News

2011

January

Commedia project update. Susie Crow and the Exuberant Trustees have recently discussed the progress of the Commedia Project. The project will be an integral part of the forthcoming Ballet in Small Spaces tour, with associated workshops, aiming to reach new audiences in art/music/dance.

The Ballet in Small Spaces tour will comprise of a programme of events in May - June 2011, which will include a total of 7 performances in various venues in Oxford, Didcot, Chipping Norton and Wellingborough.

The programme will include performances of: Sebastian's Commedia (a ballet created by Susie Crow, set to Robin Holloway's Serenade in C); Inside Out (choreographed by Susie Crow, set to Alan Bush's 24 Preludes for Piano) and Harlequin Dances (a compilation from both ballets, suitable for families/young children and for venues without a Grand Piano e.g. Didcot & Chipping Norton). A range of exhibitions, workshops and other concerts will also run throughout the period.

Commedia project budget. The total cost of Ballet in Small Spaces tour, which includes the dance piece Commedia will be over £30,000. The funding will come from three sources: £10,000 from an Arts Council Grant (National Lottery Grants for the Arts) awarded to Susie Crow in December 2010; £10,000 estimated Box Office takings from the various performances (also £5000+ for support in kind e.g. free rehearsal space etc.) and £10,000 from the Exuberant Trust from money raised specifically for the Commedia project from Sebastian Graham-Jones's family and other interested parties.

April

The Music at The Limes season starts on Sunday, 10th April at 6pm, with a concert by William Knight (baritone) and John Collis (piano), who will perform pieces by Schumann and Vaughan Williams.

May

We are delighted that Sebastian's Commedia has now finally come to fruition, six years after the original idea was proposed in 2005. The first performance of the Ballet in Small Spaces tour will be on Wednesday 18th May, 1.00pm and 7.30pm, at The Castle, Wellingborough, with a Double Bill of Inside Out & Sebastian's Commedia (world premières of both ballets). Further information can be found from the publicity material released by Ballet in Small Spaces and the Exuberant Trust.

Further performances will be on Friday, 20th May, 7.30pm at the North Wall, Oxford (Double Bill: Inside Out & Commedia); Saturday, 21st May, 2.30pm at the the North Wall, Oxford (Gala Matinée - Exuberant Trust Showcase - where past Exuberant Trust award winners perform will perform, followed by Sebastian's Commedia); Saturday, 21st May 7.30pm at North Wall, Oxford (Double Bill: Inside Out & Commedia) and Tuesday, 31st May, 7.30pm at The Theatre, Chipping Norton (Harlequin Dances).

Running from Monday 16th to Saturday 28th May, at the North Wall Gallery, Oxford, will be the Arts Weeks exhibition 'Drawing the Dance, Dancing the Image', curated by Kassandra Isaacson & Clare Bassett. 'Drawing the Dance' is an ongoing collaboration between established Oxfordshire artists and dancers. The Exhibition will include Claude Harrison's paintings; and designs for the Inside Out and Commedia ballets by Ellen Stewart.

The Exuberant Trustees have agreed to award grants of £500 each to the 8 musicians who performed in the Commedia project and also to designer Ellen Stuart, to help pay for their employment, due to a shortfall in expected takings from the BISS tour.

The Music at the Limes series continues on Sunday 22nd May, 4.00pm, with the Guy Button string quartet performing Haydn and Mozart.

July

It is with great sadness that we report that Michael Graham-Jones passed away on 30th July, aged 91. Michael, wife of Jennifer Graham-Jones, who inspired the creation of the Exuberant Trust after her death in 2002, and owner of The Limes in Standlake, Oxfordshire, which hosts the fundraising Music at The Limes concerts for the Exuberant Trust, will be greatly missed by many friends and his family. Here are two written memories of Michael, his life and projects, written by friends and associates Charles Handy and Anne Avery.

October

The Beckstein piano which is based in the Pavilion at The Limes and used for the Music at the Limes concerts, has been renovated at a cost of £1,600. A balance of £600 is payable by the Exuberant Trust (donations towards the renovation have been received of £500 from Michael Graham-Jones and £500 from the Fischers, who originally donated the piano to the trust).

December

The last Music of the Limes concert for 2011 will be on Saturday, 10th December at 5.00pm. Eri Sato - violin and Stephen Bateman - piano, will perform pieces by Franck, Paganini and Tchaikovsky.