#Horsecross

[dondidonde]

#englishbulldog where's the horse? #horsecrossing #pottytime #igbulldogs_worldwide #happystpatricksday (at Queens, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cad4ySYu2G8/?utm_medium=tumblr

[goatmedia]

Trio for a Quartet - 2017 - 

[desert-scorpio]

Crossing in Tucson💖 November 13, 2017 Go West— cause it’s the best!! 😉🌵👍🏻 @belcolozzi #photography #signs #crossingsign #horsecrossing #mood #texture #arizona #desertlife #horselover #coolsigns (at Oro Valley, Arizona)

[katzigmont]

#ColoradoStreetArt #ColoradoPublicSign #HorseCrossing #Mountains (at Garden of the Gods High Point) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3dlmPkpBCE/?igshid=ouazcrdvsj0n

[reviewsphere]

Kes @ Perth Theatre

THEATRE REVIEW: Kes @ Perth Theatre ⭐⭐⭐⭐ @HorsecrossPerth @_KennethMac @lukemp @robably #kes

Casper by name, Casper the ghost by nature. That’s our Billy. A “nearly sixteen” paperboy forever on the run. Disappearing round a corner, through a door, over a hill. Likewise his mother into a cloud of perfume. And his brother down a perilous mine-shaft.

And what they are running from is life. Or rather a measly manner of existence in the “smudge” of a pit town devoid of hope. The essence of…

[sualee]

Colour co-ordinated colleagues! @scottishchamberorchestra @horsecrossperth #colourcoordinated #fashionatwork #monochrome #ish (at Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre - Horsecross) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQbMYiQAI1A/?utm_medium=tumblr

[vileart]

Dramaturgy Trap: Johnny McKnight @ Dundee Rep

BROADWAY SMASH HIT COMEDY-THRILLER, DEATHTRAP OPENS SOON AT DUNDEE REP With an exceptional cast assembled and an exciting creative team ready to go, Dundee Rep Ensemble’s first show of 2018 begins with the most successful thriller in Broadway history. Today, rehearsals begin for the highly anticipated production of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap – performed by the award-winning Dundee Rep Ensemble. Deathtrap will run from Tuesday 20 February – Saturday 10 March at Dundee Rep Theatre.

1.       What was your inspiration for this performance?  Deathtrap by Ira Levin is a clear play upon the popular thrillers that have went before it - Dial M For Murder, Sleuth, Rope, Gaslight.  The piece plays with the genre, plays with the idea of what sort of mind would write one of these thrillers and, indeed, are they a clear thrill seeker just like the devious minds of the characters that live within the play.   There’s an over-arching meta angle running through the play that - despite it being written in the late 70s - still makes it feel questioning and interrogating of the theatricality it presents.  In terms of how I’m directing the piece I’m drawing reference on all of that genre - the work of Hitchcock, film noir and, indeed, those thrillers that are referenced throughout the piece.   2.       How did you become interested in making performance? I studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the Contemporary Theatre Practice course (now CPP).  The work we made was devised performance but, as I developed through the course I started to get interested in how the process of devising can become a written piece of work.  My initial work was devised in the room with a group of performers but then I started to get frustrated at the lack of a cohesive voice, or author.  From there I started to write, and then adding ten years onto that journey and exploration, I veered on an entirely new path - my interest being in written text - work thats made in the room from a very cohesive and structured blueprint of an author.   3.       Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? Absolutely.  The exciting thing about being in a rehearsal room is that you and the actors and the production team are there to try and solve a problem - how to present a play/an idea/a story.  How do we tell that story?  Through whose eyes?  What attitude and view do we place on that story?  How do we wish to present it to an audience?  I think theatres at its best when its audience is engaged and questioning.   Answers aren’t required but that moment that draws an audience forward in the their seat - that’s where the magic is - that moment where the question on stage draws us in further, makes us wonder what will happen next.  Theatres at its best when it questions, not answers.   4.       Is there any particular approach to the making of the show? I think my approach differs from piece to piece.  its about working with the creative team, finding a way for all of us to work through the piece and examine it as rigorously as possible.  I always have a few ground rules that I think I need for myself.   5.       Does the show fit with your usual productions? In some ways its a bit of a departure, normally I suppose I work with my own new writing (and I guess I work a lot on comedy).  This piece is different though - tonally, story wise.  Its american in flavour, heightened and operatic at times, there’s a sense of melodrama that runs through it.  Thats quite a departure from my normal scottish based work.   However I think when you have a piece of writing like this script -  that’s so taut and tight and well thought out - you’re starting rehearsals with a  real sense of security (my own insecurities of being the author are, indeed, chucked out the window which is nice).  What it all comes down to is telling a good story, and this ones pretty bloody great it has to be said.   6.       What do you hope that the audience will experience? I want the audience to experience exactly what I felt when I read the script for the first time - the thrill of the story, the twists and turns and thrills that keeps me turning the page with a  real sense of excitement.   I want to make sure we capture the laughs and thrills and jeopardy that i felt for the characters when I first read it.  For me, theatres at its very best when its unapologetically entertaining, when it absolutely grabs its audience and doesn’t let it go for the whole performance, that’s what we’re all hoping to find in our production of Deathtrap.    Dundee Rep is thrilled to welcome award-winning writer and director, Johnny McKnight who will be directing for the first time at the Rep. Perfectly combining suspense and humour; this Tony Award-nominated play offers twists and turns, as well as laughs.  Johnny is a well-known writer, director and performer throughout the Scottish theatre scene, having directed a number of leading theatre companies including Scottish Opera, Tron Theatre, Macrobert, Perth Theatre and the award-nominated Play, Pie and a Pint play A Perfect Stroke. He is also Co-Artistic Director of award-winning Random Accomplice Theatre Company together with former college classmate, Julie Brown. Johnny is joined by multi-award winning designer, Kenny Miller, giving audiences an enticing prospect of these two critically acclaimed artists working together. McKnight brings this truly satisfying spine-chiller with gasps and giggles that is guaranteed to surprise and challenge audiences. Deathtrap promises a maze of shock plot twists, following washed-out playwright Sidney Bruhl who hasn’t had a hit play in years, we witness how far he will go to become a Broadway hit once again. This edge-of-the-seat production of this murder-mystery play stars the Rep’s resident Ensemble members Ewan Donald, Lewis Howden, Irene Macdougall, and Emily Winter alongside new graduate apprentice, Tom England – who is making his main stage debut at the Rep.  Speaking about what audiences can expect from this iconic play, Johnny McKnight, Director, said: “I’m delighted to be working at Dundee Rep. As my first time working at the theatre I’ve admired the plethora of excellent productions presented at the Rep over the years: from Sunshine On Leith to Great Expectations, The Cheviot, The Stag and The Black Black Oil to And Then There Were None. I’ve always been struck by the sheer versatility and power of the Rep actors, so to finally have the opportunity to work with them is a real joy. The script Deathtrap proved irresistible - where else can you find a thriller that so enjoys playing with its audience, taking them through a maze of twists and turns, providing shocks and belly laughs.  I’ve always said that theatre’s at its best when it’s at its most entertaining, Deathtrap provides us with this – it’s full of gasps, giggles and horror. Our aim for this production is to give the audience at Dundee Rep a real rollercoaster of a night out.”  Director, Johnny McKnight Johnny trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and works across a number of arts practices as director, writer, performer and educator. Johnny has directed work with a multitude of leading theatre companies including National Theatre of Scotland, Tron Theatre, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Perth Horsecross, Macrobert Arts Centre and Scottish Opera.  Johnny is Co-Artistic Director of award-winning Random Accomplice Theatre Company - who’ve toured work throughout Scotland, New York, Prague, Madrid and London. Johnny is delighted to be directing his production at Dundee Rep.  Future projects include BINGO! (Stellar Quines/Grid) a new musical co-written with Anita Vettesse. Johnny also writes for BBC’s River City and Eastenders.  About Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre Limited is the charity behind Dundee Rep Theatre and Scottish Dance Theatre. The organisations mission is to create unmissable experiences, engage, support and take risks. Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre sit at the cultural heart of Scotland and the City of Dundee. Founded in 1939, the Rep is a centre of creative energy, a space for engagement with a wide range of art forms, whilst also playing a lead role in arts education and engagement across the city and beyond. Proud of its Scottish roots, the Company looks outwards, creating and delivering work for a local audience, as well as on a national and international scale, for and with a diverse audience.  Cast List Ewan Donald Tom England (Graduate Actor) Lewis Howden Irene Macdougall Emily Winter from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2DJ2X1g

[indyglo]

Happy Pride everyone! Rocking it at Perthshire Pride today. This wig is everything. #selfie #pride #plussizebabe #plussizefashion #alternativefashion #alternativegirl #blueeyedgirls #scottishgirls #happypride (at Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre - Horsecross) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0_UkP-HdOk/?igshid=1ofp1gud3czfb

[lovebooksgroup]

FRANKENSTEIN - Kings Theatre - 21st to 26th October 2019 @Captheatres #LoveTheatre #Edinburgh

FRANKENSTEIN – Kings Theatre – 21st to 26th October 2019 @Captheatres #LoveTheatre #Edinburgh

Selladoor Productions, Matthew Townshend Productions, Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Perth Theatre at Horsecross Arts present Mary Shelley’s  FRANKENSTEIN

Adapted for the stage by Rona Munro

King’s Theatre Edinburgh  Monday 21st to 26th October 2019

A new theatrical adaptation of Mary Shelley’s seminal 1818 gothic horror novel Frankenstein is set to depict Shelley onstage, as she unfolds her…

[whileiamdying]

Separate projections combine, unifying, becoming whole. Twelve animated projections combine to develop a rhythmic dialogue exploring the intrinsic relationship between sound and image using 16mm film, paint and a projector. Responding to a hand-drawn soundtrack, each projection is individually created by painting and scratching directly on 16mm film stock. 4:3 is available as a short film, an immersive installation, and in 360˚. Winner of the 2019 Vimeo Staff Pick Award at Vienna Shorts Festival, Austria. Year of Production: 2019 Running time: 4 minutes 48 seconds Director: Ross Hogg Sound Design: Robbie Gunn Commissioned by: Horsecross Arts Acquired for: Threshold Artspace Supported by: Creative Scotland ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official Selection: 05/2019 - Vienna Shorts Festival, Austria. Exhibitions: Threshold Artspace, Horsecross Arts, Perth Concert Hall. (19th March - 27th June, 2019)

[goatmedia]

We’ve been working with Marlene Millar on some video for her show at Threshold Artspace, Horsecross Perth Concert Hall. Get along to it as soon as you can. It’s just a sublime show.

[artwalktv]

Separate projections combine, unifying, becoming whole. Twelve animated projections combine to develop a rhythmic dialogue exploring the intrinsic relationship between sound and image using 16mm film, paint and a projector. Responding to a hand-drawn soundtrack, each projection is individually created by painting and scratching directly on 16mm film stock. 4:3 is available as a short film, an immersive installation, and in 360˚. Winner of the 2019 Vimeo Staff Pick Award at Vienna Shorts Festival, Austria. Year of Production: 2019 Running time: 4 minutes 48 seconds Director: Ross Hogg Sound Design: Robbie Gunn Commissioned by: Horsecross Arts Acquired for: Threshold Artspace Supported by: Creative Scotland ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official Selection: 05/2019 - Vienna Shorts Festival, Austria. Exhibitions: Threshold Artspace, Horsecross Arts, Perth Concert Hall. (19th March - 27th June, 2019)

[whiteandgivan]

Thanks to everyone who joined us in the studio on the final day of our two week residency at Perth Theatre. It’s been an amazing experience! Thanks Anna and the entire Horsecross team for making us so welcome.

[reviewsphere]

THEATRE REVIEW: Knives In Hens

THEATRE REVIEW: Knives In Hens @HorsecrossPerth

When you leave a theatre thinking “what was that all about?” it can mean one of two things. Either the play was full of sound and fury signifying two hours and twenty quid down the swanny or an engaging enigma which forced the audience to think and asked more questions than it answered.

Perth Theatre’s production of David Harrower’s rural love triangle Knives In Hens, first staged at the Traverse…

[automaticvr]

"Separate projections combine, unifying, becoming whole." Twelve animated projections combine to develop a rhythmic dialogue exploring the intrinsic relationship between sound, image using 16mm film, paint and a projector. Responding to a hand-drawn soundtrack, each projection is individually created by painting and scratching directly on 16mm film stock. 4:3 is available as a short film, an immersive installation, and in virtual reality. Year of Production: 2019 Running time: 4 minutes 47 seconds Director: Ross Hogg Sound Design: Robbie Gunn Commissioned by: Horsecross Arts Acquired for: Threshold Artspace Supported by: Creative Scotland -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[firstfootingscotland]

Pacific Northwest, Pendulum Band, Perth, Limerick and Aberdeen!

Hello from Aberdeen! What a week it’s been! I returned from the Pacific Northwest of the USA a week ago today after shows with phenomenal banjoist Allison de Groot. Allison’s playing is exquisite, rhythmically infectious, and simultaneously reveals both her deep listening to vintage banjo material and her spontaneously playful creative spirit. We performed our shows as low-tech as possible in an attempt to highlight what feels at the heart of our duo show: musical response and rapport between two individuals, and between banjo and feet. Allison has two new albums out that you won’t want to miss: a new CD with Bruce Molsky’s Mountain Drifters and a duo record with fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves! 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rose City Folk School (@rosecityfolkschoolpdx) on Feb 18, 2019 at 8:26pm PST

(Allison de Groot and I performing Five Miles of Elm Wood at the Rose City Folk School in Portland, Oregon. Video by Leela Grace, who also opened the show with a beautiful set of original songs and banjo tunes!) 

I flew back to Edinburgh Friday and hopped right into soundcheck at the Queen’s Hall with Mairi Campbell and her Pendulum Band. Despite my being a little bleary from crossing continents and oceans, the Pendulum Band show was an exquisitely enjoyable evening. From her first step onstage, Mairi electrified the audience. She’s an absolute hero, dissolving boundaries of genre, performance, and instrument at every turn. Improvising onstage together through both sound and gesture, I was filled with energy and inspiration just being near her. It was made inextricably clear to all that night that Mairi is made of music. Her fantastic solo show Auld Lang Syne is currently touring Scotland! In it, Mairi sings, dances, plays, speaks, and is, frankly, utterly captivating. Check out the preview below and visit her website for tour dates.

(Mairi Campbell’s show Auld Lang Syne is on tour in Scotland now! Click here for tour dates!)

Sunday, I joined an intrepid contingent of artists, curators, and scholars to trundle from Edinburgh to the Perth Theatre by car for an event we called Casting a New Vision for Step Dance Education in Scotland: a Day of Conversation and Professional Development. The event was co-presented by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, the University of Edinburgh’s Moray House School of Education, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, and Horsecross Arts. In scheming up the proceedings, my co-organizers and I wanted it to feel like a day of delights, fuelling inspiration, encouragement, and solidarity. The programme was packed! The day included participatory step dance masterclasses, step dance teaching feedback sessions (in which three teachers taught short 10-minute classes and received constructive feedback from their peers), a seminar on safe and healthy dance teaching practice delivered by Wendy Timmons, director of the MSc in Dance Science and Education at the University of Edinburgh, an interview with Halifax-based step dancer Harvey Beaton via Skype, and facilitated group discussions around support and sustainability with Michelle Brady, coordinator of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and Nicola Simpson, senior development officer for Fèisean nan Gàidheal. In addition to programming designed to nourish, enrich, and continue the training needs of this unique group of traditional arts educators, step dance teachers from across Scotland also had the rare opportunity to connect with their colleagues and cast a new vision for sustainability, preservation, creativity, and community-building for traditional dance in Scotland. Delegates from Inverness, Aberdeen, Islay, South Uist, Midlothian, Skye, Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dunfermline, and Fort William were in attendance. It was both incredibly exciting and immensely humbling for me to be in the presence of so many knowledgeable and devoted traditional arts educators. There were so many lively discussions, connections, and conversations around step dance education that I hope will continue!! Driving home, I felt invigorated, inspired by the rich traditions and inspiringly devoted dancers here in Scotland, and filled with hope. 

(Delegates at Casting a New Vision for Step Dance Education in Scotland: a Day of Conversation and Professional Development, Perth Theatre, 24 February)

On Monday morning I flew to Shannon, Ireland where I had the pleasure of taking part in Common Treads, a two-day event celebrating diversity within percussive dance styles from Ireland, Britain and North America at the Irish World Academy, University of Limerick. Convened by Dr. Mats Melin and Dr. Orfhlaith Ní Bhriain, the event assembled a remarkable summit of dancers including Liam Scanlon, Marianne Larose, Jimmy Smith, Toby Bennett, and myself. It was wonderful to return to the Irish World Academy, a space that was incredibly formative for me as place of study, of collaboration, of exploration, and of tremendous possibility. The building itself was often referred to as a “house of light and welcome” by the late founder Mícheál Ó’ Súilleabháin (1) Made of glass, brass, and sparkling mosaic, it beckons partitioners and scholars across the Shannon River from the UL campus to collapse the false binary of research and art, the practical and the poetic, in favour of a more holistically-integrated encounter. I had the distinct pleasure of being present for all of the masterclasses and what a feast it was: from Liam Scanlon’s satisfyingly percussive earthiness, Marianne Larose’s grace, strength, and dexterity, Jimmy Smith’s magical fool-the-eye, trick-of-the-leg winking insouciance, and Toby Bennett’s elegant, buoyant, bracingly articulate clog dancing. I spent my session sharing percussive dance vocabulary as well as speaking about utilizing these steps with the musicians that I have the pleasure to engage with in making concerts. The event was very special indeed, allowing me to reconnected with mentors, be in conversation with colleagues, as well as engage with the bright and extremely talented students at the Irish World Academy. 

(Working with the students at the Irish World Academy, University of Limerick, photo by Mats Melin)

These are rich times indeed. And it’s not over yet! TONIGHT, I travel by train to Aberdeen for a weekend of percussive dance workshops and performances organized by Jennifer Oag and Feerochie featuring Kae Sakurai, Aneta Dortova, and Toby Bennett! Hope to see you in that great Granite city this weekend! It all kicks off tomorrow night! 

Saturday, 2 March: Percussive Dance Performance with Nic Gareiss & Friends at FoodStory, 13-5 Thistle St., Aberdeen, 8 pm. More info here.

Sunday 3 March: workshops at Academy of Expressive Arts, 8 Gaelic Lane, Aberdeen:

12-1 pm Introduction to Scottish Step Dance with Kae Sakurai, more info here.

1:15-2:15 pm Dance the Tune with Nic Gareiss, more info here.

2:30-3:30 pm Lakeland Stepping with Toby Bennett, more info here.

3:45-4:45 pm Sean-nós Dance with Aneta Dortova, more info here.

First Footing is a collaboration between dancer and dance researcher Nic Gareiss, the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, University of Edinburgh Moray House School of Education, and the School of Scottish Studies with support from Creative Scotland. For engagement opportunities check out the First Footing website.

(1) Comhrá: A Conversation with Mícheál Ó’ Súilleabháin, by Anya Peterson Royce, COMHAIMSEARTHA: Of Our Times, Spring 2019, p. 8