Dance4 office male population in decline...

Today is one of those days where one chapter ends and another opens within my life. OR in other words, its my last day at Dance4.

Yes today is my final day in the office and tomorrow I will be graduating, praying that I don’t trip over in my robes in front of a lot of people!

I have had a wonderful time here at Dance4 and would like to say a massive thank you to Claire and Paul and everyone for giving me this amazing opportunity. Everyone here has been so welcoming and friendly and it will be sad to leave. I’ve never worked in an office before, and the first few weeks were a bit bizarre. Too scared to answer the phone and then when I did, how do you transfer a call? Where is the printer, in fact how do you even print? Then there is all the tea. I work in a very busy bar and even I could never keep up with the enormous rounds of hot drinks required to keep this small but incredibly important office ticking over.

However this all soon past and soon I was neck deep in all things Quake which I absolutely loved. Working on this project allowed me to gain invaluable experience of the industry, all the stuff they don’t teach you at Uni! The night was a complete success and all the positive feedback we received confirmed to me that this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.

So what now? Well after tomorrow I plan to go back home in Devon and spend some quality time relaxing and catching up with the family. I hope the weather holds out! Then in September I’m going back to Uni as a postgraduate student studying on the Cultural Events Management MA at DMU, so I still get be a student for a little while longer!

Right, so now its time to say goodbye properly and to once again say a massive thank you to everyone at Dance4. Good luck with all the up and coming projects guys and you will definitely be seeing me soon!

Lewis

xxx

Miriams stamping ground experience....

It was Eastwood Family Funday on Saturday 10^th July which was programmed by myself as part of Stamping Ground, Dance4’s annual festival programme of free dance performances and workshops for young people and their families. It was a lovely scorching day and the crowds flocked out for the Funday. We had a huge number of audiences and workshop participants and through their feedback it seemed like they really enjoyed themselves! We had energetic Asian dance performed by Asian Flava, a dance company from the West Midlands, some contemporary and old skool jazz fusion from Clout Youth Dance Company as well as a fun and vibrant workshop. We also had a solo street dance performance and workshop performed and led by Kieran Taylor and finally we had a solo performance by Ben Eagles which was influenced by Gene Kelly. It was a brilliant day and I loved planning it!

I am in the office today to go through the post show events and reminiscing on a wonderful day where dance was presented in a lovely park with an sensational buzz and atmosphere. It was great and I would like to thank Linzi Gibbs, Assistant Producer Dance4 and all of the Dance4 office for their help and support. Thank you :)

Creative and Cultural Products

Via The Creative Apprentice

film courtesy of Andrew Bell

Today I went out to get a bunch of Stamping Ground t-shirts printed [Stamping Ground's summer starts this Saturday!]. So, I bought a bunch of blank vests and tees and hauled them over to get printed on.

Amid the t-shirt talk, I was reminded about a crazy cool t-shirt printing company me and a few friends started while we were in school. It was terrible and hilarious and filled with scissors and virtual trips to cheap wholesalers on the internet. It also marked the initial foray into customer/consumer interaction and consultation [obviously aside from my extremely important stint as a Saturday girl at a local cafe].

Going along the subject of the value and quality of creative and cultural products, that I touched upon yesterday following a session at college, it's important that what you present holds true integrity. As consumers [intellectual or physical], we have the right to fully scrutinise what we are investing in. And we should. The shame comes when people don't realise they have that right, or worse, when they choose to ignore it. You only live once, so you may as well strive to experience, seek out and appreciate quality.

You know, it's these cultural products and services that give dramatic value to society. Able to present ideas, interpretations and views of reality and the world around us, they challenge the stable and static views of humanity and interject a sense of wonder and fluidity, change and movement. They provide an abstract education that may not be achieved elsewhere and can garner a sense of community that perhaps transcends physical boundaries.

If only we had known how to properly construct our product and actually learn how to screen print. It would vastly reduce the amount of huge messed up t-shirts that occupy the bottom of my wardrobe.

NB: Pretty Rough are a design collective from Glasgow. If you want to know how screen printing works, then check out their nifty short film above.

And one more thing! For information on Stamping Ground visit www.dance4.co.uk/stampingground10.php. If you want to seek some quality work presented by the next generation, then get yourselves over. It should be fantastic!

7 days to go...

A massive well done to Hetain, Mark and Dave for their amazing performance of TEN last night at Lakeside. Sarah and I left the show in deep philosophical thought as we rode the bus back into town,….something along the lines of fake tan, skin bleaching and self-destructive incorrect perceptions people have…a powerful piece!

Next up, Dance4 and Deda presents QUAKE

We are all very excited here at Dance4 with next weeks platform event in Derby. There is absolutely everything going on from typewriters and ladies in Red to birds, crows films and pennies. Intrigued? I know I am!

Finally preparations are being put into place as we speak (basically me spending a lot of money on the D4 credit card), so be sure to pop along for a fantastic evening of new and up and coming work!

Lewis

xx