Members of the dance team are using their time and skills to make medical workwear for key workers

Our Faculty of Dance has a dedicated professional costume department who work closely with students and visiting choreographers in support of the conservatoire’s performance-rich curriculum.

With the enforcement of the UK-wide lockdown, the team pivoted to new ways of collaborating with and supporting our students.

In addition, TL’s Costume Supervisor Lizzie Barker and Senior Costume Technician Florence Meredith are using their time and skills to make NHS-approved medical workwear for hospital and care home workers across the UK in response to Covid-19 demands.

Due to heightened safety protocols, workers must wear personal protective equipment (PPE) more frequent and wide-ranging settings.

Lizzie comments –

“There was quite a lot of media coverage about the dire lack of PPE and general protection for frontline workers, particularly in hospitals. I was really keen to use my sewing construction skills to help out during a difficult time. It felt like something worthwhile I could contribute.”

Since April, Lizzie has been volunteering with her local ScrubHub in South East London to help during the shortage, creating scrubs for hospitals, midwives, care workers and dentists. The local team, made up of professional garment makers and home sewers, have relied on crowdfunding and donations from local companies for materials.

“Whilst many items of PPE need specialist materials, skills and equipment, scrubs are a fairly ubiquitous item that could be made in people’s homes,” Lizzie explains.

“We have been working in a production line system – different people cutting, sorting, preparing, sewing and distributing. As I have access to an overlocker, I have been overlocking and marking up the pieces for sewers to put together. It’s been a really nice way to get to know people I wouldn’t normally have met.”

Fellow costumier Flo has been volunteering with ‘Helping Dress Medics’ (HDM), a charity set up by Dulcie Scott, the Costume Supervisor for television series ‘His Dark Materials’. They connected hospitals with local costume makers to meet the sudden need for additional scrubs.

Like ScrubHub, HDM bought all the materials needed with money they raised through crowdfunding and everyone involved has given their time and skills voluntarily.

Flo comments –

“Making scrubs in my small flat in Hackney was quite a challenge, but it gave me a sense of connection to the people working hard in hospitals, as well as the other volunteers.

“I also made some masks for charities in my local neighbourhood, including the Salvation Army and the Lighthouse Project, who gave them to their volunteers to wear while delivering food parcels.”

We’re hugely proud of our talented colleagues and the efforts they are making to help fight the pandemic.

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Image credit: Lizzie Barker

Composer, arranger and educator Dr Liz Lane tutors for Trinity Laban’s Certificate: The Practice of Music Making course. Liz was commissioned by TL to create Finale! in collaboration with choreographer Lizzie Kew Ross and local residents, celebrating Lewisham’s Age Against the Machine festival.

Most recently, she has been working with soprano Belinda Evans on their Bluebird series. 

We caught up with Liz and Belinda to learn more about collaboration and creativity during lockdown. 

How has Covid-19 affected your working lives? 

Belinda Evans: “I work across genres so I like to consider myself as quite versatile. In a way that’s been really fortunate in a time like this. I was working on a stadium tour with André Rieu’s Johann Strauss Orchestra when lockdown happened. We left America after performing only one concert and missed all the rest of our concert programme. We’ve been waiting to get back on tour ever since. It’s difficult to know if people are going to come back when it’s safe to. Are people going to want to make the effort to go to a concert?

“But I’ve been really lucky that I have a regular church job on a Sunday where I’ve been for 15 years. Our brilliant Director of Music has been fantastic at keeping us creative. We’ve been making podcasts and streaming those every Sunday so the congregation still get their fix of sacred music.”

Liz Lane: “I’ve been really lucky I think. I haven’t really lost any significant work. I work academically at the University of the West of England, which has gone online, and my work at Trinity Laban is online anyway. As is my work for the Open University. I had a couple of commissions I was working on that are still going ahead, but at different time scales. And I’m doing a virtual string quartet with two players who live in England, and two who live in Hong Kong. That wouldn’t have happened had it not been for lockdown. I’ve enjoyed having to do things in new ways.

“At the same time it’s been so very different. Not having interactions with colleagues, friends, fellow musicians – having that live element taken away – there’s just something so big in your life that is missing. I’m trying to find a positive way through.”

Can you tell us more about the Bluebird project? How did it start?

LL: “The Bluebird project is a series of miniature songs and it’s about collaboration. It came out of lockdown. Carol Bent, who is a creative catalyst, invited me to contribute to one of her STEM to STEAM online suppers, which promotes putting the arts into science, technology, engineering and mathematics. I thought ‘well ok why don’t I write something new?’.

“She had a series of diaries which she put on Facebook at the beginning of lockdown in which she said that instead of ‘lockdown’ she was going to ‘look up’. I took her words to a friend of mine, Jennifer Henderson, who’s a poet – she started writing poetry in her seventies and is now 91 – and she created this beautiful poem called Look Up.

“I felt that Belinda was perfect for these words and concept. I got in touch and asked if we could do a little a capella song. Belinda said why don’t we do more. So we did. That was the beginning of Bluebird.”

BE: “We were really determined from the beginning it mustn’t involve stress. It’s a project to bring joy. It’s really easy to curl up into a ball as a creative person and think everything’s disappeared. We wanted it to be a little ray of sunshine in the darkness to bring some hope.

“The name ‘Bluebird’ was inspired by the lyrics of ‘Over the Rainbow’, so many versions of which had been popping up during lockdown.  We then found out that a bluebird is the bird of happiness and here started Bluebird Collaborative.”

How has the project developed?

BE: “The process has been really organic. Liz has worked very hard because she knows lots of people. She’s very good at getting itn out there in the musical universe. A lot of people have been interested, hence these great collaborations. We’ve got Jennifer who’s the perfect poet, Liz who’s the perfect composer, a wonderful brass player in Tom [Hutchinson], and Gary [Andrews] who’s done all these wonderful animations so everyone’s doing what they’re good at.”

One of the projects you’ve worked on as part of the Bluebird series is Aga Serugo Lugo’s #SetOperaFree project. Tell us more about your involvement and the aria ‘Darkest Night’.

LL: “I teach on Trinity Laban’s Certificate: The Practice of Music Making (CPMM) course, a one-year programme developed in partnership with the Open University. I love working on it, it’s a brilliant course, and I met Aga when he tutored on the residential part of the programme. During lockdown he has established Set Opera Free, a digital operatic project encouraging creatives from around the world to connect and tell stories through music. There are about 30 composers who’ve been invited to write a short first aria as the start of a mini-opera. It’s like operatic consequences. Ours, called The Party’s Over, was conceived by librettist Andy Rashleigh. The first aria is ‘Darkest Night’.”

BE: “The point is that other people will continue the story and we’ll see where it goes. It could be a big collaborative crossing-borders piece.”

LL: “For the aria, I wanted to do something different from solo voice. There’s such amazing music making going on brass bands that people don’t know about it. I approached the Principal Cornet of the Cory Band Tom Hutchinson. Normally he would be too busy playing and teaching but he immediately said he’d like to get involved. I wanted to see what would happen with Belinda’s amazing operatic voice and this amazing virtuoso cornet. They’ve never met or spoken to each other and yet there’s this aria.”

As you couldn’t meet in person, how did you record the performance?

BE: “I’m really conscious of not disturbing my neighbours. So I recorded that at Guards’ Chapel where I have my regular Sunday job. For the first time in ten, eleven weeks I could really sing and remembered this is a thing I do.”

LL: “Tom recorded ‘Darkest Night’ in three parts because it’s so virtuosic. During lockdown I had been learning some basic audio and video editing skills for another project, so lined his audio up with Belinda’s track before handing it over to animator and video creator Gary Andrews.

Do you always work in a collaborative way?

LL: “It depends on the sort of commission. I have been doing more community collaborative ventures. I love that because I love working with people – it sparks me.”

Can you share any advice for students or recent alumni?

LL: “Get involved, help out and make connections. Where you see an opportunity, try and make that connection between other people, for yourself and others.

BE: “It’s as much about being a good colleague as it is about being a good musician. They just have to go hand in hand. And in times like this you have to keep calm and carry on and just be a good human.”

Do you think there will be lasting change in the music world? If so, what kind of change do you foresee?

LL: “It’s a sort of unknown at the moment. You have to take each day as you can and do what you can with it. I think the things that have happened in lockdown will help positively inform where the arts go because there have been different opportunities.”

BE: “The mental health implications of this lockdown will be resonating for ages. Everything familiar is on hold, and the worry is that it won’t come back. But I do believe that after this there will be such a thirst for the arts. All this creativity is springing from a place of need. I really feel that there’s no way anyone can suppress the urge to create. If we all keep putting it out there people are going to lap it up. I have a lot of hope for the future.”

Any future plans you’d like to share with us? 

BE: “We’ve got a few more Bluebirds in the pipeline – ideas and text for things have sparked. It will find it’s own way. And then I hope that there will be a way to honour it, the joy that it’s brought us. It’s really given us something to focus on. We’ll have to have a live performance of it one day to commemorate the end of lockdown.”

The performing arts venue has been awarded £40,000 by Royal Borough of Greenwich

Our application to Round 3 of the Greenwich Neighbourhood Growth Fund has been successful, resulting in a grant of £40,000.

The award, which was supported by all three Blackheath Westcombe Councillors Leo Fletcher, Mariam Lolavar and Geoffrey Brighty, will enable the installation of a new stage lift at cultural landmark Blackheath Halls.

This facility will contribute significantly to accessibility for community engagement participants, professional artists and students with physical access needs, all of whom regularly perform in the building.

The lift is scheduled to be operational within the next year, and will be the most recent addition to a substantial series of upgrades to the historic building, which re-opened after major refurbishment in November 2018.

Director of Blackheath Halls Gemma Okell comments –

“We are keen to make our venue and programme as accessible as possible to ensure that all members of our community can enjoy and take part in a full range of activities. We are therefore delighted to receive this funding to be able to enhance our facilities.”

The Greenwich Neighbourhood Growth Fund uses money from the Community Infrastructure Levy to invest in improving local infrastructure in consultation with the community. So far, over £1.2m has been awarded to 60 projects across three rounds.

Cllr Sarah Merrill, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Growth said:

“The Greenwich Neighbourhood Growth Fund has now helped 60 community projects like Blackheath Halls to help maintain and improve the vital community activities they provide. Congratulations to all the community projects that have benefitted in Round 3 of funding.”

In response to Covid-19, Blackheath Halls has also recently been awarded almost £27,000 from the City Bridge Trust, through the London Community Response Fund, to support engagement with the local community whilst the venue is closed to the public.

This has enabled the creation of a virtual season of events across August and September including regular Coffee Corners and Singalong Lunchtimes initiatives, a series of Thursday Nights In events presented by Blackheath Halls Patron Nicky Spence, Beyond These Walls for aspiring composers, and a digital community opera venture creating a film that tells the story of Stravinsky’s opera The Rake’s Progress.

Visit the Blackheath Halls website for further details.

Our roundup of some of the successes of Trinity Laban alumni. 

The month of July saw many achievements for our alumni as well as some exciting new announcements. 

Moses Boyd was shortlisted for the prestigious Mercury Prize for his latest album Dark Matter. Read about Moses’ reaction to the nomination and the other artists in the running for the award on the BBC website. 

Dance alum Patrick Webster and 2020 Transitions member Lewis Sharp were accepted into Overture, the New Adventures professional development scheme for emerging dance teachers and community dance artists. 

Also continuing with their professional development, Yukiko Masui, Sarah Golding and Rachel Cherry were among the artists announced in The Place’s Choreodrome programme. 

Recent Transitions Dance Company alum Iole La Sala was recognised in the Premio Roma Danza 2020 international dance competition, winning third prize for her film ‘Smartphone Dance‘. 

Cara Curran was announced as the newest member of the alto section in early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico, and, following her success as President of Decca Records, Rebecca Allen was named President of the rebranded EMI Records. 

Alumni remained active in the world of dance research and education in July. Stella Howard continued her work with Breathe Arts Health Research to deliver Breathe Dance for Strength and Balance. Participant Wendla talks about the impact of the project on her movement capability in this video. 

Choreographer, movement director and TL alum Robbie Synge was announced as one of six professional mentors who will give free advice to young artists through Highland Youth Arts Hub.The project aims to prevent a talent drain during the pandemic.  

Kiki Selioni launched The Makings of the Actor, a new organisation promoting the development and dissemination of best practices in actor training pedagogy. 

Chloe Aligianni worked on ‘Maths Meets Arts‘, a four-day educational festival sharing collaborations between artists and mathematicians. 

Kate Haughton created new interactive dance video Our Minutes, exploring our perception of the passage of time, while former TL dance lecturer Peter Curtis published The Dancing Potter, an autobiographical account of his successful careers in the worlds of both dance and pottery. Listen to his recent interview with Phoenix FM. 

Music alumni continued to take to the virtual stage this month. Unable to host its usual crowds in person, Glastonbury festival went online and saw Nubya Garcia perform her new single ‘Pace’ alongside fellow alum Joe Armon-Jones. Watch the performance from 31’50” on iPlayer. 

Yu Tamura created the music video for Grammy-nominated artist J.S. Ondara’s single, ‘Shower Song’. Part of a new album from the singer, Yu’s video is one of several works Ondara has created in collaboration with artists around the world, highlighting our shared experiences during lockdown. 

Following her winning performance of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at last year’s Trinity Laban Gold Medal, Elena Abad has arranged another classic Queen song for violin. Watch her twist on  ‘Love Of My Life’ on YouTube. 

Showcasing their talents on Facebook, Reuben James performed live on the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club page, Martin Wray and Minn Majoe performed ‘Who Will Buy‘ from Oliver in an uplifting video filmed from home, and Babatunde Sosan played organ in a live-stream performance as part of the African Concert Series. 

Composition alumni saw their commissioned works premiered online in July. The Ret Frem Ensemble performed Liam Mattison’s haunting quartet for flute, clarinet, violin and cello, while The Riot Ensemble played Soosan Lolavar’s new work for solo violin, ‘Undone‘. Watch this introduction exploring Soosan’s creative process. 

Giving audiences their classical music fix, Stjepan Hauser released the latest instalment of his ‘Alone Together’ concert series, playing some of his favourite movie scores live from Dubrovnik, and Duncan Ward conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert on the ‘digital stage’ of Festival D’Aix en Provence.

In July, TL alumni continued to demonstrate their highly creative and experimental practices. Music alumni Bastard Assignments teamed up with alum Eleanor Perry of dance duo Thick & Tight in a collaborative video project, while all-female dance collective Mass Hysteria premiered their “boundary-defying” performance Wo/anderland, reimagining what it is to perform in a ‘post-touch’ world. 

Visual artist and choreography alum Anna Nykyri released short film In-Between, collaborating with photographers around the world to capture cityscapes during the pandemic to show the effects of social distancing. 

We caught up with transdiciplinary artist and MA Creative Practice alum Laura Rouzet in our Alumni Spotlight series, discussing her work and how she’s been staying creative during lockdown. 

Elisabeth Schilling’s INVISIBLE DANCES – Art after Lockdown began touring internationally, proposing an alternative format to presenting and touring dance, inspired by current restrictions in the cultural sector.  

July saw many new music releases from TL alumni, including jazz alum Emma-Jean Thackray‘s new LP Um Yang and harpist Guilia Rettore‘s album ‘Six Nocturnes Concertants’, composed by the virtuosic harp and violin duo Bochsa and Kreutzer. 

‘Symphony in C: A Carbon Symphony’ by David Earl was released online. Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the symphony was developed in collaboration with the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) at Carnegie Institution of Washington. 

Alumni continued to develop new initiatives to stay connected with their creative communities. Piano alum Peter Hewitt released weekly videos, performing and introducing movements from Beethoven’s piano sonatas to provide an easy way into the music. 

Maria Marchant took to the airwaves on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, discussing her weekly composition series 7 Works in 7 Days at 7pm with host Sean Rafferty. Listen from 43’30”. 

Neil Valentine set up Space for Peace, a music project which brings together singers and instrumentalists of all kinds and uses Zoom for connecting, recording and improvising in performance. 

Listen to Melissa Brown’s new podcast ‘Bold as Brass’ on Spotify, where the trombone alum chats to professional brass players about their lives and careers. 

As lockdown continued to ease, alumni were able to start performing live in venues again, with a mix of virtual and in-person audiences. 

Elliot Galvin impressed critics with his improvised performances in Kings Place’s Culture Clinic series, where audiences share their lockdown experiences and feelings with musicians who then ‘prescribe’ a tailor-made musical response. 

Ruben Fox, Deschanel Gordon, Artie Zaitz, Michael Shrimpling and Will Cleasby performed at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club as part of jazz ensemble The Banger Factory, and Joshua Smith danced in the BBC Proms commissioned film and score Beethoveniana, choreographed by Cameron McMillan who recently created work for our 2020 Transitions cohort.

COMING UP 

Don’t miss Laura Jurd and Corrie Dick of the acclaimed Dinosaur quartet performing in Sound Cellar’s ‘In Our Own Space‘ livestream concert series at 20.15 on 13 August.  

Tune in to TL YouTube on Thursday 13 Aug at 17.00 for the premiere of Mateo Dupleich Rozo’s experimental short-film hola casita. 

Enjoy live music from the Leo Richardson quartet in the churchyard of Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 15 August, with social distancing measures in place. 

Nubya Garcia’s highly anticipated debut album Source will be out on 21 August. Pre-order the album and listen to more of Nubya’s music on her website. 

The renamed ‘Regeneration Festival’ will be a four-day programme of socially-distanced performances in Florence. 27 August will see pianist, singer and TL alum Sam Jewison perform in ‘The Three Divas’ concert. 

Adam Russell’s immersive performance-installation exhibition Fairground Reminiscence will return this month, adapted for social distancing. Tickets are also available for the live outdoor performances on the 29 and 30 August. 

Check out dance alum Alexandra Baybutt’s range of online classes in areas such as somatic movement principles, Laban/Bartenieff movement system and pregnancy yoga. Book ahead for the October round of classes. 

Enjoy your very own one-to-one live performance with Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Cherise Adams-Burnett or Christina McMaster, who are set to feature in Kings Place’s Culture Clinic later this month. 

Together with Carne Trust Ensemble in Residence The Smith Quartet and dancers from the Faculty of Dance, From My Room Orchestra is back with a brand-new creative interpretation of a musical work.

From My Room Orchestra first hit our screens back in April with their virtual rendition of Pachelbel’s much-loved Canon in D. Since its digital release, it has had almost 20,000 views.

Now the digital Orchestra has united with leaders in contemporary music The Smith Quartet and three Trinity Laban dance artists to create a finale for our digital summer season.

Recorded in bedrooms and living rooms across the world by our students and staff, the collaborative cross-arts performance of Glass’ 2^nd string quartet Company unites our community. It showcases their imagination, resourcefulness and technical mastery as they respond to the ever-evolving, diverse world of the performing arts.

The project has been spearheaded by Professor Nic Pendlebury, our Head of Strings, and forms part of our wider digital campaign #SelfIsolationCreation that allows us to continue to connect through creativity.

Nic Pendlebury comments –

“It has been particularly striking to observe how our students have reacted to this moment in time and how their resilience, resourcefulness and creativity has shone through despite the difficult circumstances.

“As we emerge from lockdown back into our social spaces we are rediscovering each other’s “Company”. It’s an experience we’ve been deprived of and that we’ve been looking forward to, that we’re craving. This project brings together our wider community and is an artistic expression of that desire and discovery.”

The film will premiere on Thursday 6 August at 14.30 on TL’s YouTube channel.

The project has been made possible through the generous support of The Carne Trust.

If you enjoy the film and want to support our students in the future, please consider a donation: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/support-us/donate

To find out more about studying at Trinity Laban visit https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study

Cara Curran is the newest member of Stile Antico

Last week, early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico welcomed TL vocal alum Cara Curran as their newest member.

Belfast-born Cara has deputised for the ensemble on several previous occasions, and is now one of the twelve-strong choir’s official altos.

Cara comments –

“I have loved singing with the group over the years and am over the moon to be joining as a regular member, even if we are currently ‘socially distanced’. I am looking forward to finally getting back to performing with our upcoming streamed concerts, and hopefully being back in front of audiences in the flesh before too long!”

Completing her Foundation Programme in Voice at Trinity Laban in 2010, Cara now combines her professional work as a solo and ensemble singer with her role as Director of Music at Ravenscourt Park Prep School in West London.

A capella vocal ensemble Stile Antico work without a conductor and specialise in fresh and vibrant performances of Renaissance polyphony. They have thrilled audiences on four continents, received three Grammy nominations, and picked up the Gramophone Award for Early Music, Diapason d’or de l’année, Edison Klassiek Award, and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for their recordings.

Cara’s first official concert with the ensemble is on 26 September, broadcast live online from the Voces8 Centre in the City of London as part of the ground-breaking Live From London festival. Find out more: https://www.stileantico.co.uk/livefromlondon

Find out more about studying voice at Trinity Laban, visit our vocal pages.