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MÓTUS Dance Festival returns for 2015

Forget dancing in the street, this May is all about dancing in the park!

MÓTUS Dance Festival is back again for 2015 on Sunday 31st May.

Performances will kick off in and around MK Gallery before moving on to new pastures in Campbell Park. The festival will feature professional and community dancers alikeanimating the sites in central Milton Keynes.

The event is free to attend and there are two opportunities to catch the action. Audiences are invited to meet at MK Gallery at either 3pm or 5.30pm from where they will process to Campbell Park with the performance culminating at the MK Rose.

Helen Parlor, artistic director for MÓTUS, commented: “The premise of this year’s festival is to support and commission dance artists/ companies to come and make work here in Milton Keynes. Instead of presenting pre-existing work, companies have selected sites around Campbell Park and MK Gallery to interact with, in order to create original and vibrant performances.” 

The line-up of professional companies visiting Milton Keynes as part of MÓTUS includes ZoieLogic Dance Theatre, Ceyda Tanc Dance and Inverted Company (Tamzen Moulding). With influences ranging from contemporary dance to Turkish folk dance to acrobatics, the performances are set to be a visual feast.

Local schools are jumping on board with students from Denbigh School and The Grove Independent School working with professional choreographers on commissions. Young people from Milton Keynes based Initiate Youth Dance Company will also perform as part of the unfolding promenade.

Also getting involved is Mark Niel, Poet Laureate for Milton Keynes and Development Officer for the MK Rose. Mark will be presenting a newly commissioned poem and might even don his dancing shoes for the occasion.

An event which all the family can enjoy, MÓTUS 2015 will be a fun and cultural afternoon out to wrap up the half term holiday.

As a prelude to the main event, the MÓTUS team will present a work in progress platform on Friday 29th May at Centric MK in Linford Wood. Here, audience members will be able to give direct responses to the work on show – feeding into the creative process and development of new work.

For further information, contact Effie McGuire Ward at MÓTUS: 07986404179 / motusdancefestival@gmail.com

 

MÓTUS Production Team:

Artistic Director: Helen Parlor

Assistant Directors: Chris Bradley & Effie McGuire Ward

 

Full Programme line-up of Artists/ Companies:

Charlie Brittain, Ceyda Tanc Dance, Julia Cheng, Club Mob, John Darvell, Initiate Youth Dance Company, Inverted Company, Chloe Tasker, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre.

 

Tickets for Work in Progress Event:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/respond-motus-2015-tickets-16846730023

MOTUS legge

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Experimental Metalwork and Creative Machine Sewing Workshops at WAC

Westbury Arts Centre invites you to come and learn and experiment at one of their workshops led by experienced artist-teachers at their beautiful Grade II listed site.  This August Westbury Arts Centre presents two exciting workshops in Experimental Metalwork and Creative Machine Sewing.

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Experimental Metalwork (creating a mirror frame.)
August 23rd, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This workshop will allow you to combine traditional techniques such as embossing, patination and gilding. You will create a mirror frame that explores these processes and your own designs. You will build final images layer by layer, pushing the metal and surface to create something unique. All materials will be provided, but if you have your own specialist materials. This course is limited to 6 places. Kate is traditionally trained as a silversmith fine art pieces that are made from metal and using traditional jewellery skills.

Westbury Arts Centre, Foxcovert Rd, Shenley Wood, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK5 6AA

http://www.westburyartscentre.co.uk/

Creative Machine Sewing
August 30th, 10:00 am – August 31st, 4:00 pm

This is a two day workshop led by Helen den Dulk, which will use alternative materials and methods to create 2D and 3D machine stitched art. Helen is the founder of ‘Stitch and bitch’, the sewing group at Festive Road, where she used her textiles knowledge and her experience as a mixed media artist.

The course is suitable for all abilities and is for a maximum of six people. Participants will spend the first day experimenting and planning with literally any materials that can be sewn: fabric, paper, plastic and materials they create themselves, such as fusible web, and laminated items. The second day will focus on making final pieces, inspired by each individual’s earlier experimentation. There will be sewing machines available and materials but please feel free to bring your own.

Westbury Arts Centre, Foxcovert Rd, Shenley Wood, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK5 6AA

http://www.westburyartscentre.co.uk/

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#GreatWarMK website now live

‘Great War MK – From Conflict to Cosmopolis’ is a collaborative project led by the Arts & Heritage Alliance Milton Keynes (AHA-MK). It explores the impact of the First World War on the communities of Milton Keynes – an area now covering six towns, 41 villages and 1/4 million people – and examines their evolution from a time of conflict to that of cosmopolitan opportunities.

This Heritage Lottery funded project enables partners from the AHA-MK membership collectively to celebrate not only the stories from 100 years ago but also their legacy for modern Milton Keynes. Our aim is to inspire active participation amongst both native and new communities in Milton Keynes – in interviews, workshops and creative activities. Great War MK will generate film screenings, performances and exhibitions, all of which will give fresh insights into the turmoil – and creativity – of those times.

You can see the website and blog for Great War MK at www.GreatWarMK.org.uk as the projects get underway, the blog will be updated with information and images and details of workshops and events.  Our Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/GreatWarMK