Tag Archives: singing

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Festivals, Heritage, Music, Oral History, Reminiscence

Brighton Dome Brighton Festival – I Was There project

From Tea Dances to Rock n Roll, Bring Your Stories to Life for Our Heritage Project

Were you mesmerised by Pink Floyd’s first performance of Dark Side of the Moon? Did you sneak into David Bowie’s infamous 1973 Ziggy Stardust gig as a teenager? Have you got a special memory of taking part in Brighton Festival Children’s Parade? Or did you ever perform on the Brighton Dome stage?

Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival want to record your memorable stories as part of a new heritage project, I Was There to capture our history for future generations.

Delivering the project is Sussex-based organisation, Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage, who will be training a team of volunteers to conduct oral history interviews with participants.

The interviews and collection of memorabilia will be archived for future generations, and selected stories will be presented in an online exhibition and feature in a public programme of tours and talks at Brighton Dome.

Tea Dances at Brighton Dome 2013

Kate Richardson, Participatory Interpretation Manager, Brighton Dome said:

“We’d love to hear people’s unique recollections or from anyone who has a special connection to Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival – whether it was 50 years ago or more recently. We’re keen to speak to audience members recounting how they felt about seeing their favourite artist or witnessing a sporting event; performers and participants who took part in a show, as well as former employees who can tell us what it was like working behind the scenes.”

Since being converted into a performance venue 150 years ago, Brighton Dome’s three stages have seen a dazzling array of illustrious artists and musical icons such as Patti Smith, Beyoncé, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix, as well as hosting tea dances, wrestling matches and graduation ceremonies. And since 1967, Brighton Festival has brought thousands of international artists to the city with Guest Directors including Anish Kapoor, Laurie Anderson and Kate Tempest.

Jimi Hendrix on stage at Brighton Dome in 1966

  • The interviews will take place between February and July 2020 and will be conducted by trained oral historians.
  •  A member of our interview team will be in touch to organise where and when the recording should take place, at a time and place convenient to you.
  •  Each interview will take approximately 1 to 1.5 hours.
  • The recordings and edited transcripts will be archived.
  • Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival will have the rights to use archived material as a resource.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting the oral history project as part of their contribution towards the refurbishment of Brighton Dome’s Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre.

If you are interested in taking part or have any questions, please email nicola.benge@brightondome.org

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Festivals, Heritage, Music, Oral History, Reminiscence

Brighton Dome Brighton Festival – Making Memories Oral History Project

We are delighted to be working with Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival to deliver a new project starting in January 2020 to capture memories of events, performance and shows at Brighton Dome over the years.

Graduations, tea dances, roller derbies, pop icons, Suffragette protests, cutting-edge art, silent discos, hairdressing championships, tear-jerking theatre, fierce debates and Eurovision winners. We’ve seen it all.

‘And since being converted into a performance venue 150 years ago,
our stages have been graced with a dazzling array of illustrious artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors and directors – from Harold Pinter to Maya Angelou, Muddy Waters, Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder to David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Leonard Cohen and all the late Dancing Queens in between.’

As a volunteer, you will plan and hold interviews to creatively re-tell moving memories from Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival visitors.

This work will end up being part of an exciting story-telling project
about one of the most vital arts centres in heart of Brighton & Hove,
and the memories collected will be shared with generations to come.

Volunteers will:
• receive all training and equipment will be provided
• receive expenses
• need to be aged 18+
• need to commit to the project until July 2020
• need to attend a two hour research session once a month
• need to attend one day training sessions on 25th January 2020
and another date in April.

To find out more, you can download the research job description here Oral History Volunteer RD

If you would like to talk about the project and sharing your memories, please complete our contact form to get in touch!

Arts, Carnivals and processions, Community Arts, Events, Festivals

AfrikaBa festival – tomorrow!


 
 
Strike a Light are delighted to be partnering with AfriKàBa, the Hastings based festival of African and Caribbean heritage, arts and culture.
AfrikaBa takes place tomorrow – 29th September at Stade Hall, Hastings TN34 3DW from 2 – 9pm.
All events FREE!
Afternoon from 2 – 6pm

  • FREE family activities Stade Hall and Classroom on the Coast
  • Musical and singing workshops
  • Storytelling for families
  • Demonstration and tasting of authentic East African cooking at the flagship facility Classroom on the Coast.

Evening 7 -9pm – AfriKaBa at Stade Saturdays 
FREE concert Musa Mboob & Xam Xam
Gambian master percussionist Musa Mboob comes to the Stade Hastings bringing an electrifying fusion of traditional West African rhythms with modern electronic guitars. Come and share in the vibrant music from the smiling coast of Africa. (special guest appearance by Vocal Explosion and Dende)
FREE!
The Stade has level access and disabled toilets.

 
 
 
 

Arts, Events, Heritage

Bob Copper’s Brew – an ale for a fine man!

Strike a Light is pleased to say that Harvey Brewery in Lewes are inaugurating a very special ale tomorrow to celebrate a centenary since the birth of Sussex singer and song collector Bob Copper of the noted singing Copper Family. It links in beautifully with our recent Ale and Hearty project.

a-man-of-no-consequence

Bob Copper Centenary Brew

Tomorrow (6th January 2015) is the Centenary of the birth of Bob Copper (1915-2004).

In his lifetime Bob Copper was responsible for collecting and recording many local folk songs, not only preserving the tunes and lyrics but ensuring that the style in which they were sung remained true to his forefathers. In an obituary in The Independent newspaper, he was described as “England’s most important traditional folk-singer.”

Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes will be brewing a ‘Copper Ale’ (6% vol.) tomorrow, Tuesday 6th January, at 8.30 am. It will be brewed in the presence of the Copper family, who will sing ‘Oh Good Ale’  while the malted barley is mashed with the spring water. Sussex hops will be added to the resultant sugars and the mixture will be boiled in the ‘Copper’ prior to cooling and fermentation.

It is of good ale to you I’ll sing
And to good ale I’ll always cling,
I like my mug filled to the brim
And I’ll drink all you’d like to bring,
O, good ale, thou art my darling,
Thou art my joy both night and morning.
(Traditional)

The beer will be available for the (sold out) Bob Copper Centenary Event in London this month.