What we can offer communities
Whole Day or Half Day Workshops
Workshops can take place on any site, urban or rural. The site chosen could be one which is familiar to participants; giving them a chance to see it in a new light; or one that is unfamiliar.
The company develops workshops that are specific to the needs of the particular site, and the participants.
Participants are given the chance to explore an environment with a member of the Theatre Company, and will then have an opportunity to reflect on their experience in an imaginative artistic way.
Willow Weaving workshops and demonstrations:
Highwoods Community Centre - Christmas 2011 'Making Christmas decorations'
'My World' - willow weaving workshop combined with the use of craft to create a memory box with a willow ball at it's centre representing the world.
Jubilee Jabber
Creating crowns and stories fit for a Queen.
Carnival of the Animals 2013
Preparation for Colchester Carnival with St John's and Highwoods community centre.
Performances
The Theatre Company offers two types of performance:
Site Specific Performances:
These are performances developed by the company for a specific site in response to the site, and the resonances of the place.
Site Generic Performances:
These are performances that will adapt to a number of different sites with slight changes of focus to the work according to the needs of the place and event:
Guardian of the Tree - Storytelling and tree dressing
The Guardian has been there a long time, as long as the tree itself. She has seen many things in her time alongside the ancient tree and has many stories to tell.
Along with her stories is an opportunity to celebrate the ancient tree, and create a new story by dressing it to tell it how special it is to us.
The intention of the project is to deliver something really exciting and engaging in a number of different art forms.
Artistry
An interactive durational piece, which invites it's participants to engage with a slice of Paris in the 1900's through the eyes of female artists of the period.
Talk To me
An interactive durational piece which engages it's audience to talk in a variety of ways.
Events
Footprints will create and manage small scale events related to the arts that are specific to site. Over the last year we have been developing a programme of workshops and events that are related to encouraging more people to Cycle. See Cycle and Seek for more details.
Examples of previous community work -
Little Totham Colour Carnival - June 2011
Footprints Theatre Company also offer willow weaving workshops. Tangley - The Stag - was created for Little Totham Flower Festival and colour carnival.
Colchester Free Festival - Sept 2010
Cavern of Memories - Nov 2008
This project took place over several months with the community of Lion Walk church in Colchester and a local community choir. After an initial reading of the site by the participants in the project it was decided to develop an idea based on the Millenium Resolution and the participants responses to the site.
Millenium Resolution
'Let there be respect for the earth
Peace for its people
Love in our lives
Delight in the good
Forgiveness for past wrongs
And from now on a new start.'
'The performance confirmed my belief that humans have to face up to the reality that nature cannot continue to be abused’
‘I felt part of the performance’
‘I found the interwoven mix of drama and music very effective, and the audience participation was good at getting people to actively think rather than just watch’
‘It took the audience out of their usual comfort zone’
‘I found the whole evening very moving and thought provoking’
The audience were invited to celebrate 'Good Deeds' by writing them down and hanging them on a tree during the performance.