Night of Festivals Slough Programme

Friday 30th May 11am – 5pm Saturday 31st May 11am – 10pm Slough Town Square and High Street

Programme of Events All activities and events are FREE. Carnival street arts will be taking place along the length of the High Street.

Please note that there is limited capacity in the Performance Dome, Storytelling Yurt and Nanoplex Gallery.

If you want to be certain of seats for a particular Dome or Yurt event, or Nanoplex screening, you can book places by e-mailing nightoffestivals@artreach.biz with your name, phone and e-mail contact, post code and specific ticket requirements.

Alternatively please telephone Night of Festivals bookings on 0116 261 6882 (Mon – Friday 9am -5pm)

Performance Dome: Friday 30 May 11:00 Gumboot Dance Workshop Led by African artists ACD Arts, the workshops are an interactive, fun packed session of energetic stomping, dancing and clapping using infectious South African rhythms.

Originating from the South African mines, gumboot/welly boots dancing brings alive the dances and movements the miners

developed

to

keep

themselves

motivated,

entertained and able to communicate with each other.

We do have some wellies available, but bring your own if you can! The workshops are suitable for all ages, including young children, no experience needed! Approx running time: 1 hr Booking Advisable

12:30 & 1:00 VOICE Voice is a unique, London based a cappella trio that explores a wide repertoire of traditional songs and arrangements from around the world; as well as contemporary compositions. ArtReach is looking forward to its performances in the Performance Dome at Night of Festivals when

the

group

will

share

a

programme

entitled

Megaphones for the Unheard, exploring the voice of women through music and poetry.

Approx running time: 30 mins Booking Advisable

14:00 Sandeep Raval – Drum Circle and performance A multifarious musician, producer and multi instrument composer, Indian percussionist Sandeep Raval is a musician of many talents. For Night of Festivals Touring, Sandeep will be delivering a Drum Circle workshop and performing a short introduction to his music

They are plenty of instruments to go round, but feel free to bring your own and get stuck in!

Approx running time: 1 hr Booking Advisable

15:30 Romani Voice Romani Voice is a four piece ensemble based in London that performs traditional Roma folk music and dance, with the aim to share Roma culture. The ensemble is guided by the Roma Support Group, a registered charity working with East European Roma refugees and migrants.

This

is

a

vibrant

and

lively

performance guaranteed to get the pulse racing!

Approx running time: 1 hr Booking Advisable

Storytelling Yurt: Friday 30 May Presented by… The

Storytelling Café

Three dedicated and experienced storytellers share magical tales from around the world – great for children and families but many adults say that they thought stories were just for children – then return again and again!

Each story session lasts for up to 40 minutes.

11.00 The Voice Undimmed Tales of freedom - main story The Freedom Bird (a traditional tale from Thailand)

12.00 Palabras Latinas Latin American stories, where injustice and inequality are challenged by both ordinary people and animals main story The Letter of Emancipation (Cuba)

13:00 Lords of Misrule Stories of arrogant rulers who are forced to change, flee or face a worse fate - main tale taken from The Ten Fools, a Persian Akbar tale

14:00 Fortune's Fools Stories of men and women who try to break away from the lives they have been given; will the road lead to success or disaster? Main story - The Peddlar of Swaffham (UK, Norfolk)

15:00 Tales of Tails The beasts strike back! Main story- Where is my luck? (A French tale)

16:00 The Singing Bones Those mistreated in life seek justice after death - main story The Little Bone (a strong story from Switzerland) (suitable for ages 12+)

Performance Dome: Saturday 31 May 11:00

Gumboot Dance Workshop Led by African artists ADC Arts the workshops are an interactive, fun packed session of energetic stomping, dancing

and

clapping using

rhythms.

Originating

from

infectious the

South

South

African

African

mines,

gumboot/welly boots dancing brings alive the dances and movements the miners developed to keep themselves motivated, entertained and able to communicate with each other. We do have some wellies available, but bring your own if you can! The workshops are suitable for all ages, including young children, no experience needed!

Approx running time: 1 hr

12:30 Sura Susso Sura is a virtuoso kora player, percussionist and singer songwriter who captivates his

audience

with

his

entrancing and infectious music. His debut album Sila Kang, released in summer 2012 has received critical acclaim in the arenas of both classical and world music.

Approx running time: 45 mins Booking Advisable

13:30 & 14.30 Stephen Jon Inspired by the arts of Latin America this children’s theatre installation piece will encompass live action and shadow puppetry to enact the tale of our heroine’s adventures against monsters on land and sea. Suitable for all ages from the youngest upwards Approx running time: 30 mins each show Booking Advisable

15: 30 Samy Bishai Egyptian violinist, Samy Bishai began playing the violin aged seven, and became hooked on jazz only a few years later. He now plays solo electric violin and with a number of bands including Celloman, Digitonal and Aqualina. He will be performing a vibrant set with supporting accompanist.

Approx running time: 45mins Booking Advisable

16:15 Sound Installation

Beyond the Cities Calling David Hindmarch is a blind composer who taught himself basic piano skills as well as the rudiments of Electro-Acoustic music.

For Night of Festivals he has been commissioned by ArtReach to create a sound installation entitled Beyond the Cities Calling for which he has created a picture of sound and music depicting the lives of people within two distinctive cities, Leicester and Cairo.

Approx running time: 2 x 25mins

18.45

Rachael Young The Way I Wear my Hair Rachael’s work is partly autobiographical and explores her interest in both live art and theatre, focusing on collaborative theatre making and the creation of immersive, interactive performance.

For Night of Festivals Rachael will be performing a 17 minute show that is the start of a new piece…

The Way I Wear My Hair – What does it mean to be a strong black women? Rachael wasn’t sure so she asked Google and guess what it showed her…

Rachael takes us on a satirical journey weaving through the history of her hair. From braids to Beyonce wigs from relaxer to relationships that fell flat, she reflects on her past in a bid to straighten out the kinks!

19:30 Tongue Fu Created by poet and musician Chris Redmond (BBC Radio 4’s Pick of The Week) who also hosts, Tongue Fu is about risk taking; coaxing performers, band and audience to leap before they look – it’s raw, un-rehearsed spoken word and music, spontaneous and frequently brilliant as a result.

At the heart of Tongue Fu there is a love of words: a fascination with how they sound, what they mean, and what effect they might have when they’re offered up to a room full of people and blown around like smoke, or feathers!

For Night of Festivals Touring the group will be creating on-thespot performance poetry around the themes of Freedom and Democracy, and improvising live to the funky sounds of the Tongue Fu band!

Approx running time: 1hr 30mins Booking Advisable

Storytelling Yurt: Saturday 31 May Tales for families and children – expertly performed by The Storytelling Café. Each session lasts about 40 minutes.

11:00 The People's Wisdom Folklore belongs to all, and what we learn from our grandparents might just save us from the darkness of the forest - main story Musyimi the Hunter (a traditional story from Kenya)

12:00 The Underdog Bites Back Stories where the bullied and downtrodden give the powerful a taste of their own medicine – Main story The Boatman (a tale from India)

13:00 One World, Many Stories Tales with a green tinge - One Tree Hill (from Derbyshire) and Miku (a story from Estonia)

14:00 I'm No Damsel in Distress If you believe that stories are all about princesses who need rescuing then think again! Stories of strong and wise women who thought that waiting for Prince Charming was, frankly, ridiculous - main story Shingebiss and the North Wind (Native American - Chippewa)

16:00 Story Jukebox ...wait and see!

18:00 Fire and Ice Stories to chill the soul and stir the blood - main story The Asrai (England) (suitable for ages 12+)

The ArtReach Nanoplex An old touring caravan converted into surround sound moving image gallery!

We offer a series of short, intriguing moving image pieces that will make you think and open your eyes to new experiences and cultures.

Say hello to our Nanoplex Ushers and they will help you choose from one of 5 screens: Screen 1: Night of Festivals Documentaries (ArtReach) Documentary footage from Night of Festivals 2010 & 2012 edited into an extended piece exclusively for Night of Festivals Touring Run time: Various (up to ten mins)

Screen 2: Welcoming the World In 2012 Night of Festivals featured in the Cultural Olympiad programme, and set its sights on Welcoming the World to Britain. With this in mind the Festival set about finding exciting and inspiring moving image from artists in 6 different continents. This Nanoplex screen hosts a selection of pieces form artist in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, North America and South America.

Run Time: Various

Screen 3: Journeys to Leicester (ArtReach) A short moving image piece that explores the physically and emotionally challenging journeys five Refugees have taken to get to the UK. First presented at Journeys Festival, Leicester. 2013 Run Time: 18 mins 26 secs

Screen 4: Michael Nyman A choice of Cine Opera and Witnesses Cine Opera: Shot in 2010 at the Teatro Cine Opera in the centre of Mexico City, the piece is concerned with recording the passage of time and the qualities of public space. It lyrically documents Nyman’s visual take on a cinema built in the 1940s, but now in a state of almost total disrepair.

Run Time: 20 mins Witnesses: This 2012 commission from international composer and film maker, Michael Nyman (composer for The Piano, Man on Wire, and The End of The Affair amongst other work) is inspired by the life and work of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca and by his play Blood Wedding Both Lorca’s life story and the events of the play are hugely relevant to the themes of Night of Festivals.

Run Time: 18 mins 22 secs

Screen 5: Dambudzo (Ery Nazaramba) Created by Rwandan Refugee Ery Nazaramba, this short piece is a parody of Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbabwean novelist and poet) receiving the Guardian Fiction Award in November 1979.

Run Time: 6 mins 30 seconds

Carnival Interventions Night of Festivals Touring will introduce you to the world of Paraiso Samba & Mandinga Arts...

Paraiso Samba The only samba troupe in the UK whose artistic direction comes from artists who grew up in the Rio de Janeiro samba community. It brings a real example of true samba dance and music to the UK. Paraiso will be performing in the High St area on Saturday 31 May from midday until late evening. Paraiso has worked with students from Slough’s Creative Academy who will be performing their new samba routines in the High St between 11am and 5pm on Friday 30 May.

The most vibrant performance of samba you will see outside of Brazil!

Mandinga Arts *A key ingredient of Night of Festivals Touring* With new, spectacular carnival interventions themed to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, audiences will meet costumed sections (including many local people) performing in site specific locations around the Festival site and High St, including the giant birds, Napoleon’s pigs, sexy cows and bulls, and cats and mice (introducing children from two local primaries)! Mandinga Arts also continues to celebrate the anniversary of Latin American independence with extraordinary Day of the Dead carnival puppets including the giant Mexican Skeleton!

Rhythms of the City Rhythms of the City will be playing a vital role in the Carnival Interventions, accompanying Mandinga Arts and playing the role of roving musicians “on wheels�...

The group brings extensive experience, playing at many festivals including WOMAD, Glastonbury and Big Chill.

So how does this carnival stuff work?

Carnival:

Merrymaking and processions

Intervention:

To come or occur between two periods or points of time

Carnival activity will be taking place along the High St area and in Town Square.

The general rule is ‘just wait a minute’ and a happy, fuzzy combination of Mandinga Arts, Rhythms of the City or Paraiso Samba will be coming round the corner!

...and there’s more.…

Queen Erzulie Atis Rezistans

Two sculptor members of the Haitian Atis Rezistans Company, Eugène and Celeur, were commissioned to create the sculpture Queen Erzulie for Night of Festivals 2012. This extraordinary Haitian statue will reign over Night of Festivals Touring.

The group Atis Rezistans is based in the makeshift car repair/graveyard of Port-au-Prince in Haiti.

Its members make challenging sculptural collages combining wooden carving with engine manifolds, wheel hub caps and discarded lumber, transforming the detritus of a failing economy into bold, radical and exciting sculptures.

Freedom Square Alinah Azadeh Freedom Square has been commissioned for Night of Festivals Touring and is a textile based participative work, comprising up to 1,200 multi-coloured flags installed against the white canvas of the Night of Festivals Touring Performance Dome.

The title of the work ‘Freedom Square’ references the use of cloth to mark freedom and democracy celebrations in the Middle-East, in particular through the Green Movement in Iran, plus the age-old use of Prayer / Peace flags en masse, especially in India and Tibet.

In advance of the Festival there will is an opportunity for local people to participate in workshops and to make their own contribution to this exhibition!

Night of Festivals Touring has been made possible by ...

Supported using funds from the Joyce Carr Doughty Charitable Trust