Ring Time – a new piece for movement by Sally Beamish 100th Anniversary of Dalcroze UK

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Ring Time – a new piece for movement by Sally Beamish 100th Anniversary of Dalcroze UK

Ring Time – a new piece for movement by Sally Beamish
100th Anniversary of Dalcroze UK

The première, on Thursday 27 October at Drygate Brewery, 85 Drygate, Glasgow G4 0UT

As part of the centenary celebrations for Dalcroze UK, Glasgow-based composer Sally Beamish has been commissioned to write a 10-minute piece for three instruments suitable for plastique animée (PA).

Pioneered by the Dalcroze school, PA is a realisation of music in movement. Aiming to make music visible, the movement helps viewers and performers to hear and understand the music more clearly. Music and movement share three key elements: time, space and energy, ‘Ring Time’ was designed to highlight this common ground and to raise the profile of Dalcroze in the UK and beyond.

Monica Wilkinson, Dalcroze UK, said: “We are hugely grateful to Jean Middlemiss, a former chair of the society, for commissioning this piece from Sally. Ring Time gives us the opportunity to showcase Dalcroze’s ideas, which are as relevant today as they were in his heyday 100 years ago. The première is just the start: the legacy of the project is an integral part of the conception and will include a film documenting the creative process, to be included in the education pack.”

Sally has used what she learnt during the Dalcroze session on some of the ideas she developed for recent premières; a Shakespeare Masque (Ex Cathedra) and The Tempest (Birmingham Royal Ballet.) The Dalcroze UK piece ‘Ring Time’ has been scored flexibly for three instruments (high, medium and low). The première will be performed by Scotland’s contemporary music ensemble, Red Note, for flute, trumpet and cello.

Sally Beamish said: “Following a Dalcroze class, I was fascinated by the way Dalcroze made clear certain things I hadn’t realised I didn’t know. As a result, part of the inspiration for the piece is drawn from the Dalcroze Subjects; a list of elements such as repetition and contrast, silence, augmentation and diminution.”

www.sallybeamish.com

The première, on Thursday 27 October at Drygate Brewery, Glasgow, is an active public performance workshop where the Sally, Red Note Ensemble (Ruth Morley flute, Mark O’Keefe trumpet and Robert Irvine cello) and dancers Freya Jeffs, Tess Letham and William Thorburn talk about their experiences in putting the piece together. The project will be mentored by Christopher Hampson, CEO/Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, who studied Dalcroze as part of his training at The Royal Ballet School.

Prior to the public performance at 7.00pm, there will also be two workshops for teachers, the first for Primary staff/PE staff interested in dance, and the second for instrumental instructors and secondary music teachers.

In November, Dalcroze UK have scheduled three workshop days in Dumfries, Edinburgh and Banchory aimed at anyone who engages in the arts (be that as a performer, creator or audience member) and interested in exploring the connection between music and movement.

The benefits of Dalcroze can be transferred to all arts in which movement plays a role, including music, dance, acting, musical theatre, and circus. It also enlivens our understanding of the plastic and static arts, such as painting and sculpture.

More information on Ring Time and to book tickets