Unlock, Explore and Create through a training residency with Emmen Donnelly.
August / September 2022
What is this Project?
A unique professional development opportunity for those looking to advance their technical and creative aptitude. Participants will get the chance to collaborate and work with Circus and Aerial artist Emmen Jude Donnelly over three separate instalments with the aim of presenting new work.
The 3 residency intensives will be filled with immersive play on apparatus, focused exploration of technique and opportunity to discuss one’s creative processes when preparing to perform. Participants will communicate the intentions for their work with their mentor in the initial stages. Whether this is purely to upskill in their chosen discipline, push their creative application, or explore new methodologies of documenting and presenting artistic work.
The Process of the Training Residency with Emmen Donnelly
The training residency will be offered in three separate instalments:
UNLOCK
Dramaturgy and creative processes
Saturday 6th August, Sunday 7th August 9:30am to 4:30pm daily.
These first 2 days will make room for exploration and presenting one’s physical repertoire to the mentor so they can get to grips with how the artists move and why. Participants will be given the opportunity to explore processes, pathways and progressions under experienced tutelage. This is the opportunity for you to show Emmen what they’ve got technically and furthermore converse about what upskilling or advancements they’d like to explore within the current repertoire! Participants will also be given the opportunity to openly brainstorm and lay out initial conceptual intentions in these supportive sessions.
Over 2 days participants will be given the space to freely discuss and explore concepts and ideas with Emmen to help find the key elements of concept they wish to focus on and also propose ideas about how initially they would like to present as a work-in-progress. During the initial stages of the residency you will discuss what steps could be taken during your own training outside of the in-house training to support the work such as video/audio/narration or written documents that aid the mentor to see their all round creative process.
Zoom sessions will help keep participants connected to the mentor when not in the working space. You will leave these three day intensives with “homework” regarding their intentions from the project. These objectives will be discussed over Zoom with Emmen where they can collaborate on utilising the tools available to be prepared for the second instalment of the scholarship.
EXPLORE
Developing your understanding of your work, supported by creative and conceptual planning
Saturday 13th August, Sunday 14th August
9:30am to 4:30pm daily
Over 2 days participants will be asked to present findings that come from the intentions set in previous sessions. You will be supported by communications had with the mentor between face to face sessions. Here you will focus on honing in on the key concepts or intentions of the proposed work. You will use the space to physically explore and document how this impacts on the physical work.
They will be asked to document how this research period has helped push the work forward, what progressions have made or setbacks they may have had and also use the time in the training space to work on the apparatus.
Morning sessions again will be dedicated to physical application. Working out repertoire with Emmen so he can see their advancements and discoveries. In the afternoon sessions Emmen will take a more in-depth look at creative documentation, the growing dossier and the overall recording of the creative processes. Together both mentor and participant will make plans for how they wish to present the work in the final sessions and what preparations need to be made to accompany this.
Zoom sessions will help keep the participant and mentor connected when not in the same space. You will leave this 2 day intensive with new “homework” regarding their intentions from the project based on feedback and evaluation. These objectives will be discussed over Zoom with Emmen, building on progress made and recommending developments to prepare one for the final instalment of the scholarship. At this stage Emmen may ask for documentation of their progress through video work, recordings of training and access to dossiers.
CREATE
Preparing for presentation and future works
Tuesday 13th September, Wednesday 14th September, Thursday 15th September
9:30am to 4:30pm daily
This final instalment will see participants organise and curate findings into a support dossier that will aid overall presentation. These concluding sessions will see your structure and curate a final work-in-progress. The final day will see preparation of audio, visual, written or physical presentations. There will also be time for one to one feedback about the entire experience as well as converse about the next stages of the creative process. Final Zoom sessions will help keep participants and the mentor connected when not in the same space. You will leave these final sessions with the opportunity to conclude their experiences of the project. These Zoom conversations with Emmen will be centred around creative and technical processes. Also recommending progressions to help prepare for future presentations/applications for funding or showings of work.
Saturday 17th September
(Tech Rehearsal – Friday 16th September)
Opportunity to showcase findings at Circus Factory as part of Pitch’d Circus and Street Arts
Festival
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