Post Malta festival

Hello all!

Malta's back in action after a much needed break after your visit even though we were all so hyped up after you left! When we met again two weeks after Belgiun and UK had left here we were all still talking about all the tiny details of the memories we now carry. The full group is still meeting weekly; but on Fridays the participants who are coming to the UK meet up in order to develop a twist from our september peformance specifically to perform for you in December.

But before we get there... Sara would like to post her comments about your presence in Malta at the festival!

Sara:
'I enjoyed the festival mostly to meet the foreigners. It was good to hear their accent. They learnt some Maltese words! I felt good when I took part in the workshops with the foreigners because it was good to learn new things: how they act, and how they used their words to translate. During the performance I felt excited and happy. The dance I made was good and it really worked out. When the other Maltese were doing their act for the first time it was good to see. We worked hard for the performances. Even the foreigners liked it. The festival events were:


On Monday 29th September

Met the foreign guest at St. James
and we had ice-breaking games
at around 4.00pm we started the opening social events
around 18.00 dinner at the hard rock cafe' at baystreet
and then after when't to joeker to play some games and to have fun
and then we went home at around 21.00

on tuesday 30th September

9.45 meet at St james for morning workshops
at around 13 we had lunch all together
2/3 maltese had rehearsal
3 maltese went home to rest
at around 18.15 we met back stage
and a 7 performace on all the three countrys


last day(party)

9.30 meet at St James
Went to razzett tal hbiberija
at around 12 we had farewell lunch
and then we said good-bye to the foreign guests.'

A little update from Belgium

Hi everbody,

It’s been more than a month now, but we are still talking about the good times we had in Malta. You can take a look at the pictures and we have just put a movie clip online on http://www.ccleopoldsburg.be/pages/subpages/fotos_filmpjes/opening_doors.html. Here you see our live appearance on local television where we tell about our Malta adventures. Even if you don’t understand Flemish, you can see how enthusiastic we are. And we are sure you will recognise our famous ‘Kabas Song’ (or ‘Basket Song’ in Maltese ;-)) at the end. Take care & see you all in England!

Best regards from Leopoldsburg!

Hello from Headway and Seven Stars

Hello to you all and we hope you are all well. We have finally reached a kind of normality here after our fantastic adventure in Malta.

Seven stars had such a wonderful time and have talked about little else since they got back, so they each have a message to you all.

Hi hope everyone is ok. I really enjoyed it in Malta, and it was an experience as i have never been abroad before, we are currently working on the second part of our trilogy. It is called "Land of the Lost Cuckoo" See you all in December, Best wishes Kris.

Hello, Andy here. Iam writing to say thank you for inviting us over to put on our show. We had a good time and hope you can see our new show. i look forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends. i enjoyed the trip to Malta, the weather was very hot. I enjoyed all the tasty food. and the beer was nice and wet. My favourite bit was at the activity centre when we saw the monkey's. We liked going out places with you all and i enjoyed the workshops. We look forward to seeing you all again. Best wishes

Hello from Jean. I was so pleased when i went to Malta. I have never travelled abroad before but got used to it very quickly and Chris, Steve and Allie looked after me. I got a new watch from Malta's lovely shops. Malta was very hot. I had a nice time and enjoyed the food and enjoyed the amusement arcade where i won a purse. I am looking forward to playing "Skye the Rainbow girl" again for you all in December and then again when we come to Belgium next year. lots of love Jean.

Hello, its Tim here. First of all i would like to say how much i really enjoyed meeting both the Belgium and Maltese groups. We are currently working on part 2 of THE EVERWORLD TRILOGY, which you will see when you come to England in December. looking forward to seeing you all then. Best Wishes.

Hello from Paula. I would like to tell you all what a nice time i had in Malta. I loved performing to you all and watching your performances too. I loved our hotel. I liked all the food and even got to enjoy a glass of wine. I thought all the people were very nice, especially Peter from Belgium and Alison from the Malta group. I look forward to you coming over to us soon and we will have a nice time.

Well we hope everyone had as good a time as we did and we are very excited about seeing and working with you all again in December

Best Wishes, HEADWAY

Last Blog Before Malta

Hello Everybody

We hope you are all well and getting excited about next week. We have been working on final preparations for the show and the journey itself. Seven Stars have produced what we think is an exciting piece of theatre.

Later today we are going out to give a preview to Bedlington Day Centre.

The remainder of our group would like to say hello, and say they look foreward to seeing you all very soon.

So we have Jean, Paula and Kris

Anyway, best wishes to you all and we will see you in a few days

Best Wishes

Steve and all of Headway.

Acting is fun.... (hello from Shana)

Hello,

My name is Shana (I'm dancing with Jessica in the pic) and like the other participants I have written a little something about the project!

I, ....

always try to do my best.

I, ...

am a good actrice.

I, ....

love playing something romantic.

I, ...

like it.

Shana

Ode to the stage..... (Hello from Christine)

Hello,

My name is Christine Huysmans. I'm 39 years old and live in Lommel. I love making personal birthdaycards and going for a drink or shopping.

I'm participating in this project to have fun with my fellow participants and I'm already looking forward to going to Malta.

Here's a little something I wrote about the project:

I think,

Wim's a cool coach.

I think,

the handkiss he gives me is very cool.

I think,

dancing is good fun.

I think,

balloons are great.

I think,

having a drink during break time is nice.

I think,

.....

I think,

this is it!

Christine

I was acting... (Hello fromYvette)

Hello,

My name is Yvette (in the pic with Ivo) and I work in Berkenhof. Here's a little something I wrote about the project!

I don't know,…
Ah yes,
I played I was a little Piglet.

I don't know,…
Ah yes,
I played I was snowwhite.

I don't know,…
Ah yes,
I played I was a little princess.

I don't know,…
Ah yes,
we set up the chairs.

I don't know,…
Ah yes,
It's all good fun.

I don't know,…
Ah yes,
I played I was a piglet.

See you all in Malta!

Yvette.

A word from Wim... (Dramacoach for Belgium).

Hallo everyone out there,
Yes, I am still alive, and want to report about our working process in Belgium, Leopoldsburg.

We have been working for five months now with the Group on the theatre project Opening doors.
We started with 17 adult participants, 9 people from the institution ‘Het Brugske’ and 8 people from ‘Het Berkenhof’. They all come over to the cultural centre in Leopoldsburg every week on Thursday. We meet each other at 9u30 and work from 9u45 till 11u45.
During July and August the Group was not always complete (because of holidays), but all the participants that started are still in the project and show up all 17 every week now.

Work in progress: what we did up till now.

This is (was) a new group. Some participants had an occasional acting experience, but nobody worked in a theatre process like this before.

First part of the process ( March – April) was pointed on getting to know each other. Who is everybody, what are the personal expectations, what are specific qualities and restrictions of everybody?

Second part we worked on basic theatre behaviour and working attitude such as working in chorus, listening en respecting each other, leaving room for creativity of every participant.
We also started to train basic theatre skills; getting to know and control the body, becoming free in using the body, using the voice and try to experiment, stimulating the fantasy by association exercises.
Every week we use these four different entrances (body, voice, fantasy and chorus) during the warming up.

Part three we worked on more complex drama competences such as tempo, dynamic,
storylines, improvisation on stage, dialogues. We also started to work on scenes with two, with three, with more players, parts of it to work out, other parts pure improvisations on stage.

Part four, we started to work with inspiration out of objects and we did open ‘the bag’ ( DE KABAS, a Flemish dialect word introduced by Ivo ) to pick out four different objects. The participants took them blind eyed out of the bag, we won’t tell you which objects yet.
We did drama and association exercises with these objects and improvised different scenes with always different mixed groups.

Part five; preparations for the presentation of our work in Malta. We worked out a drama schedule as a structure to improvise in with these objects. KABAS is the title of our presentation, so we are having a good time on basic musicimpro (clapping, rhythm, singing..) with this word an the sounds of the vocals.

This week, for the first time, we worked separate with the people who will come over to Malta (you find them on the blog). We fixed the drama line, we improvised on text and chorus work, and we will make some progress on this drama peace during the next three weeks. They surely will enjoy playing KABAS for all of you in Malta.

Best wishes and have a good working time over there.
In the future I hope to have some time to give some explanations about
- how we did this, (goals and method)
- who we involved in the project, and about
- the effects we recognise up till now

Warm greetings from Wim and the whole group of Leopoldsburg.

A little fragment..... (Jessica says Hi!)

Hello,

My name is Jessica Cuyvers. I live in the Home in Kerkhoven and I work in Berkenhof. My hobby is dancing.



Here's a little something I wrote about the project called: A little Fragment...

Johnny and I,

we danced.

I cried.

I played I was pregnant,

Johnny passed out.

Lots of stuff to do!


See you all in Malta,

Jessica

Hello from Headway.

Just a quick hello to you all. We hope you are all well and looking forward to the festival in Malta, I know everyone at Headway/ Seven Stars is. It is great to see so many new faces contributing to the blog and we look forward to meeting you all very soon. Our show is coming on a great pace and now has a title. Seven Stars present "Journey to Everworld" a fantasy adventure.

We are doing a lot of physical drama, using facial and body gesture rather than words. We feel this will help us tell our story and not have to worry about any language barriers. We have watched early silent movies as research and studied techniques used and translated them into the theatre. We have also looked at clowning and mask work which has helped create larger than life characters. We are working with fabrics to create landscapes and visual effects. We have also been using music to create atmosphere and suspense. Practically we are looking at how to get our set, costumes and props to Malta and are working on the basis that it must all fit into one suitcase.

Unfortunately due to reasons beyond our control, Tracey is no longer involved in the project. But we will still have an enthusuastic five strong group of performers.

Anyway let us know how your shows are coming on, and we will speak soon.

Best Wishes

Steve

The Project... (Hello from Marleen)

Hello,

My name is Marleen Larbie.

I'm going to Malta with the rest of the troups.

In the weekends I live with my mum at home,

During the week I live in Leopoldsburg in a different place.

I don't have many hobbies

And sometimes this makes me sad.

But I've found one great Hobby,

Cause I like being on stage.

That's why I want to go to Malta,

it's been my dream all along!

See you,

Marleen

On stage..... (Ivo says hello!)

Here's another one of our participants coming to Malta in September!

Hello,

My name is Ivo Geboers and I'm 49 years old. I live in Kerkhoven and work in 't Berkenhof.

My hobby's are being quiet and enjoying everything that's going on around me!

Here's my little piece about the project!

On stage,

we played.

On stage,

we played.

On stage,

Haha.

On stage,

I'm going on stage!

Ivo

Acting... (Another hello from Belgium)

Hello everyone,

My name is An Peeters and I'm 26 years old. During the week I live with my boyfriend Ronny and during the weekends I go home to my parents.

I work in 't Brugske (the daycentre I go to during the week). I like sports a lot: monday and thursday I work on my physical condition in the gym and I also like cycling long distances and swimming. Every now and then I also like going to the cinema.

I like acting a lot, I've been doing it for a while now. I especially like coming up with our own little plays and letting the clap run through the circle (Wim always starts running to keep up with the clap, which is fun). Like the others in my group I've also written a little something about the project called: Acting....

Acting,

is very nice to do.

Acting,

we're always learning something new.

Acting,

I'm having lots of fun, I smile.

Acting,

I like to see Wim run.

Acting,

the clap is fun.

Acting,

I enjoy making my own little plays.

Acting,

sometimes it's hard!

See you all in Malta!

An

the last hellos... last but not least!... from Sara and Sean

My name is Sara. I would like to say a big hello and welcome you to Malta if it’s your first time. I’m 19. My hobbies are singing, dancing and drama.

I’m Sean. I like to make friends with people from other different countries. I like to share this experience with other people from Belgium and England. I would like to meet other people from these countries. I am 22 years old and my hobby is playing with the computer, surfing the internet, collecting coins and bank notes. I went abroad to many countries such as Italy, Tunisia and England.

Hi from Steve and Joseph

I’m Steve (on the left). I like to dance modern dance. I like eurovision because they’re friendly. I like Max, my dog. I like to sing and do drama.

I’m Joseph (on the right). I like to run and to go abroad. I got used to coming here to St.James and now I enjoy coming. I am looking forward to meeting you. I enjoy going to beautiful places. Goodbye and see you soon!

Hi from Redeemer, Thea and Priscilla

I’m Redeemer. I like to play with the computer. I like to write emails, I like games such as batman. I like boxing games, luggage games and I like to drink wine.

My name is Thea. I like to swim. I like to listen to music. I like drama.

I’m Priscilla. I like to go abroad and I like to go to England, France and London. When I go abroad I like to eat, to buy coca-cola and to go to the sea. I like to go to Catania as well.

and another hello this time from Alison

My name is Alison and I'm with Christopher in this picture. I go to school in Wardija. I draw. I enjoy drama and I enjoyed playing with the bag today!

Hi from Andrew and Caroline

I’m Andrew (in one picture with Caroline and in the other with Jason). I like to go abroad to beautiful places to go around with cameras especially in the light. I enjoy spending time with the group and I enjoy being in the group with Jason and Redeemer. I get involved in things. I do drama and I sing like Elvis Presley. And I like to eat.

I think England is a beautiful country. My name is Caroline. I like computers and drama. I like to come to St.James Cavalier. I like to eat. I like to go abroad. I have been to Disney Land, Lourdes and Poland.

more hellos from Malta

Here's to Jason, Alison and David

My name is Jason. I like to eat and I like to go abroad. I like to swim and I like to go to school in Wardija and to play.

My name is Alison Bonello. I like Belgium. I like playing car games. I like to write and I like to go out with my friends on the weekend. I like to go to disco parties. I like to do exercise, to dance and to do drama.

My name is David. I like to swim, wash, go to church, sing, pray; I like to play shooting games on my playstation. I make my lunch for school, I go to school and after I go to sleep!

Maltesers say hello!

Hi!

Malta had a very exciting session last Thursday where each participant had a turn at intorducing themselves. We also began to explore the bag itself and enjoyed improvising bag scenes! We're excited this week to now explore what's inside of it.

But... before that... here's our team! Most of us seem to enjoy eating and travelling most!




Here's to Isabel, Laura and Christopher in this picture.

My name is Isabel Bonello. I live in Mtarfa where there are Chadwick Lakes. Where I live I have a verandah and you can see the Chadwick Lakes and Bahrija, fields, aeroplanes, and the school of Mtarfa. Mtarfa is a very beautiful village. In Mtarfa we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. I like to go abroad. I have been to Germany and to Lourdes. My hobbies are eating a lot. I like to do crosswords. I like to swim. I like to do some work on the computer and I like to go on the msn to chat.


My name is Laura. I enjoy it here at St. James. I enjoy people watching me on stage because I would like to go abroad. The place here is nice and I like that people watch me.

I’m Christopher. I like to eat. I like drama. I like to listen to music on the radio and I dance to it.

It was good....

Hello all,

Here's the second participant from Belgium to go to Malta in September!

Hello,

My name is Christof Bouly and I live in the Home in Kerkhoven and during the day I work in 't Berkenhof.

My hobby's are playing drums and also listening to music.

Just like Mariano I've written a little something about the project called: It was good.... Hope you like it!

It was good,

acting on stage.

It was good,

dancing on stage.

It was good,

sitting on the pillows.

It was good,

that's all I think.

See you all in Malta!

Christof

Hello, my name is.....

So, here's the first Belgian participant coming to Malta in September!

Hello,

My name is Mariano and I'm 26 years old. My hobby is soccer and I'm looking forward to going to Liverpool to watch the match Liverpool - Standard.

I also wrote a little something about the project called Tribute to Wim (our coach):

Wim is .......

a little crazy sometimes.

He likes too......

fool everyone all the time.

He plays......

tricks on us.

He also tells me....

to keep my two feet steadily on the ground!

Hope you like it and I'm really looking forward to meeting you all in Malta!

Mariano

Preparing for Malta

Well, Belgium had a really productive session yesterday. All our participants wrote a little something about themselves so I'll start introducing them gradually on the blog now...

We also made our own nametags for when we go travelling. This was good fun as it showed the creative side (other than playing drama) of our participants.

The whole group had fun posing for some cool pics too....

So here's us

A little Belgian Update

Hello all,

Just to let you know we're still working hard over here in Belgium. So far we've discovered 4 interesting objects in our bag and we're working on little mini-plays involving these objects! (see pics)

We are also reserving 21st August for our participants to have a little look on the net and write a little bit about themselves as an introduction. During the session that day we'll also take a few very cool pictures to put online.

So you've got something to look forward to!

Leen

And hello again

Well its Thursday again, and we are working very hard on the story for our performance.

We do not want to spoil the surprise but our story involves an exciting journey to a strange land. A bit like the project really.

Anyway another member of the group would like to say hello, so its over to you.........Andy.

Hello, my name is Andy, I have been with Seven Stars since April and think its good, the staff are friendly and i love acting, singing and anything to do with drama.

When i'm not at Seven Stars i love playing video games, food and drink and listening to music and singing along.

Iam looking forward to coming to Malta and hope to make some new friends,

and thats it really, look forward to meeting you all in September

Best Wishes

Andy

Well, must crack on , hope it going well for you all. We have not heard from you lately It would be good to meet some of the members of your groups. We will speak again next week

Best Wishes

Seven Stars and Headway

And Hello again

Dear All



Sorry we have not been on in a couple of weeks, but we have been working hard on one of our other projects. We are working and performing our summer production, this year we are doing William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream" and we had our first performance on Saturday 5th July, all went very well other than the weather. It reminded Steve very much of Louise' s beach workshop.



Anyway, today we started work on what will be our final story. We have gathered as much information about the objects in the bag as we can and have started to put them together into what is becoming a very exciting story, but as we said last time....that's a secret!!!!!!!!! We have also finally been joined by our final member on the project, Jean. She will introduce herself in the next couple of weeks.



The next member of the group who would like to say hello is...........TRACEY



Hello, my name is Tracey. I have only been with Seven Stars for 2 months and like it a lot I like drama, singing, playing the games but not when Steve makes us work too hard.


When i'm not at Seven Stars i like going out with my boyfriend Neil. I like to go to the cinema, i saw the new Narnia movie Prince Caspian and thought it was good. I love food, especially Chinese food. I am looking forward to coming to Malta in September as i love to travel and meet new people and look forward to hopefully making some new friends

Best wishes


Tracey





Well that's us for today, hope you all well and busy, we are!!!!!





Speak to you all soon





Best wishes





Seven Stars

Greetings from Seven Stars, Headway.

HELLO

Now that we know who in Seven Stars is coming to Malta in September, we have started work on our show. Our first days session was last Thursday and we started looking through the big bag and creating stories about the objects we found inside inside, but thats a secret!!!!! This week we continued to explore these ideas and we also watched a DVD about Malta to give us a better idea of what to expect. We all thought it was very beautiful country, and are really looking forward to coming.

Over the next few weeks each member of our group would like to say hello and tell you a bit about them. The whole group are: Tim, Andy, Tracey, Paula, Kris and Jean. And first of the blocks is.............Tim

Hello, my name is Tim. I have been with Seven Stars for over five years. I come to Seven Stars because i enjoy acting and drama very much and i have made lots of good friends.

When i am not at Seven Stars i like to go walking with my parents in the nearby countryside. I also like video games and computing, and am the worlds biggest fan of Doctor Who (a very popular british science fiction tv series that has been running for almost 50 years, have you heard of it ???) I am so looking forward to going to Malta in September. I have been once before as a holiday two years ago and loved it. I look forward to meeting you all. you can't miss me i'm the one with the bright red hair (see photo). Best wishes, Tim.

Well thats all folks speak to you soon

Best wishes

Seven Stars

Malta launches the second phase

Last week, the Malta groups had the last sessions of the first phase of the project. Even though most of the sessions so far have included new games and exercises (other than the body shaking/waving goodbye that I improvised at the end of the first session in March which I since kept as the recogised closure of the session), last week most of the work was a development from exercises introduced earlier. It allowed for a recognition of the possibilities of continuation, as well as a feeling of comfort through working on the familiar whilst finding new things and new ways of doing an already experienced exercise. For example, I've introduced a big pink exercise ball into the sessions. In pairs, and sometimes also in groups of 4, I ask them to place their back to the ball and walk without letting the ball fall. It was amazing to see that even with a gap of two weeks, the second time round many participants could carry the ball a lot further than the first time round. So yes, in that sense of continuation and satisfaction from doing something again.
There was also a shift in energy last week as it seemed that participants had got used to the environment and group dynamics. I look forward to meeting weekly now as this will further encourage easy access into the session.

So, we're onto the second phase. After both the Thursday session and the Friday session last week we held meetings for the participants and their carers. This was to explain how the project is to continue. As we had announced at the beginning of the project there is not going to be a selection process, but rather participants are to select themselves by deciding from now on to fully commit to the project: to attend the sessions, which will now happen on a weekly basis, regularly; to increase in participation as we prepare for the visit of our partners in September; and to contribute to the organisation too by, for example, participating in meetings with journalists.

I think it will be a few sessions now before the groups resettle into new dynamics as a few participants might take leave of the project, and one or two exceptional cases change groups. So I think it will not be before the end of July that we begin working on building material for presentation in September. There's still a lot of exploratory work to be done!

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from last week's sessions.

Louise

Professional Resonance Group

Hello all,

Last week we had our first resonance group meeting for professionals. Four caretakers out of two different institutions turned up for this meeting.
First they had a chance to watch the second half of one of our sessions. Afterwards we discussed the project over lunch.
It was very interesting to hear how they had experienced watching the session. And it was very reasuring to hear they thought we were doing a good job although they also warned us about certain 'traps' of the trade.....little pointers on how to maybe do things differently.
On the other hand they also said they'd definitely take stuff home with them to their institutions...
So...a win, win situation where everybody learned a little bit from each other.

Next meeting for this group is August 28th, so any interested Belgian professionals reading this.....you're more than welcome....

Leen

Hello from Headway

Well its about time we got involved in this blog business, so here goes.........

Thank you again for an excellent time in Malta back in March, it was nice to finally meet and work with you all. if only our journey home was as enjoyable, but that is another story.

We begin wholly on the project next week, with a meeting on Tuesday with all the participants (5 so far, but we are working on the others) and their parents/carers to discuss the project all the practicalities involved and answer any questions and worries they might have. e.g. Do we have to do a drama based workshop on a beach in heavy rain? We also begin our sessions on Thursday and every Thursday after until we return to Malta in late September. Have your groups seen the bags yet? have they played Shuffle monster yet?

We are sorry we have not blogged earlier but we have been and are very busy. I will try to update you all on a weekly basis from now on.

I hope you are all well, and congratulations to Leen from everyone at Headway

Best Wishes

Steve

Belgian Update

Hello all,

Just a quick Belgian Update.

Our group is still going strong, learning new things every week. But I'll let Wim talk about the group (hint, hint)!

Belgium has decided to put together resonance groups to try and disseminate this project. Last week we had our first resonance group meeting with the parents of our learners. We'll try and invite them over approx. once a month so they can follow the progress of their son/daughter.

Next week we're having our second resonance group meeting with people who might like to follow the project out of a professional interest. This way we're hoping the project will expand to other institutions as time progresses!

That's all folks!

Malta groups

Hi all!

Well, I thought I'd update you all on the reorganisation we've carried out down south since you left. The large response from interested individuals that we got meant that we couldn't work well in a single group. So now, for this phase which we're still calling the 'taster phase', we've got 2 groups running parallel to each other: one group meets every other Thursday, and the other group meets every other Friday. We have 36 registered individuals, 19 meeting on Thurs. and 17 meeting on Fri. Yes! they're still big numbers to work in a single space!
We've also got a hub of volunteers together: Thursday support and Friday support. They're great to work with; enthusiastic about the project, and creative and caring workers.
This week we started working in this new format, and we will continue in this way until the first week of June. Some of the participants asked after you all, and are already looking forward to seeing you again!
The groups already have a different identity. The Friday group, which is the group with more of the newer individuals who didn't participate in the March session when you were here, seems to be a lot quieter. It allowed for some participants, who seemed very withdrawn in March, to really come out of themselves. We had great fun looking for imaginary balls (thanks Steve for that name game! :-)], picking up new ones, transforming them into chocolate balls which we ate, and even helping each other throw the heavier ones.
So that's for our new start!
We'll update you soon with news of our second phase which is to start mid-June with those committed participants.

sending you all a lot of warm April sun!

Hello?

Hello, are you receiving me?
...... Greetings from Headway to you all. just testing the system. We will talk soon about important things like the project.

Best Wishes

Steve
Headway

It's all about the people!

Last week Malta hosted Opening Doors project partners Leopoldsburg and Headway for an exchange seminar whose main purpose was to prepare the workshop leaders for the project. This was a significant event on two counts.

First of all it was important for us to meet each other again, this time with a more concrete vision of the active team members in the project, giving us the possibility to come closer to understanding each other's attitude to the work. Secondly, it served as a lanuching pad for the project in Malta. On this count, a public seminar was held at St.James where each project partner presented one aspect of the project that was significant to them, thus strengthening the project on the Maltese front; more importantly however, interested participants were finally invited to the centre for creativity for the first workshop which took place on the evening of the 27th of March.

It was a very particular experience to open the workshops in such circumstances. Initial workshops are always stressful to lead since preparation is that much harder - there are just too many unknowns one has to cater for in the tasks one prepares. Added to this, was the stress of thinking about how many professionals were to be present at this session observing very closely the proceedings of the session, as well as affecting the dynamics of the session.

However, during the session it became clear to me that this was in fact an incredible opportunity. On the one hand, the particular qualities of Steve, Wim, Tanja, and Anne meant that they were subtle in integrating themselves into the session. But at the same time they were strongly present to be able to alert me to individual participants' needs, and to add additional support to the too-numerous group of participants. It also meant there were 4 extra pairs of eyes to report back to me many more of the too many subtle details for me to take in at one go!

I also now realise how lucky I was on another account: Leopoldsburg's team workers and Headway's team workers have had further access into my work and some of the participants we will be working with in Malta and they will be able to understand more clearly any comments I pass, any questions I raise, and difficulties I consult about. How more sensitive will their responses be! (and how much more demanding on them am I going to be ;-)]

Most of all though, I think the whole of the experience was valid for one overriding reason: the strength of the collaboration. Thanks team for the energy you gave! I can't wait to work with you all again in the same physcical space, but in the meantime let's continue to develop our partnership virtually.

I wish you all the very best for the progress of your work.

Another Press Article for Belgium...

Hello,

Another Newspaper picked up the story in today's newspaper.
Transcript below (in Dutch...)

Cultuurcentrum opent Europese deuren voor andersvaliden

LEOPOLDSBURG - Het cultuurcentrum krijgt de volgende twee jaar subsidies voor het Europees project 'Opening Doors'. Leopoldsburg©© is daarmee het eerste Vlaams cultuurcentrum dat een Grundtvig-Leerpartnerschap coördineert. Voor dit project werkt Leopoldsburg©© samen met het St.-James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Malta en de Headway Theatre Company in Engeland.

'Opening Doors' wil een procesmatige methode ontwikkelen om met andersvaliden rond drama te werken. 'De nadruk wordt vooral gelegd op de persoonlijke evolutie van de deelnemers, minder op het resultaat', zegt projectleider Leen Bouwens. 'Het Britse Headway Theatre Company werkt zo al. Headway's groep Seven Stars is ondertussen uitgegroeid tot een volwaardig theatergezelschap met andersvalide acteurs.'

Eind deze maand vindt een uitwisseling voor de projectwerkers plaats in Malta, waar zij een trainingsseminarie zullen volgen. Na dit seminarie wordt in de drie landen verder gewerkt met de eigen groepen, want ook Leopoldsburg©© en St.-James in Malta hebben ondertussen een eigen dramagroepje voor andersvaliden opgericht. Leopoldsburg©© werkt samen met twee lokale instellingen, vzw 't Brugske en vzw Berkenhof, die zeventien andersvaliden inzetten. Wim Oris van de vormingsorganisatie voor kunst- en cultuureducatie Wisper staat in voor de wekelijkse professionele begeleiding.

Het tweede luik van het project focust op de mobiliteit van de groepen. 'Elk partnerland houdt een klein theaterfestival waarop de groepen uit de andere landen worden uitgenodigd, een unieke kans voor de deelnemers om Europa te verkennen', zegt Leen Bouwens. Het festival in Leopoldsburg vindt plaats rond maart/april 2009. Op het einde van het project publiceren de partnerlanden een online-boekje met daarin hun bevindingen. Na het aflopen van het project in 2009 hoopt Leopoldsburg©© dat het initiatief verder gedragen wordt door de lokale partners, vzw 't Brugske en vzw Berkenhof. (pbvm)

Voor meer informatie: www.grundtvigopeningdoors.blogspot.com

Source: Het Nieuwsblad, zaterdag 22 maart 2008, pg28

Opening Doors in the press

Well,

Belgium had an exciting day yesterday, hosting a press conference about the project. I must say I kind of rushed through the project (I blame the nerves!) and was wondering if they even had a clue what I was talking about.

But then came the questions and Wim (our coach) answered them brilliantly! We also appreciated the fact that Renilde Reynders from our national agency (vzw Epos) made the effort to come all the way down to Leopoldsburg. She certainly helped to explain the European side of the project!

One paper published an article about the project today, so I guess we can call it a success already. Two other papers will probably pick up the story at a later time too.

In the mean time the Belgian Project workers are getting all excited about the seminar in Malta next week. More about this later!

Picture source: Het Belang van Limburg, Vrijdag 21 maart 2008, pg 47

Belgium to host press conference

Just to let you all know that Leopoldsburg will be hosting a press conference about the project on March 20th.

More about this later!

Opening doors to aspiring actors with learning disabilities

Article by Louise Ghirlando
published in the Sunday Times of Malta
Sunday 10th February 2008

St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity has obtained funding from the educational and cultural arm of the European Union, through the lifelong learning programme Grundtvig, for its project entitled ‘Opening Doors: Developing learning disabled people’s participation in the arts across Europe’.

The project is looking to develop a method of theatre practice for actors with learning disabilities. Partnered with St. James Cavalier is a Belgian arts centre, Leopoldsburg, and Headway Theatre Company from the UK. The project has multileveled aims, starting with building its foundations through the exploration and sharing of professional practice in the field. In this respect, the partnership with the UK offers a unique advantage, as Headway’s agenda is specifically that of using the performing arts as a tool for the creative expression of socially marginalized people because of disability or other disadvantages. One of the groups they host is Seven Stars, which is an established theatre group of actors with learning disabilities. Both St. James and Leopoldsburg are looking forward to gaining further insight into the methods of practice as developed by Headway to facilitate an independent process of expression and devising of drama. In the coming March, St. James will be hosting project workers from the three participating countries to a training seminar.

As part of its work, Headway has also established an annual theatre festival for actors with learning disabilities. Following a planning meeting in Brussels, the festival provided this December a perfect launching pad for the project’s work as Maltese and Belgian project workers were invited to Blyth, Northumberland, where Headway are based, in order to observe different performances devised by actors with learning disabilities from the Northern area of England. As part of Headway’s agenda to explore such performative possibilities, the team is looking forward to the possibilities offered by the Opening Doors project to open its doors to the opportunities of travelling with its Seven Stars group to share their performances in other European countries and to participate in the building of theatre exchanges where they will be able to observe and share the performances developed by Malta and Brussels through the project.

In fact, following the March training seminar, the next event programmed is an exchange of performances also to be held in Malta, in the theatre at St. James Cavalier. Thus the first year of the project is set to focus on developing practice, building the theatre groups, and devising performances, whilst the second year of the project will focus on the mobility of the theatre groups’ participants themselves as the actors will tour their newly created works to Malta, England and Belgium.

Alongside this, the project is also set on sharing its practice with a wider audience and intends to publish its working methodologies as developed throughout the duration of the project.

Thus the project, through its sharing of practice, mobility, and dissemination, fulfils the working criteria of the Grundtvig framework. More importantly, it does so through its focus on assisting people from a vulnerable social group and in a marginal social context, improving the quality and increasing the volume of cooperation in adult learning, and improving the quality and accessibility of mobility in adult education and increasing its volume.

To achieve its objectives, the Maltese partner, St. James Cavalier will be next focusing on developing a working group of actors with learning disabilities. With this aim, it will be offering a series of workshops and drama sessions leading to the September performance festival, with the aspiration that the group will eventually become an independent, permanent platform for actors with learning disabilities. The project workers look forward to collaborating with various local NGOs and support agencies for people with learning disabilities.

Adults with learning disabilities (age 18 – 65) interested in participating in Opening Doors should contact Toni Attard, St. James Cavalier EU projects coordinator at euproject@sjcav.org or 21223200.

And we're off!

So, Belgium's finally on route to succes!

Wisper has agreed to let Wim Oris coach our group. We definitely think Wim's the man for the job as he shares our ideas on how the project should develop. He'll start his first session with the group March 13rd. From then on the group will get together once a week.

't Brugske has also fully committed to the project now. They put the question to their learners to see who would be interested in joining the group. Everybody was very positive and in the end nine learners decided to join the project. Educator Tanja is really motivated to come and join our team and help Wim coach the group. Seeing as she works with the learners every day she'll be a valuable support for Wim as she can keep him updated on the daily progress of the individual learners.

Berkenhof - another institution - will also join the project. They have about eight interested learners which would mean we'd have a group of 17 learners all together! Berkenhof still has to decide which educator will join the project to help support Wim with the training.

It's all coming together very nicely as a very interesting project where different institutions will all team up to make it a succes!

We'll keep you posted....

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for 2008 from the whole team!

And while I'm at it I'll give you all a quick update too! ;-)

Had a meeting with Het Brugske (a local institution here in Belgium) about the project earlier this morning. I must say it all went very well and they thought they'd have no problems finding learners who'd be interested in participating in the project. Trainer Tanja was also very enthusiastic about the whole project, so I think we've made a good start there!

What happens now? The staff at Het Brugske will talk about the project with their learners to see who'd be interested in participating. At the same time we'll be meeting with Wisper (see earlier post) to find ourself a proper drama coach.

So it looks like we're well underway to reach our target of setting up a group with coach by the end of January!

Hasta la Vista!