We’re delighted to announce that the selected applicant of the ‘Devising Time’ opportunity is Chris Harper, a Bristol based composer/guitarist and co-founder of the music theatre and music education company And Then We Danced.
And Then We Danced’s current production, ‘Rouse Ye Women’ is showing as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
‘Rouse Ye Women’ tells the story of the chain-making women from the Black Country – once known as the ʻwhite slaves of Englandʼ. An example of the ‘sweated trade’, the work was hot, physically demanding and very poorly paid. In 1910, after a ten week strike, the women won a landmark victory that established the first minimum wage in this country. And Then We Danced’s interpretation of this dramatic story is told through a mix of original music, lyrics and choreographed movement with six female singers simultaneously playing metallic percussion to create a sonic landscape in keeping with the story.
‘Rouse Ye Women’ was recommended by The Guardian’s Lyn Gardner in her theatre tips for the South West on the 19th of July
What you can see above is evidence of the first week of Devising Time.
From the 1st to the 5th of September 2013 we began the production of Timepiece. With a basic script, a devising performer and a lighting designer we set about investigating the look and the sound of the piece. We put together the above short trailer based on the work of that first week and since then I have been developing the piece in collaboration with new additions to the team so that the show can include live music and custom made projections. The script has undergone several revisions and is currently in it’s eighth incarnation.
The second Devising Time week is very close, 9th -13th of December, during which we hope to set the look and sound of the piece and answer as many of our technical questions as possible. We will again document the process with photography and film and produce a new trailer with an eye towards presenting the finished work to the public in the new year.
@andthenwedanced
@charpsmusic
