We are pleased to share with you that we will be facilitating online work placements for 2 students from the University of Roehampton. They will be joining our Zoom classes on a Monday and Thursday, observing our teaching techniques and helping to lead online sessions. They start next week (18th January 2021).
We are most happy to be working with the University of Roehampton as a partner organisation and we look forward to welcoming Nicole and Rachel to our classes.
We’d like you to be the first to hear all about our new inititiatve – the FFIN DANCE zoom school.
Following on from our highly successful dance classes throughout the Covid-19 lockdown, we have launched our new term of classes starting in September. In addition to our weekly classes and videos, we are introducing short courses which last 3 or 4 weeks aimed at an intensive learning experience.
The timetable will be out very soon, so keep keen …
After a few aches and pains it was time to crack on with day two of production week! The collaborative work between FFIN DANCE and The Beaufort Theatre is the foundation for the work we do day to day at the Beaufort and today was no different.
As a community-led building we are forever hosting young people and with Santa heading our way later this December it was time for Sam, The Beaufort Theatre’s Catering Operative and myself to get crafty! A morning making Reindeer Dust is hard to beat!
Then it was all systems go! The company dancers arrive and after the coffees and mini morning meetings, I was once again thrown into Georgina’s Class. The second day of a class always seems to feel just right!, the exercises have settled and it’s time to sweat! A class full of tilts, swings and floor work is a winner in my book! At the end of last class Georgina had presented us with a mighty phrase that would take a week to tackle! Second time round was just as fun and to keep us pushing it was time for the second side. Whilst the dancers spent some time rehearsing their newest work ‘An Inspector Calls’ choreographed by Sue Lewis, I got back to work.
FFIN DANCE has pioneered the way for high quality dance education in the south Wales area for many years and it’s important for us to ensure that the festival presents not only opportunity to perform but to learn. The invited guests bring a brand new type of training and performance so I think its really important that the young dancers get to watch each others’ work. Finalising the running order and programme was my main focus for the day and before I knew if it was time to get moving again. Tonight marks the start our of Headliner project. Headliner is a collaborative project, very much in the spirit of the faktry festival bringing professional and youth dancers together to create a brand new work for this years performance. Led by the FFIN DANCE professional dancers, we started out with a technique class lead by Julian. It was great to start the project pushing ourselves technically. The project pulls dancers from nearly all of the faktry classes all bringing a different approach to their work. After learning a phrase for the work, it was clear that this project provides challenges for all types of dancers. We finished the evening with a great creative task pulling reference from Julian’s phrase, we were asked to create a solo influenced by the movement but also by the overarching theme of the work; exploring speed. Day two was fab!
Louis Norman
FFIN DANCE faktry
So here we are at last! I started making my new work in the studio back in the autumn of 2017 and Crib will see its première this coming Friday at The Beaufort Theatre.
The title needs a little explanation I think.
I started choreographing professionally when I was teaching Dance at Ebbw Vale Senior Comprehensive School and spent many, many happy years working with students, creating work for our annual dance shows. Together with my own passion for Prince music and that of the students, each show became peppered with tracks like Purple Rain, Sometimes It Snows In April, Nothing Compares To You, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, 1999 and many more.
Over 21 years we got through a fair amount as you can guess.
It’s most fitting that I return to The Beaufort Theatre as this place holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first place I performed, the first place I presented amateur choreography, the first place I presented professional choreography and now the company I founded FFIN DANCE has its home there since we took on the asset from Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council back in April 2017. So coming home to Ebbw Vale is a full circle, with which I’m very happy; it makes me feel like I’m returning to the beginning once more – hence the title
Crib is a tribute to Prince music and also to my past.
I hope that you can come and join me this Friday together with all of our community groups from the ffin dance faktry, together with guest dancers from Tredegar – Kidz R Us. Tickets are available from the café at The Beaufort or via text 07854 910926
Missing Pages
Photo Paul Trask
It seems fitting somehow to say “cheerio” to our senior dancer Effie, after such a successful run of events to celebrate our 10th anniversary season. Our season will continue into the spring of 2017 with new dancer Sarah joining Catrin, Natasha and Julian, whilst Effie is moving on to pastures new.
Effie has been with the company for 5 years, having met us at our Winter Intensives. We were so impressed with her that we offered her a place to learn some of Gary Lambert’s work for the company, to replace Lucille Tappa in Synapsequence.
Effie has created and danced many lovely roles for the company over the years, but I think it was Missing Pages, that really brought out her lyricism and technique more than any other.
Effie has been a wonderful workshop leader and teacher too, with her quirky ways of motivating children and young people; especially noteworthy is her “bananas of the world unite” and her numerical jogging pattern warm ups. We will miss her zany music in professional class, Dr Who will never be the same again!
The image by Paul Trask that is featured above, carries a story, I’m sure that Effie won’t mind me sharing it. The company was in Llanhilleth Wales, shooting some images for our tour Inspired: Paul wanted to shoot somewhere local and out of the studio. This obviously caused a bit of a stir in the village and gathered quite a lot of spectators who were generally supportive and also inquisitive. After a little while, word got around and we were hailed with some children shouting “come over here boys, there’s a stripper down by the railway station” The photo above and some others too, were the culprits of this mistaken identity. We laughed about that one for quite a time, as you can imagine.
So finally it’s time to say a very fond farewell. We wish Effie well in her future pursuits and will miss her tremendously as a wonderful dancer and warm, faithful friend. Please keep in touch.
sue lewis
This autumn has been an amazing time for our outreach projects with last night’s performance being no exception.
Together with the Arts Development team at Aneurin Leisure, we at the ffin dance faktry co-produced Off The Street, a dance showcase that saw over 70 children and young people from Blaenau Gwent, Wales UK sharing their work in a local theatre. The energy and enthusiasm from all of the young dancers was truly infectious and the sell-out audience was thrilled with the production. It was great to hear related stories from parents: one in particular told us how she had made good friends with other mothers that she didn’t really know very well,and their children have also become good playmates since starting dance classes 4 years ago. They had all bonded together because of dance.
Another parent told us that she had really enjoyed the performance which was presented in the round. She liked being “up close and personal” to the performance to see the joy in her daughters face when she was dancing; never having seen that look before, not even opening her Christmas presents!
We have 1 more outreach event before Christmas on Monday 14th December 2015, at Ebenezer Chapel in Abertillery, Wales UK. This event will see our young people from the ffin dance faktry share class and dance pieces with their families and friends and also raise much-needed funds for the coming year.
For more information how we can work with your group please contact us info@ffindance.co.uk or text 07854 910926
Hello to all. Hopefully, you managed to have an excellent summer filled with glitter and sparkle, my absolute favourite time of year BY FAR!! As we draw to the end of sunny festival season, I thought it would be an appropriate time to check in with a blog.
The autumn period is looking rather busy for the company with rehearsals for new works, curtain raisers and performances in Wales/London. Those of you that follow us on social media will know that our project Desire To Dance will be an evening showcase where FFIN DANCE shares a new dance work created for students at Tredegar Comprehensive School together with a performance of The Power Of 3. A wonderful opportunity for those that could not make last season’s performances. A great setting at Bedwellty House in Tredegar, with an opportunity to book a pre-show or post-show dinner in the new bistro – of course, wherever Sue is involved there is Tapas and wine ;-)….
As a company dancer, I am excited for the new dynamic Julian Lewis will bring into the company. The girls and I have had a wonderful year at FFIN DANCE, both on and off stage and we can’t wait to see what this season has to offer. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Julian into our Ffin family of 2015.
Do keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages as London tickets are selling fast. Be sure not to miss out!!
Chat soon. Cat x
We have just finished our third week of New Ground summer holiday dance clubs, which have been full of fun and great dancing. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a volunteer as it has given me new skills and knowledge which will be great value to me in the future.
Just in this short time it is great to see all the children improving so much, developing their confidence and dance technique; it is extremely rewarding and satisfying to see all the hard work of volunteers, teachers and children pay off. It is also lovely to hear some of the children ask about other classes. Hopefully we will see some new starters in all our weekly classes in September.
Today, we are doing a full day session 10-3pm, this is one of three we are doing in the upcoming week. I’m really looking forward to this as I think the children will really enjoy a full day of dancing. It will also be lovely for the children’s parents to see the work they have done in a small viewing at the end of the day, it gives the children something to work towards which is great!!
Gemma Aubrey
New Ground
Royal Visit
This week I’ve been speaking to lots of people and they all seem to think the same, that March has gone absolutely crazy, giving a little credence to the Mad March Hare Theory. January and February always take time to get going after the lull of the Christmas holidays and the New Year sluggish return to work, with March beginning the season all over again. But this year seems even more so.
Those of you who read my last blog will know that this week has been rather special in that we have had a Royal visit by HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex. I was asked to create a site specific piece of work to celebrate the opening of the Diamond Jubilee Square at St Michel’s Church in Abertillery a while back now and decided it would be rather fitting to work with 4 of our ffin dance faktry senior dancers. They are great youth ambassadors for our outreach programme, the Earl really enjoyed their performance (see image above)
The day after that we received a cheque for £2300 from Tai Calon Community Housing towards working with our youth volunteers, New Ground, working to provide dance classes for children in the community who find it difficult to existing dance classes due to financial constraints and travel issues.
On Saturday, I will be travelling down to Monmouth with our Chair of the Board, Sharon Smith, together with 3 of our youth ambassadors (Gemma, Emma and Louis) to a ‘dragons den’ style event organised by the Gwent Police. They will be making a presentation together with 19 other community organisations to pitch for a share of the Gwent High Sheriff’s Community Fund: if successful the ffin dance faktry will be able to provide even more free dance activities for children and young people in Blaenau Gwent.
Then to round off a wonderful week of youth activity, I will be accompanying 2 of our youth dancers from our A Level Dance class to St Woolos Cathedral in Newport, where they will perform some of their own choreography at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Youth Eucharist Service (YES)
If you would like to help us in our attempt to create more opportunities for children and young people in Blaenau Gwent please follow this link for our current on line giving project
sue lewis