http://www.telfordculturezone.com/


Sports days and other dramas
By Sid Langley on Jul 2, 08 11:43 AM in Culture


Hottest day of the year ... two sports days, one for each grandchild, handily one am, one pm, both ordeals to a grandfather with a sun allergy barely dealt with by a giant straw hat and a flagon of Factor 50 - and (no, don't laugh) a clutch of Christmas communications through the post and via email.

I laughed heartily at the Health and Safety aspects of the infant schools sports, where 'javelin throwing' turned out to be launching a giant dart made of sponge into the wind to see how far it would go - it was simply too light to actually 'throw'. They'd have been better off hurling a cricket ball, but that was probably far too dangerous.

And the PC element kicked in when no one actually won anything, although everyone - which is good, I concede - took part in all the activities. But you can't fool the kids, of course. They knew who'd been placed where in each event in the same way they know who is grouped on each classroom table in the hierarchy of abilities.

It seems, even at this early stage in their school careers, that the 'clever' tables seem to be made up mostly of girls.

With sports days over and reports being sent home, the long summer break (and Christmas, according to my communications) will soon be upon us.

Local authorities all over the country are doing their bit. Copy and paste these if my dodgy hyperlink doesn't work. Full details here:
http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/MapLocationSearch.do?LGSL=18&LGIL=8&auth=289&map=5-8-x

If your kids fancy something a bit different there are all sorts of other (not cheap) courses around. The excellent circus skills summer school over at Coventry's Warwick Arts Centre has long been fully booked, but there may be vacancies at the terrific Playbox Theatre in Warwick. We've done a couple and they're brilliant. Full details here:
http://www.playboxtheatre.com/Brochure_Workshops_&_Training.html

Which brings me to news for budding young performers and their mumagers as they are known in the trade.

Royal & Derngate is looking for children and adults from the local community to join its professional cast in this year's Christmas show - The Wizard of Oz - which runs from December 3 to January 11.

Director Laurie Sansom plans to cast up to 60 children to perform as Munchkins, in three teams that will rotate between performances. The boys and girls, who must aged between 6 and 11 on the day of the auditions, need to be excellent singers and dancers, as well as being enthusiastic and having bags of personality. Rehearsals start on October 27, and children must be available from then onwards until the show finishes on January 11.

Children's auditions are on Saturday August 2 between 10am and 5.30pm and parents must pre-register, by Wednesday July 30. To register and get a timed slot to attend, download a registration form from The Wizard Of Oz page on the theatre's website, www.royalandderngate.co.uk, or pick up a form at Box Office.

Those participants who are successful in the first auditions will be called back on the Sunday when the final selection will be made.

Adults aged 17 and over, who are good singers and dancers, can audition to join the community cast as members of the Winky Guard and Citizens of Oz, on Friday August 1 between 6pm and 9pm. Anyone wanting to audition should follow the same registration process as above.

And finally, Royal & Derngate will also be looking for dogs to play the role of Dorothy's faithful companion, Toto. So watch out for news of future canine auditions.

Another big, big deal for young people and culture comes off tomorrow (July 3) and Friday, when the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham REP and DanceXchange will be at Enginuity (pictured), the wonderful museum at Coalbrookdale to celebrate the first three years of Telford Culture Zone and the beginning of the next chapter for the project. They will be joined by over 100 local VIPs and nearly 600 pupils from 18 Telford & Wrekin primary schools.

Last month Telford & Wrekin Council was announced as one of the 10 areas around the country to pilot the Government's £25 million Find Your Talent programme. This will give young people in all schools in the area the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school - it's a rather more culturallyy significan version of Britain's Got Talent aimed at kids.

It kicks off in September with some projects from groups like the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment (CABE).

Tomorrow and Friday's activities have been specially planned by Telford Culture Zone's six cultural partners and will be run with the assistance of students from three local arts colleges. The CBSO will be introducing sound sculpture and graphic score artefacts designed in conjunction with Telford Culture Zone children while Birmingham REP will be performing an extract from Lick, their highly original and successful work commissioned by Telford Culture Zone, which then toured throughout the Midlands.

Dancers from DanceXchange will also be performing Dansense, a piece based on the senses and choreographed by internationally recognised Enrique Cabrera.

If you're curious go to:
http://www.telfordculturezone.com/

A final plug for Forbidden down at Goodrich Castle, which runs from tomorrow until Saturday. Try this link or copy it:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conEvent.1832

There's a load of other Christmas stuff I could pass on. For instance, book now for Robin Hood at Birmingham Hippodrome or Beauty and the Beast at Warwick Art Centre (both bound to be brilliant) plus Christmas events at Birmingham Botanical Gardens (wonderful catering) and The Centenniel Centre - but as summer holidays and the Hippo's eagerly-awaited summer show (Mary Poppins) are still to come, I simply can't bring myself to do it.