

After more than 18,000 votes were cast TS Eliot is given the title of 'nation's favourite poet' by an online poll hosted by the BBC to mark National Poetry Day.

The results of the online poll saw Eliot win in a "tight final", according to the BBC, narrowly pipping John Donne to the post. In an eclectic top 10, Rastafarian dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah came in third (the only living poet to make the top 10), while no female poets – not even poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy or Sylvia Plath - made the final line-up, which was rounded out by Wilfred Owen, Philip Larkin, William Blake, William Butler Yeats, John Betjeman, John Keats and Dylan Thomas.

Read The Waste Land (extract)
Watch Eliot read Little Gidding
Find out more about Eliot

Arena: TS Eliot
Thurs 8 Oct 2009 22:25 BBC Four
Arena presents a profile of TS Eliot which, with unprecedented co-operation from the Eliot Estate, tells the story of one of the 20th century's most celebrated and elusive writers. Rpt.
Watch on BBC iPlayer

T.S. Eliot reading The Waste Land. Recording of the poem by the poet himself.

1812 Youth Theatre Successes

2009-10-07T20:47:00.004+01:00

Old news but worth repeating on the new blog for those who didn't see it first time around.

As reported in the Gazette & Herald (11/06/2009) FOUR talented young thespians from a Ryedale youth theatre group are enjoying stunning success.

The teenagers are all members of 1812 youth theatre group, which meets at Helmsley Arts Centre each week.

Nathaniel Priestley, 19, has been accepted into East 15 acting school in London, Sam Lunn, 18, has won a place on the drama degree course at Manchester Metropolitan University, Polly Gunton, another pupil, is currently acting in the West Yorkshire Playhouse production of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, and Hannah Moody, 15, has just been accepted into the National Youth Theatre.

Claire Lishman, marketing and theatre manager at the Helmsley Arts Centre, said: “I am very proud of the four of them.

“They have all had lead parts in the last four shows we have put on. They have been coming to theatre group for many years, so they very much deserve to go on to bigger things.

“We wish them all the very best in the future and we will miss Sam and Nathaniel, who will not be coming to youth theatre any more.”

Nathaniel, who lives in Nunnington, said: “I’ve been acting all my life, and I started at the 1812 Youth Theatre when I was six or seven.

“The most fun role I have ever had was as Dracula in our youth theatre production of Dracula in spring last year.

“After I finish my course, I want to get a job in acting, but I am not sure if it will be in stage, radio or television. There is a lot out there to discover.”

Sam said: “I joined the youth theatre when I was 12, and ever since then acting has been my passion.

“I’d like to work on theatre or on screen – anything I can do to keep performing.”

Hannah, who lives in Kirkby Knowle, will go on a 12-day course with the National Youth Theatre in London next Easter. Once completed, she will be eligible to act in professional productions.

She said: “I can’t wait. It’ll be really good staying in London, and the course should give me a better idea of whether I want to do acting as a career.”

Polly was unable to comment, as she was busy acting in His Dark Materials, which runs until June 20.

Website review: Theatre Voice - audio for theatre buffs

2009-10-07T09:51:00.005+01:00

On the new blog we will occasionally highlight websites that we think will be of interest to our readers. First off Theatre Voice - the UK's leading website for audio-based discussions on theatre.

In their own words; It was set up in 2003 to see if theatre could be talked about in a new way: allowing critics to be more expansive than the usual space constraints of the print media allowed; to enable actors, writers, directors and designers to be heard talking in detail and at length about their work; and to help members of the public interact more directly with theatre-makers and commentators.

Principal contributors 2008-09:
David Benedict is London theatre critic for Variety
Dominic Cavendish is deputy theatre critic for the Daily Telegraph
Jane Edwardes is theatre editor, Time Out London
Philip Fisher is a freelance journalist and critic
Heather Neill is a freelance journalist and critic
Mark Shenton is theatre critic for the Sunday Express; and blogs for the Stage
Aleks Sierz is theatre critic for Tribune, author of In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today and The Theatre of Martin Crimp
Charles Spencer is lead theatre critic for the Daily Telegraph

Among the 650 plus recordings, free to access via the search facility: Jimmy Akingbola, Mike Alfreds, Ola Animashawun, Howard Barker, Alistair Beaton, Jean Benedetti, Steven Berkoff, Alecky Blythe, Matthew Bourne, Michael Boyd, Peter Brook, Gregory Burke, Nica Burns, Ken Campbell, Romeo Castellucci, Alison Chitty, Paule Constable, Dominic Cooke, Martin Crimp, Tim Crouch, Bob Crowley, Oliver Ford Davies, April De Angelis, Janie Dee, Declan Donnellan, Dominic Dromgoole, David Edgar, David Eldridge, Marianne Elliott, Tim Etchells, Sir Richard Eyre, Vicky Featherstone, Emma Fielding, Deborah Findlay, Tim Fountain, Frantic Assembly, Michael Frayn, Sonia Friedman, Bill Gaskill, Pam Gems, Peter Gill, David Glass, John Godber, Lisa Goldman, Chris Goode, Henry Goodman, Rupert Goold, Michael Grandage, David Greig, Trevor Griffiths, Tanika Gupta, Lee Hall, Sir Peter Hall, David Harrower, Nick Hern, Dominic Hill, Patricia Hodge, Nicholas Hytner, Catherine Johnson, Paterson Joseph, Dennis Kelly, John Kani, Nicolas Kent, Ralph Koltai, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Neil LaBute, David Lan, Stewart Lee, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Tracy Letts, Doug Lucie, James Macdonald, Anna Madeley, Mustapha Matura, Simon McBurney, Owen McCafferty, Frank McGuinness, Nancy Meckler, Idina Menzel, Katie Mitchell, Vicky Mortimer, Chloe Moss, Tom Murphy, Anthony Neilson, Peter Nichols, Joe Penhall, Sian Phillips, Alan Plater, Mark Ravenhill, Emma Rice, Ian Rickson, Philip Ridley, Josie Rourke, Willy Russell, Simon Russell Beale, Mark Rylance, Peter Sellars, Thea Sharrock, Shunt, Roxana Silbert, Michael Simkins, Sir Donald Sinden, Max Stafford-Clark, Simon Stephens, David Storey, Jatinder Verma, Laura Wade, Che Walker, Enda Walsh, Harriet Walter, Sam Walters, Sacha Wares, Arnold Wesker, Samuel West, Roy Williams.

Visit Theatre Voice.

Do feel free to recommend any performing arts related websites via the comments link below.

Wolf Hall wins the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction

2009-10-06T22:07:00.000+01:00

Hilary Mantel is tonight (Tuesday 6 October) named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for Wolf Hall, published by Fourth Estate.

Wolf Hall has been the bookies' favourite since the longlist was announced in July 2009.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel was picked from a shortlist of six titles. A.S. Byatt, J.M. Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer and Sarah Waters were all shortlisted for this year's prize.

Wolf Hall is set in the 1520s and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court. Hilary Mantel has been praised by critics for writing ‘a rich, absorbingly readable historical novel; she has made a significant shift in the way any of her readers interested in English history will henceforward think about Thomas Cromwell.'

James Naughtie, comments ‘Hilary Mantel has given us a thoroughly modern novel set in the 16th century. Wolf Hall has a vast narrative sweep that gleams on every page with luminous and mesmerising detail.

‘It probes the mysteries of power by examining and describing the meticulous dealings in Henry VIII's court, revealing in thrilling prose how politics and history is made by men and women.

‘In the words of Mantel's Thomas Cromwell, whose story this is, "the fate of peoples is made like this, two men in small rooms. Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp and processions. This is how the world changes." '

This is the first time the publisher Fourth Estate has had a Man Booker Prize winner. They have previously published three shortlisted books - Nicola Barker's Darkmans (2007) and Carol Shields' novels Unless (2002) and The Stone Diaries (1993).

Hilary Mantel spent five years writing Wolf Hall and she is currently working on a sequel.

James Naughtie, Chair of the judges, made the announcement, which was broadcast by the BBC from the awards dinner at London's Guildhall. Peter Clarke, Chief Executive of Man Group plc, presented Hilary Mantel with a cheque for £50,000.

Over and above her prize of £50,000, Hilary Mantel may expect a huge increase in sales and recognition worldwide. Each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, receives £2,500 and a designer-bound edition of their book. This year, shortlisted authors will also receive a year's membership to The Groucho Club in London.

The judging panel for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was: broadcaster and author James Naughtie (Chair); Lucasta Miller, biographer and critic; Michael Prodger, Literary Editor of The Sunday Telegraph; Professor John Mullan, academic and author and Sue Perkins, comedian and broadcaster.

Sales related to the Man Booker Prize have been exceptionally strong this year. More than double the number of copies of books have been sold between longlist and shortlist announcement, and from shortlist announcement to winner announcement, compared to last year.

Read the full press release here

Read a question and answer interview with Hilary Mantel.

Global Dance Contest - Vote Now!

2009-10-06T21:56:00.001+01:00

The ten finalists in Sadler’s Wells online Global Dance Contest have been chosen.

In this next stage of the competition to find new dance talent from around the world, the public are invited to vote – just once - for their favourite. The winner will receive a £2,000 cash prize, an all-expenses paid trip to London and the opportunity to perform live on stage in January 2010 at Sadler’s Wells Sampled – a show case of different dance forms which can be seen at the London dance house through the year.

The Global Dance Contest was launched in March this year and in six months attracted 170 entries from 34 countries around the world, including Ghana, Venezuela, China, the Philippines and Russia. The ten finalists, who come from Australia, Israel, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Britain and the United States, were chosen by a panel of judges which included choreographer Arlene Phillips, UK broadcaster and journalist Miranda Sawyer and Artistic Director and CEO of Sadler’s Wells Alistair Spalding.

Kingsley Jayasekera, Director of Marketing and Communications at Sadler’s Wells said "We are very excited that the Global Dance Contest really has given us a window on the world and the diversity of dance out there. Our judges were spoilt for choice in selecting the finalists. Now it’s down to the public to watch the ten videos on www.globaldancecontest.com and vote for their favourites."

Voting is open until 13 November and the winner will be announced on 18 November. The overall winner will present their piece in front of an audience of nearly 2,000 people on the main stage at Sadler’s Wells next year. They will receive professional support and guidance to help them adapt their work to the theatre stage. The contest will run annually for the next four years. At the end of four years in 2012, the collective winners of the annual competition will be invited to perform their work in London during the Olympic year.

Choose your winner and check out all the entries on www.globaldancecontest.com

Funding available for creative young people

2009-10-06T20:43:00.001+01:00

The National Youth Theatre’s online partner, IdeasTap has another fantastic funding opportunity for young people in the arts – Ideas Fund.

IdeasTap is a new and innovative free service for young people, offering many opportunities to get involved on exciting creative projects, as well as sign-posting useful progression routes and information. IdeasTap now also hosts all of the National Youth Theatre opportunities and activities for young people, alongside other prestigious partners such as the Old Vic, Polka Theatre, L’Ouverture and YCTV.

The Ideas Fund is IdeasTap’s very own funding scheme, aimed at helping 16-25-year-olds realise their creative ideas, with £150,000 to give away each year.

The Ideas Fund offers more than just financial support, with mentoring, marketing and production advice to make sure the project has the best possible chance of succeeding.

Funding applications can be up to £20,000 and begin at £1,000, with the current Fund split into two prizes, Edinburgh and Innovators.

The Autumn Ideas Fund is now live on IdeasTap with applications closing on 11 November 2009.

Young people can apply directly to this fund through IdeasTap for grants of between £1000 and £20,000 for their own creative projects.

Register now at IdeasTap.com to check out the latest information and full details for IdeasFund, as well as the many and varied opportunities, articles and information currently available.

Play: 'Skylight' - new promo video

2009-10-05T23:26:00.002+01:00

Hot off the press is the promotional video, produced by local filmmaker Jez Coram, for the 1812 Theatre Company's 'Skylight' (21-24 October). And you can watch it here.

Kyra is a young teacher working and living in one of London‘s less attractive districts. Tom‘s wife has recently died of cancer: he is a wealthy entrepreneur and Kyra‘s former lover. On a cold winter night Tom‘s teenage son, Edward, calls on the young teacher to beg her to be reconciled with his father.

Tom himself arrives, wishing to expiate his guilt and renew his lust. Kyra complies, sort of, until the debate soars and the insults fly in a way that makes you wish your own kitchen-table tiffs were half as brutal, half as civilised. David Hare‘s passionate play is sharp and satisfying, an impassioned head-on collision of values and confused desires. Read the Play

Book Tickets

October Cinema Programme

2009-10-05T22:41:00.000+01:00

Of course all our cinema listings are always available on our site but here is the low down on our October offerings.

Oct 7, 7.30pm
The Proposal
When high-powered book editor Margaret faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she’s actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant Andrew, who she’s tormented for years.

Sandra Bullock is one of the most likeable and skilled comediennes in movies today, but she hasn’t had a comedy smash hit since the first Miss Congeniality nine years ago. That’s about to change with The Proposal, an engaging, well-crafted lark that proves “high concept” isn’t necessarily a tired tactic.

14 and 15 October, 7.30pm
31 North 62 East
A female Captain in the SAS who survives an attack on her unit in Afghanistan, later discovers that her unit was sacrificed for political reasons.

The conspiracy theories come bellowed at top volume in this galumphing British thriller, which plays out in a shadowy geopolitical terrain stuffed-full of colourful racial stereotypes (chain-smoking French mademoiselles; cackling Afghan terrorists). John Rhys Davies plays the evil prime minister who betrays a crack SAS unit in order to safeguard an £80bn arms deal - although the joke's on him, because he reckoned without Heather Peace's questing angel of vengeance. His fiendish scheme crumbles under an onslaught of machine-tooled plot twists and a barrage of expository dialogue.

Friday 16 October, 7.30pm
Brief Encounters (a Night Of Short Films)

28 Oct, 7.30pm
Coco Before Chanel
Audrey Tautou, returns as Coco Chanel in the biopic Coco Before Chanel, exploring the life and rise to fame of one of the great couturiers and fashion icons. Jodi Piccoult‘s novel My Sister’s Keeper is brought to the screen and in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Robin Wright Penn gives a spellbinding performance of the eponymous heroine with lustrous support from the likes of Alan Arkin, Julianne Moore, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.

Book tickets.