May-Aug
Two Old Instruments
Jonathan Rees and Susie Crow of Ballet in Small Spaces delved into 18th century music and dance, and presented a work inspired by the salon pieces of viola de gambo virtuoso Carl Friedrich. Their unique performance informed a contemporary interpretation, reflecting on both history and memory.
Artist/Company: Ballet in Small Spaces
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 17th May
Other Information: Dance Performance. Family Friendly.
Saintland
Following on from their first performance, Break Free, Other Ways of Telling returned to St Helens Central Library with their unique blend of poetry, humour, music and performance. Saintland told the story of fairy tale characters once the fairy tale has ended.
Artist/Company: Collective Encounters
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 21st May
Other Information: Theatre Performance.
St Helens Detective Club
Audiences explored the Golden Age of Detective Fiction as part of the St Helens Detective Club, and gained skills in logical deduction, observation and creative writing. Working with artist Hwa Young Jung, the club met fortnightly over five workshops.
Artist/Company: Re-Dock, Hwa Young Jung
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 19th May - 14th July
Other Information: Workshops. Artist in Residence programme.
Thumpers
Thumpers (an alternative pop band based in London) played in St Helens Central Library on the 30th of May. Their first single 'Dancing Done' was released on limited edition tose-tinted vinyl through Transgressive Records, and was a critical success on BBC Radio 1, Xfm and Amazing Radio.
Artist/Company: Get Loud in Libraries
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 30th May
Other Information: Music Performance.
Tales and Trails
Filmmaker Tim Brunsden worked with library users in St Helens to collect their stories and create a film about the ways we use library spaces. The film incorporated a number of unusual film-making tools and techniques. Tim ran open sessions for library users to contribute to the film throughout May.
Artist/Company: Re-Dock, Tim Brunsden
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: Throughout May
Other Information: Workshops. Artist in Residence programme
I Believe in Unicorns
Wizard Presents performed their magical stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's enthralling children's tale I Believe in Unicorns.
Artist/Company: Wizard presents
Location(s): Newton-le-Willows Library & Chester Lane Library
Dates: 13th June
Other Information: Storytelling performance. Family Friendly event.
Stories of St Helens
Stories of St Helens was the culmination of a four-month Arts Council funded residency for Belinda Grantham Dance Company in St Helens libraries. Local audiences were invited to share their stories of St Helens via a website, which dancers then interpreted through performance.
Artist/Company: Belinda Grantham Dance Company
Location(s): St Helens Central Library, Parr Library, Newton-le-Willows Library, Chester Lane Library
Dates: 16th - 18th June
Other Information: Dance performance.
Mental
Mental was an intimate, autobiographical one-man performance spanning 13 years of adult life. Using the Data Protection Act, The Vacuum Cleaner reclaimed all state held information on his life, including psychiatrist reports, police files and social services reports - countering this 'official' record of life with personal stories, photographs, and memories.
Artist/Company: The Vacuum Cleaner
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 26th & 27th June
Other Information: Theatre performance.
Body Trail
Willi Dorner (leading choreographer for Cie, Vienna) and Michael Palm's (filmmaker, sound designer, Vienna) 9-minute film documents young people reclaiming deserted, late night city streets through ingenious performance actions. The film was available to watch across St Helens libraries in June.
Artist/Company: Willi Dorner & Michael Palm
Location(s): Multiple library sites.
Dates: Throughout June
Other Information: Film. Exhibition.
The Hacienda Tales
Inspired by the pilgrimages made in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, this performance explored a different type of pilgrimage - to the Hacienda in Manchester. Audiences were invited to experience stories drawn from the Hacienda - a place of solace and escape from the socio-economic repression in the 1980s and observe a portrait of post-Thatcher Britain.
Artist/Company: LIA Concept
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 3rd July
Other Information: Theatre Performance
Much Ado About Nothing
Liverpool Network Theatre presented Much Ado About Nothing at St Helens Central Library - Shakespeare's comedy of love gone-wrong-gone-right.
Artist/Company: Liverpool Network Theatre
Location(s): St Helens Central Library
Dates: 24th July
Other Information: Theatre Performance
Libraries in Motion
Artist Sam Meech ran stop-motion animation for small groups across St Helens libraries. The animations were made using the libraries themselves - the people, the books, places, furniture, architecture - and the spaces in-between them.
Artist/Company: Re-Dock,Sam Meech
Location(s): Multiple St Helens library sites.
Dates: 30th July - 16th August
Other Information: Workshops. Artist in Residence programme. Family Friendly event.
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