Fire Practice Programme Mentored Artists

24 Feb 23 News Comments Off on Fire Practice Programme Mentored Artists

Fire Practice Programme Mentored Artists

Tricky Hat is delighted to announce our 5 Fire Practice Programme Mentored Artists.

Each artist is being mentored by Tricky Hat Artistic Director, Fiona Miller; to become an Associate Director in the “Tricky Hat way”, widening our base of artists who can deliver Flames Guerilla sessions.

Eoin McKenzie

Eoin McKenzie is an artist from Glasgow who works across performance, choreography, and research. At the core of his practice is a deep engagement with methodologies of participation and collaboration with his artistic works – and their processes – emerging in response to the people, places, and contexts he is working with. Alongside being a mentored artist with Tricky Hat, he is currently an Accelerator Artist with Imaginate (2022/23) and an Associate Artist with Platform in Easterhouse. 

Laura Bradshaw

Laura Bradshaw is an artist working within performance, movement and dance. Working with the autobiography of the body, intuitive movement and practices of embodiment Laura makes performance works for theatre and dance spaces, galleries, healthcare contexts and outdoor spaces. She develops creative movement processes which invite a connection to the living, present body in relationship with other and environment.

Laura graduated from BA (hons) Contemporary Theatre Practice at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and MA Dance and Somatic Wellbeing at University of Central Lancashire.

Lucas Chih-Peng Kao

Lucas Chih-Peng Kao is a film maker, digital artist and collaborator, he was born in Taiwan and based in Edinburgh. His work went often combine different disciplines with video including poetry, dance, installation and performance. 

Malcolm Ross

Since starting his career as a guitarist with the Postcard Record bands of the 1980s – Josef K, Orange Juice and Aztec Camera – Malcolm Ross has recorded and performed with numerous artists as well as releasing three solo albums.

He received a degree in music from Goldsmith’s College in 1995 and has contributed to film and TV soundtracks as well as teaching guitar.

In the past year he has recorded and performed with artists such as Joseph Malik, The Countess of Fife and Maggie Holland.

Scott Johnston

Scott Johnston is a theatre director, workshop creator and facilitator. He has worked in Romania, Hungary, Finland, Ireland, South Africa, Lithuania, Macedonia, Wales, and the USA.  His work has won many awards and much public and critical acclaim.  

Over his 64 years he has directed over 150 plays and created workshops for actors and theatre academies.  He is a specialist in the work of Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed and was the one the first practitioners to introduce this work in Scotland, Romania and South Africa. 

08 Feb 23 Uncategorized Comments Off on Flame Up! Edinburgh Performance

Flame Up! Edinburgh Performance

Flame Up!

Summerhall, Edinburgh

Saturday 25th February (4pm & 7pm)

£6 / £4

 

The Flames are coming to Edinburgh.

 

The Flames will reignite in a striking and innovative mix of film, music and performance to explore stories about life after fifty, presenting a fresh look at how we approach ageing.

Flame Up! is a unique performance of devised work, taking inspiration from everyday life, to challenge pre-conceived ideas of how older people think and what they aspire to.

 

BOOK TICKETS: https://tickets.summerhall.co.uk/event/26:5075/

 

Audience Notes:

 

Running time: 60 minutes

Summerhall venue: The Old Lab

Age recommendation: 14+

Seated performance

 

Created and performed by The Flames.

Supported by Creative Scotland and Garfield Weston.

 

 

Image credit: Jassy Earl

 

 

Fire Practice Programme Call-out
13 Oct 22 Call-out Comments Off on Fire Practice Programme Call-out

Fire Practice Programme Call-out

We want to train an Associate Director in the “Tricky Hat way”, to widen our base of artists who can deliver Flames Guerilla sessions in the future. This is paid training that is about investing in the future of Tricky Hat and the Flames and a commitment to that. This is not a general CPD opportunity.

Who are the Flames? What is a Guerilla Session?

Tricky Hat’s Company The Flames is a performance company for people aged 50 and over. The artists and performers collaborate to create high-quality multimedia public shows based on their stories, ideas, hopes, and dreams.

The Flames work at pace, exploring ideas and devising in partnership with Tricky Hat’s artists. The work is created over The Guerilla sessions, just five sessions, before being performed in front of an audience. Previous events have been inspired by themes such as love, loss, sex, murder, climate change, and life-changing decisions. The company uses performance, film, and specially composed music to explore stories about life after fifty, challenging our perceptions of aging.

Each Guerilla session consists of five workshops, one day of dress rehearsals, and one day of performances (matinee/evening), followed by ‘meet the artists and performers’ networking. The artistic process begins with opening questions with elicit information on experiences important to the participants. This structure supports a devising process, under the direction of Artistic Director, Fiona Miller. Associate Artists focus on the expression of ideas, using their artform expertise to connect the stories with audiences.

Call for Associate Director

Tricky Hat works with a range of people from different backgrounds, our practice is inclusive and offers a safe space to work in. We find a creative and credible voice through participation in high-quality, collaborative, cross-arts events alongside high-caliber artists. Therefore, we are looking for a Director with a minimum of 4 years of professional experience, who can work in collaboration with other artists to co-produce live performances. The training each artist will receive involves being mentored by, and working alongside, the Artistic Director and Associate Artists on A Flames Guerilla Session.

The Tricky Hat team of artists creates new, multi-media, and recorded performances in direct response to the people we collaborate with. We work quickly and never know the content of the performance when we start a Flames Guerilla Session.

We are seeking an Associate Director who is skilled in their art form. We wish to identify collaborators who share similar values and principles in working with older people, in an ambitious and respectful way, and who are good communicators and collaborators.

Fee: £2,400 (£150 p/day x 16 days)

Mentored by Tricky Hat Artistic Director, Fiona Miller; the Associate Director should have experience in leading projects and creating performances, and should be able to devise with no script in response to performers and other artists; be an excellent collaborator, and have the ability to work quickly.

The Associate Director will be mentored through 2 of the following Guerilla Sessions, and must attend the following:

The Renfield Centre, Glasgow: Saturday 10th December 2022, 11am – 4pm – programme introduction

Summerhall, Edinburgh

  • Saturday 14th January 2023, 11am – 12.30: Information Session
  • Saturday 21st January 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 28th January 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 4th February 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 11th February 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 18th February 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Friday 24th February 2023, 10am – 5pm: Rehearsal
  • Saturday 25th February 2023, 3pm & 7pm: Performances

Reconnect Regal Theatre, Bathgate

  • Wednesday 22nd February 2023, 11am – 12.30pm: Information Session
  • Wednesday 8th March 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Wednesday 15th March 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Wednesday 22nd March 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Wednesday 29th March 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Thursday 30th March 2023, 11am – 4pm: Rehearsal
  • Friday 31st March 2023, time TBC: x1 performance

Centre of Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

  • TBC: Information Session
  • Saturday 6th May 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 13th May 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 20th May 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 27th May 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Saturday 3rd June 2023, 11am – 4pm: Session
  • Friday 9th June 2023, 11am – 4pm: Rehearsal
  • Saturday 10th June 2023, 3pm & 7pm: Performances

The Fire Practice programme will start on Saturday 10th December 2022, 11am to 4pm in The Renfield Centre, 260 Bath St, Glasgow, G2 4JP with the Tricky Hat team and a group of Flames. All artists must be available to attend the session.

After this mentoring process, the Associate Director will be hired on a freelance basis for sporadic work each year with the Company, delivering 1 or 2 sessions a year on a mutually agreed basis, working flexibly around other projects/work commitments that the Associate Director may have.

How to Apply

If you are interested, please contact fiona@trickyhat.com to arrange an informal chat with our Artistic Director. With your email, please include a current CV.  The deadline is by 12 noon, Thursday 8th December

09 Sep 22 Uncategorized Comments Off on Don’t Stop Me Now Saturday 5th November 2022 at the CCA Glasgow. Preview 4pm Performance 7.30pm

Don’t Stop Me Now Saturday 5th November 2022 at the CCA Glasgow. Preview 4pm Performance 7.30pm

The Flames return with Don’t Stop Me Now–a fully-rehearsed performance which challenges the taboos surrounding ageing. Unafraid to take artistic and thematic risks, Don’t Stop Me Now celebrates the stories and lives lived by The Flames so far; building on the honest and life-enhancing performances from their first time on stage. Using performance, film and specially composed music, this show highlights the importance of resilience and explores The Flames’ individual stories. It shows how they have become such an unstoppable force.

This Firebrand Showcase performance is presented by The Flames and Tricky Hat Productions, in association with The CCA and supported by Creative Scotland.

The Flames @ Cove Park 2022
10 Feb 22 Blog Comments Off on The Flames @ Cove Park 2022

The Flames @ Cove Park 2022

A Firebrand Residency

Tricky Hat artists took a group of 15 Flames to do a week-long residency at Cove Park (Argyll). This is our second Firebrand Residency there and the first one since the pandemic happens. Marianne, Flames participant, reflects on her time there. 

We arrived on a grey Thursday afternoon. High on a windswept hilltop, the fog-coloured building mimicked the surrounding mountains with its sharply angled roofs. Below, the pewter coloured loch lay deep and foreboding. A storm was forecast, and brewing just beyond the headland.

We arrived wearing our winter clothes and with our proof of recently completed negative Covid test results. Some of us had been here before, in the Old World, in the days before masks… and when social distancing was something teachers ensured was adhered to when teenagers partnered up to dance at Christmas discos in the school assembly hall. There was a sense of cautious anticipation. Inside the building, the log fire burned a welcoming glow, matched by the warm smiles of the artistic team. We were greeted and given instruction on protocols to be followed to keep us and our companions Covid safe and then installed in our various accommodation. I unpacked and wrote the following;

Smallest space, its all you need

The silence is enfolding.

Create, perform, reflect and read

Make every moment golden.

Then it was off back up the hillside to the artist’s centre to start enjoying these golden moments.

Over the following days we developed the ideas stimulated by the stories we had been asked to bring with us to share with the group. We took part in percussion/hand clapping/ movement workshops, and voice work (which had the strange and unexpected effect of bringing the sheep outside the building closer to the building to stare at us through the window. Fittingly, at this time of Burns Night, we had in actual life “called up the ewes”)! Day two saw us work on and develop skills such as self- filming and self -recording, and gave us time to work on and present a site-specific performance or installation based on the setting and the ideas explored in the workshops.  All this was fuelled by the most delicious food prepared on a rota-basis by the participants and artistic team. There was a whirl of creative activities to take part in, balanced with down time, which some of us used to rest while others made the most of the many walks available from the door of the artist’s centre. There was time for reflection too, and the atmosphere was one of support and encouragement. One of us was reduced to tears of happiness.

The final night, this being January, was the perfect time for an impromptu Burns Supper in true Flames style. Fuelled by haggis, neeps, tatties, cranachan (and a small libation of the water of life) we sang, recited, laughed and enjoyed the company around the log fire which burned hot and bright with logs imbued with our wishes for a better, kinder world. It might have been a grey, zinc coloured day when we arrived, and the storm outside may have perfectly reflected our anxieties about being together in a group after so long in isolated lockdown over the past two years, but the expertise of the artistic team, coupled with their acceptance and encouragement and that of the others attending, made certain that the storms of our anxieties subsided. The first signs of light and hope, like the rainbows which appeared frequently over the loch, or the clear starlit skies which guided us to our accommodation on that last night, were  ignited by this band of artists high on a rainswept hillside in the late January of a Scottish winter.

On the hillside, stormy morning

Nearly blown right off my feet

In the Centre, coffee’s brewing

Welcoming, and dark and sweet

Pelting rain obscures the mountain

River churns like boiling oil

Twigs and branches snap and drop

The wind whips up, and I recoil

Head down, steadfast, just keep moving

Up the hill and always forward

We have triumphed in the tempest

Stars and rainbows our reward.

 

Marianne (Flames participant)

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