Dear Dance Marathon,

Thank you. I know we only spent a few hours together but I wanted to let you know how wonderful you are. Despite my aching calves and mysterious bruise, I miss you. You were a joy to be with. The friends I made through you might not last a lifetime but, for that one, lovely night, they meant so much. You made a team of two from strangers; we laughed, we tried and held on to each other.

At first I thought you were too good to be true and in a way I was right. Your trickery at first was subtle but once I realised the kindness in your lies I knew I had to forgive you. For some you made them feel inadequate; for others you gave them the courage to shine. And even though we floundered and fell, after knowing you for such a short time we all became champions. Even when our number was up we spurred each other on. Even when you stripped me of my purpose; an indignity which led me to the regrettable act of betraying my sister, still then, I fought on.

I saw so much through you. I witnessed amateurs evolve into experts. I saw kindness morph into competitiveness. I sensed strangers becoming friends and family turn into temporary enemies. You made me race to the finish line, flail in an attempt to regain my status, squish my sweaty body against an unknown other. And even though you may have turned me into a loser, well, I forgive you. You showed me humility; the sigh of relief in letting go of hopes of a trophy and cheering for our new, winning, friends.

So thank you Dance Marathon. Thank you for the fun, thank you for the music. Thank you for the artistry, thank you for the effort; I'm sure you must be tired so please go a take long and well deserved rest.

But know that - If we meet again - I'm on to you. And as I have already proved, I'm not above doing whatever it takes to leave our next night together as your dancing queen.

Love and very, very sweaty hugs,
Your not-so-bitter Loser.

People of Bristol showed back at "A Showcase of Physical Theatre" that if there's one thing they're passionate about.. it is a good, ol' fashioned RAFFLE. ATTACK! GM Seb Radclaw therefore declared on Sunday, 14th June it will be RAFFLEMANIA at ATTACK! Pro Wrestling.

Featuring a whole cast of do-gooders and not-so-niceys ATTACK! bring our Weird & Wonderful professional wrestling to the Trinity Centre in Bristol for an evening of bodyslams, sunflowers and raffle prizes.

Announced Card:

The Pride of Wales Eddie Dennis & The RETURNING Sebastian Radclaw vs. The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Superintendent Smile)

Doors 7:00PM - Show Starts 7:30PM

Cannonballista is the explosive new show from live artist Liz Clarke. It's a highly charged concoction of live art, installation and socially engaged performance taking place at Trinity this July.

Part installation, part workshop programme, part intrigue, Liz will invite local women to engage in three day-long workshops sharing her making processes and practices. They will discover participants' individual Super Hero Alter Ego- or the parts of themselves that are extraordinary, untapped and unexpected. Participants will be invited to play their own unique part in the final show.

The work is inspired by ordinary women living extraordinary lives, their struggles and every day triumphs they notch up.

It brings together mundane drudgery, sheds, cannons and neon blue in a way that has never been seen before!

Liz has had over 15 years experience of working with women experiencing isolation, depression and other issues creating diverse and varied performance work. People with or without experience of mental health issues are encouraged to apply.

The workshops will take place at Trinity on Thursday 8th, Friday 9th & Saturday 10th July. 10am-4.30pm.

The performances will be on Friday 17th & Saturday 18th July.

You would need to be committed to all of these dates.

Cost of the workshops are a token payment of £10 (in total) Payment will secure a place on a first come first served basis. The workshops are limited to eight participants.

If you'd like to take part or would like further information please contact info@lizclarke.org

Closing date: Monday 8th June

What people say....

'Liz is a performance alchemist' Workshop participant

'The quality and sincerity of her work is astounding' Audience member

Further information...

www.lizclarke.org

www.drasticproductions.co.uk

Promotional film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89dnvvHO66Y

Cannonballista films & animations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCktQkzOMBNx4ruDmZwDOQKADrastic Productions documentary:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKRSFLm5I7

Ladies & Gentlemen (because that’s how it always starts)...

You are here tonight to witness an amazing, an incredible and a death defying feat. She’s a renegade mechanic, an altruistic megalomaniac, and the mistress of contradiction herself; ladies and gentlemen, I give you the new and improved 50% extra extra, one-woman husband and wife team...Betty Bruiser!

This intimate and interactive performance piece charts the story of ordinary people leading extraordinary lives and the struggles and everyday triumphs they notch up. It brings together cannons, sheds and high heels in way that has never been seen before. The audience will be treated to feats of bravery and bravado, tales of triumphant jumps and brushes with death, all served with a generous helping of glitz and glamour (Betty always accessorises with her hardware).

However, behind the gaudy exterior we glimpse the woman beneath the false eyelashes and gunpowder and her real, fragile self emerges. Through Betty Bruiser,  Clarke presents questions around feminism, the domestic, and the many roles of women with wit, electric blue lurex, a matching cannon, pyrotechnics and low level dirt.

Betty would like you to know that her outfit matches her cannon at all times.

Doors: 7pm

Show starts: 7.30pm (Friday 17th & Saturday 18th July)

-Written by Toshiki Okada

Adapted by the company

Having presented FellSwoop Theatre’s fantastic Belleville Rendez-vous and Ablutions in the last few years, we’re delighted to present their brilliantly successful Current Location at Trinity, Bristol this season.

Three women stand on a cliff-edge overlooking their village; a village which is soon to disappear.  “Sometimes we need to do things like this; we need to step away from our daily lives, and look at them from a distance.”

Current Location was originally written by Japanese playwright Toshiki Okada in the direct aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Set in the intimacy of a choir rehearsal room, an all-female cast presents this immersive piece of theatre with live music by Ben Osborn, which explores how rumour and the fears associated with climate change disrupts families, friends and communities.

Returning from its UK tour and sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival 2014, the award-winning FellSwoop Theatre (Ablutions, Belleville Rendez-vous) present Current Location; an allegorical response to the ongoing and ever-increasing number of ecological disasters. A site specific production, developed specifically for Trinity Centre, Current Location will immerse and enlighten audiences in the significant issues and questions surrounding climate change.

“Quietly gripping and thoroughly unsettling, this piece climbs inside you, like the best examples of sci-fi”.  Wildfire / Exeunt

“Will haunt you long after you leave the theatre” A Younger Theatre

“Current Location is that rarest of things: a bold and experimental play that manages to tell a complex and emotional story. It’s a must-see and one of the best plays of the festival” Fringe Madrid

Performance dates: 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th June / 11th, 12th 13th & 14th June

Doors 6pm

Show start 6.30pm:  Running time 1hr

Age Recommendation 14+

What makes a person take a stand? Is it the sudden impulse of a single moment, or one small part of a lifelong commitment?

What makes a person elect to stand up and be counted? And would you do the same?

Chris Goode & Company and Oxford Playhouse present STAND: real life stories of courage and conscience from ordinary people who stood up for something, or someone, they believed in.

Six people who chose to act; and six actors, telling their stories in their own words. Stories about justice and sustainability, about friendship and risk, about bravery and kindness. Extraordinary moments from everyday life. STAND is a moving, inspiring celebration of the power of people to change their corner of the world.

Chris Goode returns to Mayfest after 2013’s The Forest and the Field, and 2012’s Open House.

“A theatre-maker of infinite talent and infinite compassion... up there with the very best.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian on Chris Goode

Chris Goode & Company is a collaboration between lead artist Chris Goode, producer Ric Watts, writer and critic Maddy Costa, and a fluid evolving ensemble of makers, designers and performers with a group of associate artists at its core. We make theatre. We tell stories. And we think out loud about who we all are.

Show times: 8pm (Friday and Sat) / 4pm (Sun)

These arms of mine they are burning

Burning from wanting you, these arms of mine.

They are wanting, wanting to hold you.

And if you would let them hold you,

Oh how grateful I will be'

Otis Reading

The Secret Slowness of Movement is an invitation to slow dance, or slow be.

A refuge for quiet contemplation, a dance floor for anonymous embodied slowness.

Bring a lover, friend or nemesis, or come alone.

And together let us surrender to the secret slowness.

This is The Secret Slowness of Movement's first incarnation. It is part of Laura Dannequin's on-going investigation into the creation of participatory dance installation work, first explored in Dance Dark Dance (Mayfest 2013).

Drop in at any time.

Laura Dannequin is a French-born Bristol based artist working predominantly in & with movement. As a maker she is interested in creating work that is present, live, raw and explores bodily being in the world: the dancing body, the social body, the diseased body. She is currently touring her solo Hardy Animal and is associate director at Still House(stillhouse.co.uk).

bluemouth inc. create immersive site-specific performances that marry choreography, text, original live music, and film.

In Dance Marathon, there’s only one rule: keep moving your feet.

Award-winning Canadian theatre collective bluemouth inc bring their worldwide smash hit Dance Marathon to Mayfest. It’s theatre, it’s a party, it’s a dance contest and it’s completely exhilarating and exhausting.

Based on the 1930s Depression-era American dance marathons, you are invited to dance the night away under the watchful eye of the referee on roller-skates, the ticking clock and accompanied by live music from our very own Dance Marathon house band.

In a three-hour endurance contest, compete with your fellow dancers to be crowned Dance Marathon champion. Those with two left feet can simply sit back and enjoy the fancy footwork.

Show runs 3hrs plus intervals

14 + This is an immersive show for all ages and for anyone between the ages of 14-90 who likes to dance.

To say that DANCE MARATHON breaks down the fourth wall – The imaginary wall that separates the audience from the performance in a traditional theatre – Is an understatement. IT ELIMINATES IT.

Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun

“bluemouth inc.'s Dance Marathon is perhaps the richest, fullest theatre experience I've ever had. This extraordinary event, which mashes up the dance marathon concept from the '20s and '30s with contemporary dance/physical theatre and a sort of live version of reality TV, is joyous, exhilarating, remarkably moving, and wondrously fun. Do it—it isn't a thing to merely be seen—and you will find the barriers and boundaries of conventional performance pushed wide open; you'll understand anew what theatre can be.”

Martin Denton, nytheatre.com1

Mayfest is seeking volunteer Dancers to be part of DANCE MARATHON

Dancers do not need to be professional and can be amateur, as long as they have some movement skills.

Volunteers will have an opportunity to work closely with this international collective, gain valuable experience and be part of a truly invigorating piece of theatre as part of the 2015 Mayfest

Dancers need to be available for all:
4 Rehearsals 13-16 May
Technical rehearsal Mon 18 May
3 Evening performances Tue 19-Thu 21 May

For more information or to submit your interest in this opportunity please contact:

Stephen O’Connell
bluemouth inc.
E: stephen@bluemouthinc.com

As with all our events, no physical tickets will be printed. Bring your PayPal receipt/transaction number as proof of purchase on the night!

Doors 7:00PM - Show Starts 7:30PM

Tickets cost just £10 and go on sale Thursday, 28th January at 8PM

+ Support from Bellatrix vs Maggie Nichols

Kassia Zermon aka 'Bunty' is a unique force best known for pioneering underground experimental vocal loop shows and fronting UK leading Dub act Resonators. Bunty's distinctive voice and powerful avant-pop orchestra has been compared to FKA Twiggs and Tune-Yards and championed by likes of Rodigan, Mark Lamar and BBC6 taste makers Tom Robinson and Lauren Laverne.

She combines the rawness of early M.I.A with the lyrical espionage of Tom Waits and a voice that can sound as sweet as Ella Fitzgerald (on Acid).

To celebrate the launch of Bunty's new album 'Multimos' (11/14 Beatabet records), she has created a brand new ensemble and dazzling AV live show, which she will be presenting LIVE at Trinity. Join us for an epic audio visual feast, featuring stunning bespoke visuals of VJ metaLuna, performers Poppy Kay and Zoe Padley, megalithic beats from Dave the Machine and an audience choir.

Complete with its own home-made light show, special FX and a lot of helium to suck you into a raucous avant - pop party!

Hard to fit into any box this lady's influences are huge, bringing her Morrocan Londoner roots to create her own blend of raw avant – pop music. She has performed her boundlessly creative live shows at all the main UK festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival,and Secret Garden. Bunty has supported an eclectic mix of acts including Jamie Woon, scroobius pip, Kate tempest and Susheela Raman. She has collaborated with world class beatboxers Dub FX, Shlomo and Beardy man and some of UK's top vocal improvisers such as Maggie Nichols.

Live Bunty uses her synths, toys, ukulele, voice, effects pedals and a mash of real and made-up languages. She whispers, bellows, beatboxes, claps and stamps producing impressive vocal harmonies for her hook heavy tunes.

'Somewhere between a rave, a piece of theatre ,a workshop and a game ...but primarily an awesome pop gig' Rebecca Fiddler, Brighton Dome.

'Ha! We've never had such a visual music show on radio' BBC radio4 Clive Anderson

'...a musical and visual feat' Brighton Digital Festival 2014

'Great Voice' BBC radio 6 Tom Robinson

'Brighton's Rising star' BBC radio 3 Nick Luscombe

Multimos Taster Video

Maggie Nichols has performed internationally for several decades, for instance at the Zürich and the Frankfurt "Canaille" festivals and Moers, Grenoble,Mulhouse, Vancouver and Victoriaville Festivals.

She has also given solo performances at the Moers Music Festival, the Cologne Triennale, and a number of other creative and improvised music festivals. She has worked with a great many improvisers from all over the world including drummer Günter "Baby" Sommer, British musicians,soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill, guitarist John Russell, Dutch trombonist and violinist Annemarie Roelofs, the Australian Relative Band (with Jim Denley), tuba player Pinguin Moschner, and prolific songwriting bands Loverly and Cats Cradle.

Vocalist Maggie Nicols has been an active participant in the European improvisational community since joining the Spontaneous Music Ensemble in the late '60s. As a co-founder of the Feminist Improvising Group, she has also worked to further women in improvised music, dancing and other creative arts not only by example, but through workshops and extensive collaborating.

Tickets available from:

Bristol Ticket Shop / 0870 44 44 400 or 0117 929 9008

Skiddle / Crack Magazine

Sara Pascoe - comedian, actor, writer: "Always clever and sometimes exquisite"

Shazia Mirza - award-winning comedian, columnist, actor “clever, ground-breaking and very funny”

Kate Smurthwaite - Political Activist and comedian “The verve with which she articulates her view on our land is monumental”

Cerys Nelmes - "confident and comfortable on the stage…her interaction with the audience was incredible!"

They have all made numerous TV appearances and aren’t afraid to be radical!

Summon the ancestors with Alice Human; spot a rabbit in the headlights with Ale Marzotto; challenge your audience etiquette with Bella Fortune and relish in an angry outburst as Hannah
Sullivan explodes Jo Hellier completes the bill with her flood inspired sound installation.

Thursday 19th:

Rabbit
Performance by Alessandro Marzotto Levy

Fear and the unknown can be paralysing. Can we let such fears escape our minds and bodies?

Rabbit revolves around the several lies that we create in order to protect ourselves.

Is it possible to take risks in life without becoming paralysed by the fear of being judged by others, but firstly by ourselves.

With Force and Noise
Performance by Hannah Sullivan

When was the last time you got angry?

With Force and Noise is Hannah’s first attempt at articulating anger. It is an experiment in costume and words: autobiography and fiction, blurred bodies and unsung bells. It starts with the colour red.

Friday 20th:

Bubbletiquette
Performance by Bella Fortune

Bubbletiquette is an autobiographically driven show that examines acts of fidgeting and social etiquette. Fidgeting as a form of communication can be tricky to translate. Are we enforcing focus or driving ourselves to distraction? what, if anything, are our bodies trying to say and should we be paying more attention?

Tea with your ancestors
Performance by Alice Human

A poetic and surreal sonic performance dedicated to our ancestors.

Alice explores the interaction between the live and the recorded, the present and the past, being born and dying. To understand how we can capture the qualities of what was, and what does spirituality mean for us now?

Thursday 19th & Friday 20th:

Flood Plans
Installation by Jo Hellier

When rivers join together their streams combine to make something stronger. That, or they burst their banks, flood and destroy.

This installation is the second incarnation of Flood Plans; the first took the form of a performance that premiered at IBT15. Through the creation of this installation Jo hopes to further explore, through sound and video, research that she implemented in collaboration with musician Yas Clarke.

Dramaturgy from Alice Tatton-Brown

Supported by Arts Council England, Interval, Bristol Ferment, In Between Time and Battersea Arts Centre.

#discover #SOLOforum

Tickets
£10 / conc £8 per show

£18 / conc £15 for both evenings

Doors 7.30pm / Show 8pm

'Frustra' - Through humour, striking imagery and powerful intricate movement a story unravels between a man and a woman. Competition builds, passion increases and the dancers' blood boils as they attempt to out do each other in a fast paced ‘pas de deux’. An Argentine tango…..perhaps.

'Breath:Taking' - A thoughtful duet exploring grief, 'Breath:Taking' was created in tribute to Julia's nephew Conrad, killed whilst serving in Afghanistan. Using Mike York's visual arts work 'Empty Chairs' as it's impetus, this piece explores the space left behind by those we have lost.

'Endeavour' - Exploring our love/hate relationship with reality TV competitions 'Endeavour' takes a satirical swipe at shows such as Crufts and Great British Menu. Giving a humorous nod to a range of dance styles and a light hearted look at the evolution of human kind.

“I would like to thank Julia for bringing passion, humour, fun and above all audience engagement.” Deryk Newland, Pavilion Dance South West

Have a drink on us! Each ticket purchased entitles you to one free glass of wine on entry.

We have appreciated over the years the terrific improvements made to the infrastructure and to the increased services to the community. The grand opening of the first floor dance/theatre space was a vibrant event and drew a wide cross section of the community, including the Mayor.

We have great pleasure in supporting the work of Trinity.

Drs Stephen Robins & Emma Kerr, SWhoop