My End of Festival Round-up

Now I’ve had a chance to catch up on some sleep, I’ve had a chance to think about the whole of the Inside Out festival this year. It was an extraordinary ten days, which took us from urban settings in the middle of busy Bournemouth to some beautiful starry moonlit nights in Worth Matravers. It might have taken at least a year to put together, but it’s been well worth it.

Thousands of people have watched, taken part in performing, listened to artists talk about their work, watched or joined in the dancing in Bournemouth Square, been thrilled by the aerobatics of an open-air circus, been enthralled by an accordion-playing rock-charmer or stunned by moon-creatures throwing ‘dream-balloons’ on Poole Quay.

My thanks to the people who programmed the performances, to the DTPC partners who supported the festival in many different ways, the volunteers who gave freely of their time and crucially to the people who performed the work. I want to thank the project managers, the whole production team, the people who came to participate and, very importantly to the audiences who came to see it. I recognised quite a few who came to every single event.

I’m going to leave you with a few things which I will always remember about this year’s festival.  Feel free to add your own in the comments section below!

Dance-inspired Bournemouth

If you’ve already read some of this blog you will see quite how much I raved about Congregation. I sat in the KMA/SCAN control booth for a little while and asked loads of questions. One question I had been asked when stewarding was if the movements were being filmed. KMA never record the ‘performances’, so the interactions between people remain ephemeral like the meetings and movements themselves.

You might not have been aware that some local dance companies came to ‘perform’ in the lights to see what would happen (this wasn’t advertised although people passing through the Square did stop to watch). Remix, a young people’s integrated performance company came to dance on Tuesday night (albeit in the rain) and they were brilliant. I particularly adored seeing the way the lights traced the person in the wheelchair and not the chair itself, which seemed to profoundly reflect what Remix is all about.

And, at the dance-inspired launch weekend I got to meet a performer who I’ve been in awe of for years: David Toole, who is working with StopGAP.

The Rock Charmer

The very lovely John Lowe from Dorset County Council (Historic Environment Manager, who said I could quote him!) told me it was the type of thing that “just makes you glad to be alive”. The Rock Charmer really was an extraordinary piece. I particularly liked hearing the comments as I took in lanterns from people at the Duck Pond, and also hearing all about how Kimmo makes his music at the pre-show artist talk. I also liked how much the people of this small village and the Square and Compass Pub were so accommodating (as well as hearing all about the bats).

Le Reve D’Herbert

This was a massively beautiful piece, and I was thrilled that the CPD artists Aurore, Amy, Carol, Carla and Louise were so involved with the work. It was lovely and significant that Jean Baptiste, Artistic Director of Quidams hasn’t ever been asked to give an artist talk about his work – and what an illuminating talk it was.

Parklife

My usual job is as one half of the Theatre Development team for Activate, and we work with artists looking for CPD opportunities. Thrillingly for us, two of the artists who were on the week-long CPD circus course with Inside Out have been asked to continue to work with NoFit State and go onto Taunton to carry on the work they’ve been doing with the show. The third person couldn’t due to work commitments, but she did happen to mention that the experience had “changed her life”.

Here’s to the Next Inside Out!

Lorna

Ben Osborne's photos....

Here are some lovely photos of the Rock Charmer by Ben Osborne. Ben is an artist who is currently working on a project called Jurassic Journey, documenting the Jurassic Coast in preparation for a rural touring show commissioned by Artsreach and Villages in Action (Artsreach's Devon colleagues). For more information look at www.jurassicjourney.co.uk – which launches in October. If you'd like to see larger versions of the images just double click on them.

Learning and Participation and the Inside Out Festival

I spoke with my colleague, Wendy Petitdemange, (who managed the overall learning and participation work for Inside Out) as she took some time out of a workshop that was taking place during the Inside Out festival.  I thought it might be interesting to write up our conversation and to let you know a little bit more about all the work we ran with communities, school groups and artists. So I’ve included this short interview with her about what happened!

Wendy, you’ve overseen the Learning and Participation work for the Inside Out Festival, can you tell me a bit more about it?

I think that one of the strengths of this year’s festival is that the learning and participation work has been really firmly embedded right from outset. I think this is partly down to the artistic programming. For example, bringing in NoFit State, whose whole ethos is about involving the community means that participation is planted securely at the heart of what they do. NoFit State’s aim is essentially (to paraphrase) that they “want everyone to run away and join the circus”. From my point of view, even on their first meeting I too wanted to run away and join the circus!

So tell me more about the week-long residency with NoFit State…

They worked really closely with Dorchester Arts on getting in community groups – including local Bellydancers, Taikwondo groups, bmx-ers, majorettes, cheerleaders, capoiera, gymnastics, free runners and contemporary dancers. Plus we worked with three schools, secondary, middle and primary and there were open house taster workshops for the public. Within the open tasters there was a talent spot where they might use you in the show itself! They also ran open rehearsals for the general public to come and watch.

And what went on in Poole?

On Monday 13 September, we worked with the French Company Quidams with Carter Community. They were one of the keenest and most motivated groups I’ve seen for a long time. They worked brilliantly and by the end of the session we’d all mastered something - I even learnt how to plate spin! The company were kind and patient and took people through the work really gently – it was a brilliant experience and incredibly rewarding.  It left me really looking forward to the workshop with Poole High the following day. 

Also part of the learning and participation programme were a series of talks – tell me more about that.

Yes, there was a talk on the dance weekend in Bournemouth with representatives from each of the dance companies (notes or video excerpts from all of the talks are on the blog site).

There was also a public meeting where Orit from NoFit State explained all about the piece and took us through the creative process. The company were very excited about performing at Maumbury Rings as it is such a different space to all of  the others places they’ve performed.  Usually other sites have been in transitory places, but at Maumbury rings the audience looked down on the work which allowed the company to do more work on the ground level. They really tailor their work to the location in which they’re sited.

There was also a talk led by Lorna Rees with Kimmo Pohjonen and Nick Rawling from Paper Cinema in Worth Matravers Village Hall before the Rock Charmer performance, and another with Jean Baptiste from Quidams after the show at Poole Museum.

And there have been masterclasses and workshops for communities and professional artists too?

Yes, here were two fully booked workshops for children and adults over the summer holidays making gorgeous Jurassic Creatures to be part of the Winspit Show ‘The Rock Charmer’.  And, as part of the dance weekend, StopGAP ran a workshop at 10am at the Dance Pavilion for artists, teachers and facilitators for anyone who wanted to work in an integrated way in dance. Seven artists took part in the opportunity – and we had fantastic feedback “we learnt how to set up workshops for all abilities… a totally inspiring workshop.”

Quidams also worked on masterclasses every night in the week leading up to the main show with five locally-based artists who participated in the show as stilt-walkers - a terrific opportunity.

So, every element of the artistic programme had some learning and participation going on around it?

Yes, we worked really hard to ensure that every part of the programme had a really entrenched education or participative element to it. It’s absolutely core to Inside Out’s work.

Head and Shoulders above the rest - the Echo's Ruth Meech!

Plucky newspaper reporter Ruth Meech got a taste of the high life when she ran away to the circus in Dorchester’s Maumbury Rings.

With just a little training from strong man Mark from NoFit State Circus, the entrepid entertainment correspondent, climbed onto his shoulders to pose for photographer Finnbar Webster.

The journalists were joining dozens of schoolchildren who were having a go at a range of circus activities in a week-long programme of taster sessions in the town’s prehistoric amphitheatre.

Parklife - the finale show in Maumbury Rings

It’s been an amazing journey… thank you NoFit State Circus for bringing Parklife to Dorchester. We loved the way the finale show filled our extraordinary ancient amphitheatre.

“The whole town seems to be in Maumbury Rings tonight,” somebody said.

Was this the greatest show since the Romans ?

Over the course of a week, around 400 local people took part in workshops and taster sessions with the company’s trained performers and acrobats - of these 80 went on to join the 30 company members in the finale show.

From freerunners to belly dancers, from majorettes to a nine year old Taekwondo black belt, the show has been a process of learning, developing and sharing skills - followed by intensive rehearsals and a wonderful finale skilfully directed by Parklife’s artistic director Orit Azaz.

To all of you - thank you for bringing Parklife to our park.

We are NoFit State - this has been Parklife

Some more pictures from Parklife in Maumbury Rings

Circus Apprentices

Local artists were invited to apply for a range of CPD (Continuing Professional Development) as part of the Inside Out Festival's Learning and Partcipation programme. Three of these 'apprentices' have been working with NoFit State circus on Parklife in Dorchester, here they talk about their experiences.

The Rock Charmer - finale

Part of the pulsating finale to the Rock Charmer - a spine-tingling performance in a remote clifftop quarry in Dorset.

The show is a collaboration between music legend Kimmo Pohjonen and the enchanting live cinema experience of the Paper Cinema. Just as a snake charmer makes the snake reveal himself, Kimmo and Paper Cinema are charming the rocks to reveal their stories and their history in sounds and live animation.
The performance is part of Dorset’s Inside Out festival of extraordinary events in extraordinary places - both the location and the performance don’t get much more extraordinary than this - a rock face in front of the audience, a sheer drop behind them, and a mile long walk down a stone path from the Square and Compass pub.

The performance, on September 16th and 17th offered a few extra surprises as well - including a cave lined with sculptures of prehistoric creatures skillfully projected onto the walls like ancient cave paintings and a series of giant zoetropes, with moving images from the show.

www.insideoutdorset.co.uk

Ethereal white figures searching for the light...

Giant white figures perform an ethereal dance on Poole Quay. Followed by thousands of onlookers, the figures have walked down the High Street and along the quay in a dream-like search for the light.

This is Rêve d’Herbert, by Compagnie des Quidams - part of Dorset's Inside Out 2010 festival of extraordinary events in extraordinary places.

Faits de beaux rêves Herbert

Artist Talk with Jean Baptiste of Compagnie Quidams

A lovely talk with Jean Baptiste documented here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37961160/Inside-Out-Quidams

This question and answer session was all part of the learning and participation work for the Inside Out Festival. It was lovely, and worthy of note that in over 1000 performances of 'Le Reve d'Herbert' this is the first time that Jean Baptiste has been asked to talk about his work and practice.

Juggling in three languages

Mister Jules from NoFit State circus shows children from Manor Park First School in Dorchester how to juggle in three languages.

Over a week in September 2010 more than 400 people took part in workshops and tester sessions as part of the company's Parklife project for Dorset's Inside Out festival.

Notes from the artist talk by Kimmo Pohjonen and Nick Rawling of Paper Cinema

Here are the notes of the fascinating conversation we had with Kimmo and Nick about 'The Rock Charmer'. This talk was part of Inside Out 2010's Learning and Particiaption programme.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37710356/INSIDE-OUT-Paper-Cinema-and-Kimmo-Talk

Rock Charmer on Radio 3

Lovely plug here for Kimmo and Worth Matravers on Radio 3 for the Rock Charmer which also features some of Kimmo's incredible music. It's about 4 and a half minutes into the broadcast.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tp9ff/Late_Junction_Fiona_Talkington/
(please be aware that as it's iplayer this link will expire in five days).

The Rock Charmer

just wanted to share with you an incredible photo of Kimmo Pohjonen with a Paper Cinema ammonite projected behind him.... The Rock Charmer. An absolutely phenomenal performance (photo by Roy Riley).

Circus skills taster sessions off to a flying start

Dozens of children and young people from schools and community groups across the area have been getting a taste of life in the circus with the NoFit State Circus Parklife project in Maumbury Rings.
Free runners, cheerleaders, majorettes, Taekwondo experts and many others have been sharing skills with the highly trained members of the Cardiff-based company.
Over the next three days, community groups will come back to the circus for a series of intensive public rehearsals before the grand finale show on Sunday 19th at 7.30 - with people having picnics on site from 6.30pm.

Dance teacher Carly Reader gets a taste of the high life with Massi from NoFit State Circus during their Parklife residency at Maumbury Rings, Dorchester

Stubbly chinned cheerleaders surprise shoppers...

Bemused shoppers in Dorchester market were greeted by a group of stubbly chinned cheerleaders in pink tutus...

"We're auditioning for the circus - do you think we'll get in," one asked.
Then they danced a short routine waving letters spelling PARKLIFE...

"I think it's a group called NoFit State Circus over in Maumbury Rings," one market stall holder told me. "They're doing a spectacular free performance on Sunday evening from 7.30pm."

Pavilion Dance Artist Talk Notes

Just thought I'd share this, they're the notes I took from the artist's talk with Eckhard Thiemann (Pavilion Dance), Helen Sloan (SCAN), Ex Nihlio and StopGAP. There is information in here from the artists themselves about the creative processes, motivation and methods involved when creating work specifically for outdoor spaces.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37481034/INSIDE-OUT-Exnihilo-Stopgap-and-KMA-Talk

Behold... the Rock Charmer

The Rock Charmer is here…half way up the side of a cliff - a figure emerges from behind a sandy coloured rock and starts producing extraordinary sound…

On a cliff face next to him, giant columns of rock come to life.

The music opens like a monastic chant in an ancient abbey cloister - but as the picture dissolves into a view of massive cogs and gears the sounds change to the mechanical noises of saws and stone cutting.

This is the Rock Charmer - a collaboration between music legend Kimmo Pohjonen and the enchanting live cinema experience of the Paper Cinema. Just as a snake charmer makes the snake reveal himself, Kimmo and Paper Cinema are charming the rocks to reveal their stories and their history in sounds and live animation.

The setting feels Mediterranean - but is in fact Winspit, a magical spot on the Dorset coast near Swanage where Purbeck stone quarrying has created a clifftop amphithatre and series of square fronted caves.

The performance is part of Dorset’s Inside Out festival of extraordinary events in extraordinary places - both the location and the performance don’t get much more extraordinary than this - a rock face in front of the audience, a sheer drop behind them, and a mile long walk down a stone path from the Square and Compasses pub.

The performance, on September 16th and 17th at 7pm offers a few extra surprises as well - including a cave lined with sculptures of prehistoric creatures skillfully projected onto the walls like ancient cave paintings.

Audience numbers are strictly limited on safety grounds and there are just a few tickets left - appropriately from Poole Lighthouse on 0844 4068666.

Nic and Imogen from Paper Cinema performing the Rock Charmer

Driftwood dinosaurs from the Inside Out Rock Charmer workshops cast their shadows in one of the caves

Introduction to the Parklife project by artistic director Orit Azaz

During their residency in Dorchester, Dorset as part of the Inside Out 2010 Festival, artistic director Orit Azaz, explains how the company works with performers from the local community over the course of a week - and then includes up to 80 of them in the spectacular finale show.

The Sunday Sermon – back to the Congregation

At 8pm, once it was deemed just dark enough KMA’s crane was once again raised and the installation’s generator was turned on. The square was sparsely populated as Bournemouth’s busy and sunny day had given way to an autumnal grey twilight. Something quite magical happened when Congregation started.

There were only around 30 people in the square but they all seemed to literally stop in their tracks and start to play.

I got a chance to speak with one of the operators and he was particularly impressed with the level of social interaction going on – people immediately seemed to ‘get it’ and that you could play with the light. Skateboarders who I’d met earlier in the day came down to see what the light would do when they wove through the square (the beams tracked the people moving quickly, but not the boards), a wheelchair user traced the outline of a giant circle and a circular beam of light tracked his journey full circle. Some people had returned to the piece having experienced it a previous night – “I hadn’t been able to get it out of my head.”

As we were stewarding for the evening we had the opportunity to talk to quite a few people who just wanted to know what was going on – people were saying “it’s the best thing I’ve seen in ages”, others wanted to know how it worked, another couple who looked to be in their late 70s stopped and stared before succumbing and leaping into the light themselves. University students promised to try to get friends down to flashmob the site, another simply wished “Bournemouth could always be like this.” For most of the afternoon we’d been stewarding near a couple who were going onto the homeless shelter later that night, one of whom said “Bournemouth can be such a cold hard place, and look at it now, it’s warm, people are all smiling at each other, this is amazing, I love it.”

NoFit State Circus - biggest show in town

Leading contemporary circus company NoFit State are in Dorchester for an extraordinary week of free workshops and performance as part of the 2010 Inside Out Dorset Festival.

"This could be the most spectacular show the Rings has seen since Roman times...." said Alastair Nisbet, chair of Dorchester Arts, one of the partner organisations behind the festival. The 10 day event got under way over the weekend with a series of dance events in Bournemouth, and the European premiere of a new art installation - Congregation - in Bournemouth Square. On Thursday and Friday, the festival moves to caves on the cliff edge at Winspit near Swanage for performances by Kimmo Pohjonen and Paper Cinema, and Poole Quay on Saturday for an outdoor performance entitled Reve d'Herbert.

NoFit State are assembling their huge doughnut stage in Maumbury Rings - before an open meeting on Monday 13th at 6pm, when members of the public are invited to meet the company and hear more about the residency and performance of Parklife.

From Tuesday to Saturday, the company are running a series of circus workshops with local community groups and schools, before a finale performance of the show Parklife at 7.30pm on Sunday 19th, with pre-show performances from 6.30pm.

"Maumbury Rings is a perfect venue for this sort of huge outdoor spectacle - we're thrilled to have NoFit State with us for the week and I hope as many people as possible will both get involved and come to the show. In other towns, people are having to pay £25 to take their family to see Parklife - but thanks to Inside Out, it's free in Dorchester."

As well as the finale show, people are invited to take part in taster sessions with the company on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th from 4-5pm and to watch open rehearsals on Thursday and Friday from 3.30-4pm and Saturday from 2.30-3.30pm.

Chocks Away! Saturday and Sunday with StopGAP

Although this piece is called Tracking I’m reliably informed that it’s known informally to the company as ‘Chocks Away!’

StopGAP are an integrated dance company http://www.stopgap.uk.com/ who encompass performers with learning disabilities, wheelchair users, and non-disabled performers. Their piece is a mix of modern, kitsch work, performed with such joie de vivre that it’s pretty impossible not to be completely charmed. Many of the trappings of ‘British-ness’ were in this work – red phone boxes, 60s attire, boats, umbrellas (and therefore rain), mobile phones, and a real sense of humour.

Even the skateboarders who’d been filming themselves going up and down the rather lovely new patio at the front of the Pavilion came and watched the piece, and were particularly struck by the amazing upper body strength of David Toole.

French Company ExNihlio also performed their substantial piece, Trajets de Ville at 4pm in the square on both Saturday and Sunday. This was a rather dark piece of dance which seemed to me to focus on the ‘street life’ of Marseille. It was a more challenging piece – both to perform and to watch. By the end of the work it felt like you’d been taken through a very real journey, which seemed to have a hopeful and happy resolution.

I am hoping to write more about both of the ExNihlio pieces, in particular about the work performed in the mornings around Bournemouth which formed the quite subversive Trajets de Vie. These pieces, based around experiences garnered from working and watching how people move or rest on benches when they are on the margins of society were incredibly truthful and raw.

As the Artistic Programme Manager for Pavilion said in the Artist’s talk (which we promise to publish the notes on, do check back here!): “We have shown three works as part of this festival, showing how human movement can inhabit public spaces…. This was a great day for new work and for novel, outdoor art”.

You are the audience - and one of the performers....

You are the audience, but you are also a performer. As you stand in Bournemouth Square every evening during Inside Out 2010, a thermal imaging camera high above picks up body heat - and turns your movement into patterns, shapes and colours, projected onto the square and onto a big screen.

This is Congregation, the European premiere of a new installation by KMA - in Bournemouth until September 19th 2010 - then at Tate Britain.

Tripping the Light Fantastic - KMA’s Congregation

Friday night (10th September) saw the launch of Inside Out, and the European premiere of KMA’s Congregation (curated by Bournemouth-based SCAN).

This installation started just after 8pm, when it was dark enough for us to see the light projected onto the town square. You could see an illuminated area in the middle of the square, a large blue crane on which was mounted the light source and a viewing screen mounted on a nearby department store.

Initially too many people were crowded into the square staring at the screen so the piece didn’t seem to work successfully. However, slowly, as people started to thin out it became clear that you could affect the light, and the states which it moved through. Then it became incredibly interesting. As the light moved round the space and through its cycle you found how you could influence it. You might be in a single spotlight and that spot would follow you round the square, or you might be able to make a trace of your body’s thermal image on the ground.

The accompanying music, played through a powerful sound system, was scored by the Portland-based musician and composer Peter Broderick (Oregon, USA, not Portland, Dorset!). Part orchestral percussive and part trance, its ethereal quality seemed to help the magical texture of the work.

There were some fascinating social interactions going on. Just before 11pm, a man – probably in his late 20s – took charge and started to suggest ways the group could make shapes which then became thermal imprints on the ground and screen. At his suggestion around 25 strangers held hands in a circle and all lunged with one foot to the middle, then lay on the floor and made a smiley face. One couple said they’d been married the previous week so we made a heart shape, which, once achieved, led to a huge round of applause and total group euphoria. The man who’d been suggesting the ideas then exclaimed “I just want life to always be like this.”

I think that Congregation unlocked a very childlike sense of play in people, and it reminded me of drama games you might use when in theatre rehearsals – there was a marvellous sense of being able to suspend your inhibitions as something so extraordinary was happening. As my Dad said to my Mum as he watched me bobbing in and out of beams, “it’s like watching Lorna aged 6.”

The viewing screen allowed you, the performer, to watch yourself, mediated by a screen, performing. Thus you are audience, participant, performer, and viewer all at once. Many of us use social networking constructs such as Facebook, or blog sites like this one; these platforms inhabit the virtual realm and we define their content. In using and performing in Congregation we have a platform which physically sets the stage for our interactions and we, as with Facebook, get to create what happens – if we don’t we just see a few pretty patterns of light on the marble floor tiles. There is something really fascinating to me about the way this piece is playing with notions of user-defined content which make this piece beyond theatre or dance into an ‘extraordinary event’.

Many people stayed for at least three or four cycles (each cycle is about 25 minutes in length), as they were so involved in ‘working out’ the game. Some (including myself) stayed for hours, finding new ways of moving with the light and with other people.

I would absolutely encourage anyone to get down to Bournemouth Town Square (the installation is on until Sunday 19th September) as it’s truly a beautiful piece of work.

...in anticipation!

So with only one day to go it is with great excitment and anticipation that we're awaiting the start of the Inside Out Festival. Past years have seen some amazing work, some of my favourites being Compagnie Carabosse with their gorgeous Fire Gardens in Bournemouth Town Square, and Periplum in Wimborne with their wonderful piece Arquiem. So we're all pretty excited about what's going to happen in 2010....

This blog is going to be coming very much from my perspective. It's intended to document all of the pieces of work, as well as to give you some insight into the artistic process.

To introduce myself, my name is Lorna, and I am working on the Inside Out Festival. Primarily during the next ten days I will be stewarding on events (which will include setting up, telling people about the events and a couple of glamorous stints on car park duty). I'll also be chairing the artist talk with Kimmo Pohjonen at Winspit as well as generally being around to observe all of the activity going on in the next ten days.
My usual job, as one of Activate's Theatre Development Co-ordinators is to develop the performing arts in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole. Activate is the company managing Inside Out, so I have a good perspective on all of the people involved in the festival, as well as the run up to making it all happen. For a bit more about me please click on my profile button.

Just in case you don’t know, these are the pieces I’ll be writing about (see the website for more information on the events)….

DANCE INSPIRED: BOURNEMOUTH
10th September to 19th September (dance weekend 2pm - 10pm on the 11th and 12th)
European premiere of new video installation where pedestrians turn performers as you interact with projected images, colours and shapes illuminating Bournemouth Square, all set to music composed by Portland-based Peter Broderick. It is the most ambitious work to date from KMA - a collaboration between artists Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler will use projected light to illuminate, encourage and develop interactions between people in public spaces. Curated by Bournemouth Media Arts agency SCAN Congregation previews at the 2010 Shanghai Expo before Bournemouth, and will then be at Tate Britain, London. A dance-inspired start to Inside Out, planned to coincide with the launch of Pavilion Dance, the new regional dance centre in Bournemouth.

Congregation is part of a dance-inspired start to Inside Out, planned in partnership with Pavilion Dance to coincide with the launch of the new regional dance centre in Bournemouth. Over the weekend see familiar town centre locations transformed by thrilling outdoor dance, including the English premieres of Trajets de Ville (4pm) and Trajets de Vie, (look out for this in the morning) by Marseille-based ExNihilo, who have performed all over the world creating choreography that takes from, and responds to, the place in which is is set. Finally, don't miss the highly-entertaining Tracking from integrated dance company StopGAP.
http://www.insideoutdorset.co.uk/congregation-ex-nihilo-stopgap

THE ROCK CHARMER: WINSPIT
7pm on Thursday 16th September and Friday 17th

Our atmospheric, after-dusk journey starts at the historic Square and Compass pub in Worth Matravers. From here, we are led to the former quarrying site of Winspit, one of the Jurassic Coast’s most remarkable locations. Specially created for and inspired by this magnificent setting, situated on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, The Rock Charmer combines the phenomenal accordion-playing of Kimmo Pohjonen with magical animations by Dorset-based company, Paper Cinema.

Finnish accordion adventurist Kimmo Pohjonen’s singular mission is to expand the capabilities, sound, scope, performance and experience of the accordion to new levels. The location, the accordion, the voice, the effects, the surround sound, and a world created by Paper Cinema’s hand-crafted projected images make this a unique and captivating performance.

http://www.insideoutdorset.co.uk/the-rock-charmer


REVE D’HERBERT: POOLE QUAY
8pm Saturday 18th September
A beautiful and enchanting processional spectacle. Giant white figures silently explore Poole streets in search of light. The dreamy, ethereal characters then gently journey towards a spell-binding musical finale. French company Quidams have performed all over the world. Reve d'Herbert is one of the most popular pieces of outdoor performance and comes to Dorset for the first time. The show is also part of the new Carte Blanche programme at Lighthouse which focusses on new circus in partnership with La Breche in France, Activate and Crying Out Loud, London.
http://www.insideoutdorset.co.uk/reve-dherbert


PARKLIFE: DORCHESTER (Maumbury Rings)
7pm Sunday 19th September
Part playground, part bandstand, NoFit State takes the tent off its circus and invites you to join them in a celebration of the secret life of parks featuring the public themselves. During a week in residency, the contemporary NoFit State Circus will work with local community groups that have a talent, whether it’s whistling, skate-boarding, bmx-ing or singing.
The public’s talents will then be revealed in the show (Sun 19^th Sept) complete with pyrotechnics, aerial artists, dance and music. Bring a picnic or enjoy pizza from the infamous Jalopy van from Bridport and arrive early to see pre-show at 6:30.
As well as watching the finale show you are invited to watch the open rehearsals featuring local people, which take place on Thu 16 and Fri 17 Sept (3:30-5pm) and Sat 18 Sept (2:30-3:30pm). And if you, or your local community group have a special talent and would like to be involved, please contact Dorchester Arts on 01305 266 926, or come along to taster sessions on Tue 14 and Wed 15 (4-5pm).

Cardiff-based NoFit State Circus is leading the renaissance of contemporary circus in the UK. Founded in 1986, its mission is to be the circus that everyone wants to join.    
http://www.insideoutdorset.co.uk/parklife

The blog might end up coming from a few perspectives and it might end up getting updated quite late at night (!) but I will do my best in keeping up with the events as they happen. I'll also try to upload some photos so you can see what I'm writing about.
If you'd like to get in touch with me then please contact: lorna@activateperformingarts.org.uk, or for more general information about the festival, please contact info@activateperformingarts.org.uk.

The main festival website is here: http://www.insideoutdorset.co.uk/.