SNOWY DAYS

So the past few weeks have been filled with much snow, which has been incredible as I have never experienced this kind of snow before and also training and performing in this. I have been digging out our vehicle's, digging a path to our front door, training and running. I can definitely say that I am making most of the snow.

So we have been focusing our attention on the performance at Holmenkollen, Oslo for a ski jump competition. This will be an intense two day performance, with both parade and short performances including fire, acrobatic, masks, dances and clowning.

We have been in training for this artistic work and also in practical work, where we have been making large animal figures (pictures to Right). This is a nice project to see being made, working alongside crew members who are experienced in this and also getting the chance to put your input into the creative side. This is a practical task I find enjoyable, making large animal figures and masks, the process is very interesting the end result is always very satisfying. I have also been working on the costumes for this production. This has also been an experience as we have been left in control of seeing that these costumes are ready for performance. It has been nice to work in this area too as I have had some experience in costume making but now I am learning to make all different types of costumes, from birds to fox hats to waistcoats and trousers.

Within the artistic side I have the opportunity to work with clowning and buffoon for a character in part of the performance. I will be working with one other and we have the artistic intention that we are fertility clowns. This is because as part of our performance we lead the audience up the mountain to the arena where the skiing and our performances will take place, so we will be entertaining the audience as they go up and provide them with fruit and chocolates, and this will be a job for these clowns. I am very excited to work on a new element that I enjoy so much, and especially for this new performance, it gives me new motivation and lets me use the skills i have and learn new ones from my directors who are highly experienced in this field.

The children's theatre is also going very strong we are on our way to creating the two performances where I will be taking the role of Artistic Director for these performances. This is something I am very excited about as I have clear vision of which direction to take these performances and with the other two practitioners we all have the same ideas and focus for each performance. One performance will be a the local museum where there is a art exhibition called 'Holy Toys', it is nice as there is a Edinburgh Artistic in this collection 'Hew Locke' and three Scandinavian artists. We will be creating a performance within an area of the museum and will incorporate elements of the exhibition. The other performance will take place outdoors within the Forrest, and will involve mask, puppet, clowning, dance and song.


So as you can see from the photos there has been much snow, and now we are on a small winter holiday and return next week to proceed with intense preparation for Holmenkollen 2010.