Meeting one
Meeting two
Meeting three
Meeting four
Meeting five
Meeting six
Meeting seven
Meeting eight
Meeting nine
Meeting ten
Meeting eleven
Meeting twelve
Meeting thirteen
Meeting fourteen
We are a group of people within Glasgow spending time and working together. Our group consists of people from Key Housing, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and Glas(s) Performance.
In October 2007 we assembled in a room with a high ceiling. We shook hands, exchanged names, and decided we liked each other enough to stay for a while.
We have started the project with no preconceived ideas about where our journey will take us. All we know is that on 23rd November 2007 there will be a performative event to share the things that we have discovered and celebrate our time together.
Our performances are inspired by who we are, where we come from, and what it means to meet people.
You can find out about the process via the timeline. Each sign represents a moment we have spent together. By clicking ‘links’ you will find other websites connected to the project. If you want to get in contact with the group, click ‘contacts.’
If you would like to come and see the show please email your name to tickets@publicdisplaysofrhythm.co.uk. The show is free, but ticketed.
This project is a collaboration between Glas(s) Performance, Key Housing and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with support from the Ormonde and Mildred Duveen Fund.
Please follow the links below if you would like to find out more about these companies and associations.
Glas(s) Performance, www.ourglass.org.uk
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, www.rsamd.ac.uk
Key Housing, www.keyhousing.org
Meeting people for the first time is always a special moment, and today the room was filled with nerves and eager anticipation.
Dressed up with party hats and party poppers the group listened together as a party song played, waiting for the moment the song would come to an end so they could mark the beginning with a moment of celebration.
The shared moment brought us together as a group and opened the floor for introductions and games. By the end of the first session, they had created some of their first performance moments and begun to form relationships with people who had been strangers only two hours before.
Tuesday was not our established meeting day, however, for all of those who were free to meet up, an adventure task was arranged. The whole group was split into four groups and they were all given different team names. After an interesting first clue, the four groups were off onto the streets. The first clue took them to a charity shop where they were to look for a small present for the whole group to enjoy when everyone met up later on. The things that were bought back ranged from board games to CDs to skittles and flying kites.
As the task continued, groups found themselves having to talk to a mysterious woman reading a newspaper, discuss their favourite Sunday activity, and finally find another person who was discovered hiding behind an "apple" (it was really a mac computer, which are nicknamed apples)!
The day was a great success, not only as the weather was bright and sunny, but everyone involved was really prepared to get excited about the task. Some of the group members who hadn’t had the chance to get to know each other properly yet had the opportunity to form new friendships and begin to feel more settled in the group.
In keeping with our interest in party moments, people were invited to share some of their skills through small performances. These ranged from singing to joking to back flipping to poetry reading. For example, Mark gave a rendition of the Scottish folk tale ‘Sky Boat Song,’ Lizzie and Caroline displayed their magical card skills and Robert had so much to offer he took to the stage three times.
The afternoon was conducted in a relaxed, open-mic, cabaret style, with party food and drink. everybody danced, sang, and laughed. It was an important opportunity to create a supportive space for everyone to share something with the rest of the group.
Everybody decided to split into smaller groups until the performance in order to focus on what was to be created for the show. The following moments are texts from each groups’ experiences.
On a Wednesday, Tom and Lizzie went to meet Robert at Project Ability. Project Ability is an organisation that supports people in making artwork. They saw lots of Roberts’ artwork and met some of his friends, such as Hughie - Roberts’ talkative, joke-cracking friend. While Tom and Lizzie were there, the rest of the art class worked on what they were going to show for the Christmas exhibition.
Tom and Lizzie modeled for Robert, however, he only had time to draw Lizzie before they had to rush off.
Carrying on with the art theme, they met up the next day at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. They visited the Kylie exhibition, where they saw lots of Kylie’s elaborate costumes and learnt all about her role as an entertainer. This inspired them to do some karaoke so they headed back to Langside Hall. They sang some of their favourite songs, which included Gold, Karma Chameleon, and Physical. They tried to use their research to craft personas of entertainers. Then they started working on some material for the beginning of the show!
After this, they couldn’t get in contact with Robert for a while as Lizzie deleted the message sent to them and Tom lost Robert’s phone number…oh these were dark days…they were in the limbo of mid-creation…where would they turn next…
They turned to 3rd year Contemporary Performance student Jo, who helped them to see that Tom could be a sarcastic and cynical, and Lizzie could be an overenthusiastic goof - all seemed to be shaping up for a wonderful performance but they still had the problem of contacting Robert! Eventually Tom found the phone number he had lost and discovered that Robert was extreamly eloquent on the telephone.
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Meeting five
Tea at Carol’s.
Caroline, Becki and Carol spent two lovely afternoons drinking tea and eating cake at Carol’s house on the east end of Glasgow.
Of course they got some work done! There was dressing up, a photo-shoot, and some great sing-a-longs to Westlife!
Now these three ladies of luxury are working hard to re-create the fun they had for 150 people, and are most excited to have everyone round for tea on Friday the 23rd November!
When Robert and Siggi met it was quite a coincidence. That didn't stop them from meeting for a second, third and fourth time. They talked. They talked about dreams but mostly about pigeons and squirrels in their dozens on peoples legs. I guess that's how it works. It's been fun.
Sasha, Josh, Evelyn, and James spent time thinking about Elvis Presley and working hard.
Alyson, Lorraine, and Steph began their time together having a good old chat. After having some discussions about what they all enjoy doing, they decided that they should bake cookies to get to know each other that bit better and have some fun.
Alyson and Steph went to Lorraine’s house with four boxes of cookies mix ready to bake away, and to stuff themselves once the cookies finished. Aly, Steph, and Lorraine had a great time dancing and singing to Westlife, something that they found out Lorraine and Steph both enjoy. The three of them had fun, and lots of cookies were shared with Lorraine’s flat mate and her neighbours.
On the next meeting Alyson, Steph, and Lorraine started their time together with a wee journey in Alyson’s car. They went to Alyson’s house to play some games and have another dance. They played loads of dominos and filled themselves silly with bourbons, tea and coffee.
It was pretty clear by this point that the three of them just loved to get up and have a sing and dance. So they began shaping material for the performance trying to represent those great times they had together. It became difficult to dance in a three so they used this to create an interesting dynamic within their material.
Sarah caught the 38B bus to Stepps Road in the East End, a yet undiscovered part of Glasgow for her. She jumped out of the bus, a freezing autumn wind hit her.
Theresa opened the door to her flat.
Sarah and Teresa ate chocolate cup cakes.
Sarah drank a cup of tea.
Theresa laughed at her.
Sarah and Teresa decided to go clubbing on Friday night.
They listened to Abba.
They danced to Abba.
They danced in Theresa’s room.
They learnt some dance moves together.
They made a deal to buy white wine with each other.
They ate another chocolate cup cake.
The Friday night.
Alyson and Sarah arrived at the Gesh in Easterhouse.
They sat around a table of new friends.
Theresa and Sarah drank white wine as promised.
They danced on the dance floor.
They were definitely the dance queens.
They left.
Theresa kept on dancing the night away.
Sarah and Teresa like Friday nights and white wine.
Cheers Theresa.
Mhairi and Amber exchanged lots of notes with Stella and arranged to meet her at her house one afternoon. They brought cake and hid some notes underneath it for Stella to find. They drank tea together and chatted. They had fun singing 'My Boy Lollipop' together. Amber and Mhairi went away to work on material for the show and decided it would be a great idea for Stella to sing 'My Boy Lollipop' in the performance.
When the time came for the group to split in to smaller groups, James (the one who wrote the brilliant song, not our wonderful Elvis impersonator James) Ben and Nick decided to spend their time to together. With guitars in hand and a spring in their step, they set about the job of learning James' song with a view to put it in the performance. Everyone felt that performing this song as part of the show would be something everybody would enjoy. As time went by it became apparent that the song in fact held a lot of references to interesting times in James' life which made everyone appreciate the song even more.
The boys carried on finding out more about each other's interests and would spend afternoons together either at Langside Hall or sometimes in Nitshill at James' house. James' wife Jean met the boys and the four of them spent time chatting about old memories or anything they wanted to talk about. At their home one day, the boys had the pleasure of seeing the boats that James makes in his free time. They were both genuinely amazed by the craftsmanship that goes into them and were surprised to find out that the boats travel by wind strength and not by the motor that is fitted inside. The motor is actually there for steering the main sail for turning. If you ever get the chance, nip down to Queen's Park on a Sunday to see them in action in the pond.
More recently the boys have been having fun with the tensions involved with re-enacting the old Western style 'shoot-outs' and playing around with that. They all have a vested interest in this old world, and as it happened James has a nickname 'The California Kid' which the three of them have adopted for their gang name.
Still though, even after all these weeks their favourite collective memory is when Nick and Ben got lost on the way to James' house and his first words to them when they finally found their way: 'Boys... ya numpties!'
Stay tuned for more from The California Kids
Throughout the process Mark has spoken many times of his love for Skye. On Monday 12th November, Sarah, Phil and Mark left Glasgow at 7am to travel to the Isle of Skye to experience this place Mark is so proud to call home.
The following text is something they created in response to their journey together:
"We're leaving the city in darkness, dull street lights casting shadows on the towering buildings - varying shades of grey. Off up to the Isle of Skye - more north than Phil and Sarah have ever been before - to see, hear, taste, smell and feel what this place is really like.
The countryside framed by the window of a bus. The sun tossing shafts of golden light over an autumnal landscape - gold, rust, brown, yellow and more shades of green than we could ever imagine. A winding road through this mountainous region trailing at Ben Nevis's feet.
And before we know it we are the edge of the mainland and Skye is waiting for us at the other side of the bridge.
We're leaving Skye as darkness is slowly beginning to be replaced by morning light. Heavy rain clouds hang in the air casting a stern mist over the hills and heather but not even the threat of rain can detract from the beauty around us. And as the bus travels back to the mainland, hills tower above us, sea rushes beside us and hundreds of pine trees gather on our left to wave us on our way."
This meeting has not taken place yet. Please check back for updates.
This meeting has not taken place yet. Please check back for updates.