Good News

We have just heard that our application to the Culture Fund for funding towards running The Lounge has been successful. We submitted our proposal a month or two back and have just heard that we've been awarded the full $6000 USD that we asked for - AMAZING!! So excited and chuffed and it's perfect timing. So far we've relied on a one-off donation from the Artisan community and some small donations collected at last months' Lounge for our funding, but it's fair to say the money side of things was a bit of a knife edge and a step of faith! Now we can really plan ahead :-) It's a great endorsement of the project and what it represents as a whole - a place, space and platform for performers to have their voices heard and to foster and encourage new talent and collaborations. We're so grateful to all who believe in this and have donated their equipment, time and encouragement to The Lounge so far. Not least to my co-facilitators Oria and Tswa who have powered this all. YEBO!

We have just had a 2 month review of our progress and identified a few issues that need addressing. I don't think any of us could have forseen the overwelmingly positive response to The Lounge - it's great. But we had a potentially difficult meeting at the top of this week with regard to our relationship with the National Gallery in Bulawayo and whether they would continue to allow us to hold the event there. We had been advised to look elsewhere for a venue but after Tuesday's meeting it looks likely that, with a few revisions implemented, it should be possible to continue at the gallery. This is great news as it feels so in keeping with our heart for the place and the community. Perhaps we needed to renew our commitment to the project and to fight to champion this.

Right, I'm off out to celebrate...!

And I digress... Volleyball

Have been roped into taking some sessions at the drama club of a college in town by a friend who likes running workshops in schools and colleges. The idea was sessions twice a week - Monday and Wednesday afternoons. So far, in 10 days we've only actually run one proper session. It's not for want of trying. Rather I find I'm caught up in an age-old debate that runs across schools and other esteemed institutions worldwide - that of drama versus sport.

Drama club is at the same time as weekly games (bad time-tabling). Last week Boyce took me to the college - code name: the purple place, as everything seems to be a bold shade of the colour. We were told all our students were away for sports. So we left. Then after one successful session we came back to be told that there was a clash again and that they were off doing trials for sports day. But please would we come back on Wednesday and they're so sorry for the inconvenience.

So today we arrived and joined the students on a bus to the playing field as agreed. The only reason I thought it a good idea to run a drama workshop on the edge of the sports field was that the room we'd used last time was v cramped & echoey.

From the minute we arrived at the playing field it was obvious that drama club wasn't really going to happen. Disorganised chaos

reigned, with one group playing basketball, one netball, one volleyball and another tug-o-war.

I didn't care too much, it's so long since I was at school that it felt quite nostalgic and fun. Plus although it's been ages since I last played volleyball, I somehow fancied I wasn't bad at it. Before long, we were asked if we wanted to join anything and I said volleyball. And so it began.

Not only did it become clear very quickly that no particular rules were being used and there were some unusual ideas about how volleyball is played, but for all my enthusiasm, I was appallingly bad whenever I touched the ball. Embarrassingly so.

I soon clocked that there was a fairly well-built girl on my team, who was unimpressed by my performance. Noticing this, I asked her name and was told she was Tracey. I think volleyball may be her place to shine, she definitely ruled the roost and pummelled the squashy ball...and I was obviously cramping her style!

There followed half an hour of me trying, failing and then with each blunder apologising to Tracey for the mistake! Nevertheless, I stuck it out for about 90mins and I think I improved over time. Near the end a male teacher decided to join and the purpose of the game became to make him look good. No matter where the ball was on the court, he went flying after it, yelling at the students to get out of the way of his next moment of glory! I found it hilarious. A totally chaotic afternoon all round.

Sports day is this Friday and they seemed crestfallen that I won't be making it.

The whole afternoon was surreal!

'Art addresses us in the fullness of our being....There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories or songs or images. Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity.'

Dana Gioia, Poet

During my recent 'hop, skip & a jump' fleeting visit to London, I met with (the legend that is) Steve Cole, Artisan founder, for a quick coffee and chat. It was immediately before I collected up my things and headed to the airport to fly back. During our chat he showed me the quote above.

Being me, I had to read it slowly a couple of times to really get it (!) but it resonates with my heart and what I believe to be true. On the basis of conversations I have regularly with people this side, I know I'm not alone in agreeing with the truth of this either.

So, I want to continue to keep on with the work, collaborations and idea-sharing here, even when it gets tough and seems a bit unclear or difficult and there have been some challenges. It's because I want to be a part of "awakening, enlarging, refining and restoring our collective humanity".

So I recommit to doing that where I am, here in Zim. How about you?

:-)

Surprise!

My old man reached a fairly substancial milestone on March 9th, and I'd decided to surprise him at his party by arriving in person unannounced. Plans were slightly messed up by the journey from hell on my outward trip...A seriously ill passenger on board the flight (in the row behind me) meant the plane eventually turned around and flew 90mins back on itself for an emergency landing in Lusaka, Zambia. 3hrs of CPR & electric-shock resuscitation at several thousand feet just about kept the passanger alive. Respect to the cabin crew... and exhaustion/slight trauma to all nearby passengers. This increased when it was announced that we'd only get as far as Rome, rather than to London. I finally arrived at Heathrow 7hrs late. A shame, as I missed much of the party and was exhausted (though obviously not as bad as the guy who'd almost died). The surprise still went down very well.

The surprise was so fun (well worth travelling a few thousand miles for!) and it was lovely to see many friends and family and be together to celebrate. A great long weekend of festivities and delicious food. All really, very special!

4 days later and back again - this time a blissfully uneventful journey...

The Lounge #2

The Promise

Following the Lounge and our conversations about our vision for it, I felt quite strongly on a couple of issues. Firstly, that I really want it to be a place of integration and collaboration, where people can forge new creative partnerships and where there is openess to experimentation. I want to see barriers being broken down and in that spirit people coming together. Secondly, I want people to see it as a place to try things out. Not neccessary to have things down to a fine art, but to step out creatively and to see it as a safe place to do that. Maybe for some people to take their first few steps towards creative expression and finding their talents there.

I wanted to spread the word that anyone can do something at the Lounge, (providing it's creative!) One other thing was that the majority of the performers had been fellas, so I want to see more girls on the stage too. With these things in mind I found that the voice in my head was telling me that the only way to pack the punch was to stick my own neck out a bit! Therefore, I figured I had precisely 3 weeks and 6 days to develop some kind of a talent and be ready to perform! I was a little nervous (the standard of the acts had been so high) and as a friend helpfully reminded me, the only way to make the point and be taken seriously was to do something and to do it well...! (not so sure how that fits into my ethos of trial and error, but think he did have a point...)

So I decided to give it a go (definitely a little bit scared to begin with!) As we drove around town dropping off the PA equipment the next day, I promised I'd perform in next months Lounge. With witnesses. I decided singing would probably be the easiest thing to do and I was with my friend Tswa so I asked him if he played or sang or anything. He said he played keys, but never in public, so I decided to make a deal. I sing & he plays keys... to practice what we preach!

Thus, rehearsals commenced. I picked a song I really like, The Promise.by Tracy Chapman. I was nervous at the first rehearsal but found it a good process and freeing. Tackling your phobia's - especially if they are things you do, deep down want to be rid of - is ultimately very rewarding. I claim that my motto is: To live and not to risk is to risk not living, so I guess I better follow that every so often.

It did help that Tswa got together some of the best musicians around to work with us on the track and they knew I was a bit nervous and so promised to be very patient with me.

Already, I saw that I was on to something good - the experience of getting everyone together to jamm was cool. We rehearsed in Makokoba, the first township on the edge of Bulawayo, and I got to know my way around it, to the amusement of locals kids, by trial and error along the narrow pot-holed roads. Sometimes it feels like just you're driving along a pedestrian pathway.

But I always feel the pulse of Makokoba is more vibrant and strong than the rest of town. I love it and am glad to have explored it with a car load of my friends. Many humorous car journeys have taken place as we drive a regular circuit of arts venues and homes to collect various musicians and equipment ready for a rehearsal.

Pictures taken from the window of the flat where we rehearsed

Bambata Young People’s Community Actor’s Centre - 2nd Visit

On the last day of February I had my second visit to Bambata and helped Styx with the Saturday morning teaching programme. After starting with games, the guys continued work they were doing towards an upcoming event, which was based around the theme of women. So they were devising pieces that looked at issues facing women in Zimbabwe.

I liked their work and being a part of the creative process of it.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to be around a few days later when the group performed at the festival, but I hear it went very well and the pieces were great and raised the issues well.

I'm fairly sure that also marked the first time these guys had performed together and for some it was probably the first time they'd performed ever.

Styx said he was very pleased with the final outcome. This is him in director mode...

Issues-based theatre is definitely something I want to do more of here, so I like being a part of the devising process and am out to learn all I can about what works well and how to set about initiating the process and fostering a constructive atmosphere.

We were again holding rehearsals in a disused Catholic church outside the community.

This was the only chair in the whole place

I grew quite fond of that chair over the course of the session... I find it strangely symbolic somehow!