Circus feats to swingin' beat! Come join the swing circus for a day.

You’ll meet specialist Charleston choreographers from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and get a chance to have a go yourself, you'll also see the incredible skills of top UK circus performers including high level hulahoop, cyr wheel and juggling.

Swing Circus is passionate about representation and diversity, this means acknowledging the African American roots of Swing as a cultural response to oppression. By working with this joyous artform we seek to bring power to marginalised histories and pleasure to the audiences we share it with.

It’s impossible to hear swing music without a smile on your face or tapping your feet. We want to harness that playful energy to create uplifting, energetic circus and dance shows. Get those happy feet a-movin’, and swing your booty in a hulahoop - guaranteed to leave a smile on your face and a spring on your step, it’s the Swing Circus!

Dress code: vintage swing/circus

Please note: tickets for Swing Circus on Saturday and Sunday include both a workshop and an evening performance, which will start at 4pm. If you wish to only attend the performance, please book for Friday.

You can also book a meal ticket to get some delicious food on Saturday and Sunday!

Running time: 105 mins (Fri - performance only) & 285 mins (Sat/Sun including break)

In collaboration with Swing Dance Bristol, Swing Patrol are bringing you an incredible night of dancing, live music, and general vintage merriment. We start the night with a fun beginner-friendly lesson so even if you have never danced before you’ll be swinging away by the end of the night. It’s also a great chance to meet the other dancers from around your community, so don’t be shy, ask someone for a dance! Come along and dance into the wee small hours with us.

Swing Dance Bristol

Swing Dance Bristol run friendly classes and events in Southville, Easton and Clifton: no partner needed, and everyone is welcome. They also run two major dance festivals each year, attracting some of the best national & international dancers to the city.

The Evening:

Join us at the Bristol Swing Ball for:

• A beginner-friendly dance lesson starting at 7:15pm
• Live swing music from the London Gay Big Band
• Floor show
• Fun and friendly competitions with exciting prizes
• A chance to get some professional photographs of yourselves all dressed up!

The evening will be hosted by Scott Cupit from Swing Patrol who recently featured on Dragons’ Den.

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

Trinity believes that the best art is created and experienced by the 67 million voices that make up UK society today. This is why we support and nurture creative communities, creating opportunities for artists and communities to co-create and experience culture together.

"I can't tell you how much we enjoyed it. It was perfectly pitched for this age group. This is exactly what we need more of” - Head Teacher from school’s audience group

Collaborating with communities

In March 2021 we launched an ambitious community arts project, 'What I Want To Be, What I Want To See' that asked communities to share their hopes and dreams for the future, post-pandemic. From this initial idea we commissioned community arts practitioner Michelle Roche to collaborate Newton Network and the local community to programme a series of ‘creative happenings’.

Throughout 2021 Michelle, Newtown Network and local residents created a programme of activities including a weekly 'coffee morning and lantern making' session that culminated with a mid-winter Dolphin Parade. Residents also took part in a series of collective actions – a community painting day and a public playlist of their favourite songs – sharing the unique identity of this vibrant corner of Bristol.

Creating opportunities for children and families to access and shape culture

Spilt Ink Theatre Company was awarded the Young Audiences Commission, which was introduced following a consultation, to offer more young people and family activities. Through our on-going partnership with local school St Nicholas of Tolentine, the company delivered a series of workshops collaborating with over 60 children to devise a new work, ‘Home’ that culminated in a public sharing in May 2021.

Trinity joined forces with Take a Part and Hannah Moore primary school to deliver 'Art Club', a project for children and their families to explore what culture they enjoy and what issues matter to them. Art Club took place for 12 weeks after school and included group trips to visit organisations such as Spike Island and The Bristol Museum, meeting staff and volunteers and having an opportunity to ask questions and see behind the scenes of some of the biggest cultural venues in the city. We will also be hosting a pop-up exhibition of artworks created by children and families who took part in the project.

Supporting the development and sharing of new and exciting work

In the summer we welcomed a range of performances in our pop-up outdoor venue, in the community garden and, for the first-time since Mar 2020, inside the building. This included a Trinity ‘take-over’ by associate artist Roxana Vilk, The Vilk Collective and immersive tech-artists Squid Ink with their 'Lullabies Celebration' celebrating the culmination of Roxana’s Lullabies project. The project collected and responded to songs from the many languages spoken in Bristol and beyond. Roxana is continuing to develop her creative practise including performing at St Georges Hall and through her residency at Watershed’s PM Studio.

Through micro-commissions and subsidised space we continued to support the creation and development of new work, including Houston Dance Company who devised Like Mercury in the Fyfe Hall. The show was selected to be programmed as part of the spring season of theatre and dance in 2022 and premiered to sell-out audiences. The show explored gender, sexuality and identity and positive feedback from audiences included people commenting that the show ‘taught me to embody and celebrate my sexuality’. The company will be touring the performance in the UK throughout 2022.

http://journeytojustice.org.uk/projects/bristol/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/JtoJBristol/events/

Schedule:

1.00: Doors Open Our events tend to fill up early, so we will be opening the doors and stamping people's hands for entrance from 1pm. (Your stamp is your entrance ticket) If you would like to tell a story on stage, put your name in the hat! If not, just take a seat and wait for the show to begin.

2pm - 4.30pm : Story Time

We pull names from the hat at random, and whoever’s name is pulled tells us a 5 minute story from their life! We laugh, we cry, we drink, we have another one! (20 minute interval at 3pm). After the slam people tend to hang around have a drink, and chat about the stories they didn't have a chance to tell on stage. Our usual venue is the Old Market assembly just down the road, which is the perfect place for a pint or Sunday lunch afterwards!

Story Rules

• They must be *stories*! No rants, stand-up routines or monologues. We want a beginning, middle and end, and some change and conflict to occur.

• They must be told in 5 minutes.

• They have to be true

•They need to be genuinely 1st person. You should be a major player in the story and we want to hear your perspective.

• Preferably no notes. This is about the good ol’ fashioned art of storytelling. Tell it to us like we're round a campfire, or at a sleep over

The rules are just there to make sure we get to hear as many awesome stories as possible. :) They’re not meant to be restricting, so if you’re unsure about anything just drop us a message or ask on the day.

Content Warning: In the interest of making the story slam a safer and more comfortable place, we give people the option of putting content warnings before their stories. We read them out before each story and give people a chance to leave the room. If you do want to leave the main room at any time please feel free!

Safer Spaces: We want to try and create a place where people feel safe and confortable to share stories. We're continucally trying to make our events better places to be and our aim is to hear stories that we don’t get to hear anywhere else. We want to make Story Slam better than the world around it. So to help us achieve this, we have our own safer spaces policy. Feel free to have a read at the following link: http://www.storyslam.co.uk/safer-spaces/

Accesibility: We want our events to be as accessible as possible. The venue has full step free access to the theatre and the stage. If you think that you may need to use it please let us know beforehand (via Facebook message) so we can get thing prepared.

Detailed information about accesibility can be found here: https://www.3ca.org.uk/activities/renovation/accessibility

Stand is the product of conversations. The conversations continued long after leaving the Trinity centre, but in silence; an inner-monologue set to my footsteps, set to snippets of strangers passing conversations. Stand made me consider myself, my actions.

It made me proud of that time I stood up to the racist man in the restaurant in Edinburgh and made me see my Mother’s pleasure in witnessing this in a new, brighter light. Stand made me hope that in the future I will be braver in making positive choices and not stop myself due to fear of an unsuccessful ending. Stand made me miss my younger self- the one who could be so riled up about the wrongs of the world.

Stand made my friend sad when she realised later that these were actors, not the activists, performing the verbatim transcript. Stand impressed me that the quality of performance made her think this.

Stand meant I was sure to find a bin to put my cigarette butt in and to feel guilty for all of the discarded ones that came before it and every dropped one that is sure to come. Stand reminded me that I am only human. Stand made me plump-up with pride for people. It made me deflate with despair in humanity.

Stand made me think of my friend who spends weeks, months living in protest sites; of the arrests, beatings, losses and wins. It made me question why I have been so hesitant to join him.

Stand made me wish I’d ordered the vegetarian quiche instead of this open-top ham sandwich but feel a little more at ease that at least the meat is locally sourced. Stand reassured me that standing-up can come in many forms. Stand is simple. It is sensitively, sometimes joyously performed. Stand made me want to know more, to do more. Stand made me want to be better.

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)

Photo: Apple N Spice

Head to Trinity this Spring to get involved with a new season of theatre and dance featuring shows that amplify stories from across the UK and beyond, creating a picture of life in modern Britain.

From shadow puppetry inspired by Indian culture to spoken word, this season is one of highs, laughs and - as always - conversations.

"I loved this from the moment I read this two cultures mixing together with singing and dance and audience participation, great one for the children to get involved in" Forum member feedback on Apple 'N Spice, showing 17th Feb 22

Launching with Apple 'N' Spice (17 Feb), an interactive dance and theatre show inspired by Snow White and Ramayana (an ancient Indian story).

On the Inside (25 Feb) by Untold Theatre transports audiences to a dystopian world where four people are trapped inside and forced to live together and their morals and values are thrown out of the window when their true selves begin to emerge...

Dry Season (06 Mar) is a spoken word show that takes a candid look at the impact of experiencing the menopause in your 30's.

Like Mercury (12 Mar) is a powerful new dance and music collaboration by Emma Houston and Bellatrix. Developed with support from Trinity, the show explores the idea of identity through a queer lens.

The Big Trinity Picnic (26 Mar) is a family show hosted by poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko who will perform alongside a very special invited guest poet and is perfect for children aged 7-11 and their families/carers.

About Trinity Presents

The shows where selected following an open call for artists and companies responding to the theme, 'art of resistance'.

Trinity's programming forum made up of community members and independent representatives chose six shows to feature as part of our latest season of in-house programming.

This work is part of Trinity's commitment to amplifying the diverse voices of groups and communities who make UK culture today. To read more about what this means, see: #67MillionVoices.

All tickets are priced as 'pay what you can' starting at £7 + bf and all shows will feature a BSL interpreter.

As an iconic Arts Centre with forty years of music programming experience under their belt it should come as no surprise to you that the Trinity team are continuing to push boundaries with their IGNiTE programme of performance in 2017.

Ranging from the playful to the sometimes hard-to-swallow realities of life, the newly announced spring selection of programming is destine to challenge and excite audiences. Fergus Evans, Trinity’s theatre and dance producer says that all the shows presented are ‘a celebration of the spaces we make for ourselves when none of the boxes fit quite right.’

Mixing the exciting with the unexpected, the season’s five shows set out to provoke conversations. In I-Dentity Rider Shafique explores being mixed race and what it is like when you are neither but also both. Liz Aggiss’ giddy and sometimes sinister Slap and Tickle cheekily explores female sexuality and growing older. What you see is not always what you get in Alesandra Seutin's  C'eci n'est past Noire (This is not Black) - a journey through identity politics, Beyonce and, a few parlour games. Putting the Band Back Together is a playful story about why we give up on our dreams and how we find them again. Gather the round dinner table in Daughters of the Curry Revolution and find out what it means to be the daughter of a migrant.

At Trinity you're never just a member of the audience, and this carefully selected programming certainly reflects this. From picking up an instrument and joining Unfolding Theatre’s house band to learning new ways to move with Alesandra Seutin (Vocab Dance Company). You can sign up to be a member of one of our test audiences and see work in development from our resident artists. Let us know what you think of the show you’ve seen or volunteer as a steward. The message is clear: Don't just come see a show. Take part. Speak up. Start something.

Alongside our regular programme of live music and community events, we present world-class, innovative artists whose work is about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. IGNiTE is supported by funding from Arts Council England.

Further Info:

Tickets go on Sale 10am Friday 3rd Feb http://www.3ca.org.uk/ignite ​ ​

Slap and Tickle, Liz Aggis 18th March 7.30pm £10 / £8

Ceci n'est pas Noire (This is not Black), Alesandra Seutin I Vocab Dance Company 25th March, 7.30pm £10 / £8

Putting The Band Back Together, Unfolding Theatre 21st April, 7.30pm £10 / £8

I-Dentity, Rider Shafique 28th April, 7.30pm £10 / £8

Daughters of the Curry Revolution, Afreena Islam 5th/6th/7th May : 3pm / 5pm / 7pm £12 / £10

Scottee's workshop explored making art about 'issues'. Photo Alexa Ledecky

Our Spring 2019 season of theatre and dance presented innovative artists who spoke from the heart and asked: How do we strip away the layers of expectation placed on us by society to find the truest version of ourselves?

Shows included: Fat Blokes from Scottee; Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancer by Shane Shambhu; Rent Party by Darren Pritchard Dance; Windows of Displacement by Toussaint To Move.

All shows included ways for audiences to get involved, from Scottee's workshop Getting Things Off Your Chest to Rent Party's post show disco.

We also welcome and supported four IGNiTE artists in residence -Ania Varez developed and shared her project 'Guayabo' (Venezuelan slang for 'heartbreak').  Read her thoughts on taking the project to Spill festival and an honest and brave interview about the reasons and importance of the project with the BBC online.

Vicki Hearne, creative director of Untold Dance Theatre an all female intergenerational company, created a new piece ‘Practically Perfect’, a project that focused on the idea of perfectionism, the journey to strive for this unattainable goal and how this affects women in particular.

Audiences take a short break during Roxana Vilk's sharing of Lullabies. Photo Alexa Ledecky

Roxana Vilk's  'Lullabies' explored heritage migration and identity though collecting lullabies sung to children by families and parents across Bristol.

Sharing Hyper Fem - Viki Brown. Photo Khali Ackford

Viki Browne's 'Hyper Fem' asked whether the performance of femininity through Drag can be as powerful, political or subversive when performed on a female identifying body.

IGNiTE is programmed in collaboration with our Programming Forum.The forum is made up of members of the communities who regularly use Trinity and they help advise our programme.

IGNiTE is supported using public funding by Bristol City Council and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Ania sharing her work in progress at Trinity (photo @ Alastair Brookes)

A few thoughts about sharing Guayabo at SPILL Festival of performance 2018

"I just didn’t know how it would go until I had this experience"

Ania Varez is one of four Bristol based artists who are developing exciting new work in collaboration with communities at Trinity over six months as part of our IGNiTE theatre and dance programme.

During her residency Ania is developing ‘Guayabo’ a participatory work that invites people to gather around their pain and the pain of others and is heavily influenced by Ania’s move from Venezuela to leave her country’s violent dictatorship. The crisis is rarely mentioned in mainstream media and Ania has been using her art to share her and her family’s experiences with others.

Ania recently took ‘Guaybo’ to Spill Festival, an international festival of contemporary arts and activism in Ipswich. We asked her to tell us the four things she learnt while she was there.

Maybe not all works are meant for art festivals (or maybe they need a bit more help)

Guayabo is a very challenging piece to share for different reasons. Mostly, because it requires placing myself in a very vulnerable state, my family is also exposed through the videos and texts I read, and the topic is extremely painful and difficult on its own.

I was concerned that those who came to experience the work might not have the capacity to offer the mental and emotional investment this piece requires due to the festival environment which is overwhelming with people quickly moving from one performance to another. I also felt the audience needed more time to process the difficult information that Guayabo conveys, whilst in a safe environment, before leaving the room and returning to a conventional social mode.

Towards the end of the work, I invite people to stay in the room for as long as they need and to chat with me if they wish, but since people had to rush to another show, most of them could not have that time, which felt important in terms of caring for themselves and for me. To know this for future sharings is really positive!

I will think about what needs to change inside the work to ensure people receive the care they need. However, the context is also important. I’m sure SPILL would have made a bigger effort to ensure these things happened if I had spoken about them beforehand, but I just didn’t know how it would go until I had this experience. Maybe arts festivals are not the right context for Guayabo, or maybe it just needs some programming adjustments (have more time altogether, organising a meal to share right after, for example) would really help to overcome these difficulties.

Guayabo connects people in the UK with Ania's family in Venezuela

It’s nicer to meet people outside of performance settings

Whilst being at SPILL I slightly regretted not having the time to see other works and meet many people. Sharing this piece took all of my time and energy and I didn’t have the space to experience much more. In hindsight, I notice that I naturally felt more inclined to encounter people outside of the performance settings (at breakfast, or in the artists green room) in a more relaxed and meaningful way, and most of the time we didn’t even talk about our work which I enjoyed much more.

Before arriving to SPILL, I was quite worried that everyone around me would be trying to constantly pitch their work at each other, but I was glad to discover that most people seemed to agree that having a good time and laughing together was more important.

Self care and support kept everything together

I had severe technical difficulties during my first show and right until the beginning of my second show. This uncertainty added pressure to sharing such personal work, which massively compromised my mental health during the performance days.

Having my producer, Katherine Hall, with me during the first two days really kept me safe and capable of getting through the difficulties, as she took care of many things and allowed me to concentrate on the work. Sadly, she could not stay for the last two days and that would have really affected me if it wasn’t for Shabnam Shabazi (the Wellbeing Liaison of the festival) and Manon Santi (part of the SPILL team) who were there to support me. They gave such gentle and caring attention to me and to the work: this meant I could present the work without having a breakdown or feeling like I was delivering it on my own.

It’s not the end of the line

SPILL felt like an incredible opportunity for me as an artist and a person. It’s the biggest platform I have ever shared work on. But I didn’t want it to feel like the ultimate platform, or the culmination of this long process. I wanted it to feel like another island I stumble upon in the middle of this long trip. A place to pass by, gather things that felt valuable, meet great people and then continue on the journey. Almost one month after the festival, I see this opportunity has brought a few open doors, some new friends and a lot of learning. I enjoy holding on to this feeling of continuation, this long process that exists independently of the platforms that I visit, but continues to be nourished by them. I am looking forward to continuing my research at Trinity Centre next year.

Read more about our IGNiTE programme and artist in residence just here.

Also, Bristol’s own (though he renounced his Bristolian roots earlier this year), Charlie Sterling will make an appearance, along with the always captivating Millie McKenzie, adding even more excitement to this spine-chilling, festive night of wrestling.

Expect an adrenaline-fuelled spectacle as SWW brings together a line-up of top-tier wrestlers, each vying for glory and supremacy in the ring. From bone-crushing power slams to awe-inspiring acrobatics, every match guarantees heart-pounding action and intense rivalries. With Trinity as the backdrop, fans can anticipate an immersive experience filled with roaring crowds, dramatic showdowns, and unforgettable moments.

Schedule:
Doors - 5pm
First Bell - 6pm 
End Time - 10:30pm

More information to come...

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

Come to Social Muscle Club: Queer Bristol – a celebration of togetherness with performance, music, heartfelt exchanges and dancing. Bristol-Berlin Queer Arts Exchange and Pride Without Borders invite you to meet new friends and take part in a simple game of giving and receiving surprising gifts – a favourite book, freshly baked bread, a song, a story, some advice, a portrait, a dance move, a stage dive ... See you there!

Photo Credit: Julian Hemelberg