ReBels Masterclass Webinars

FREE Masterclass Zoom Webinars Thu 25 Feb to Thu 25 Mar 2021 (inclusive)

Please look through the masterclasses available and use the sign up form (bottom of page) to choose those you’d like to attend (you can sign up for as many as you’d like) They are all free to attend and are suitable for those aged 15 and over. Once your place has been confirmed you’ll be sent the Zoom link (there will be a different link for each session)

Thursday 25 February ‘How to make an album in your spare room!’ with Alex Hart 6pm – 7:30pm via Zoom

In this masterclass Plymouth singer songwriter legend Alex Hart will be discussing the writing, recording and releasing of her latest album, which she recorded from home during lockdown.Find out how Alex started out and where her  musical journey has taken her. She will also:

• give advice about ‘doing it yourself’ and not needing a record company to release your own music.

• explain how to  put music onto Spotify and iTunes.

• explain about music licencing and how to register your work.

• offer guidance on how to come up with simple melodies and why hooks are important.

• give advice and an insight into what simple studio gear to buy to start a home studio.

• explain how to simply use Logic to record.

There will be many opportnities for those joing the zoom webinar to ask questions.Alex Hart is a singer/songwriter from Ashill in Devon. She currently lives in Plymouth and has been a professional musician for 15 years. She has been lucky enough to play at some legendary venues around the UK, Europe and the USA either solo, with Martin Barre from Jethro Tull or more recently with Seth Lakeman.When Alex was 18 she was signed to a small record label in the UK and the US and released her debut album ‘On This Day’ which had regular air play from Radio 2 and local BBC Radio stations. In the summer of 2013, Alex released a cover of Angie Stone’s ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’ which went to No.2 in the dance charts and was supported by Pete Tong on Radio 1.After a few years of touring with Martin Barre, Alex decided to release an EP which she recorded in Plymouth with her band mates. It goes back to her folksy, country sound. The EP is called ‘For The Summer’ and is available on all streaming and download platforms including physical copies from her website. Alex has been working and collaborating with lots of amazing songwriters and musicians including Terry Britten who wrote ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ for Tina Turner. She appears on many other musicians’ albums too!During lockdown, after losing 3 USA tours due to Covid 19, Alex has recorded a covers album (Under the Covers) from the comfort of her spare room. She has played every instrument herself and it features songs that have influenced her over the years. These include songs from The Eagles, Billy Joel, Nick Drake to name a few. You can buy this for digital download from her website.

www.alexhart.com

Thur 4 Mar ‘The daily dance pill’ – the role of movement during lockdown 6pm – 7:30pm via Zoom 

Lets face it, who hasn’t had a kitchen disco, or got stuck into Strictly Come Dancing during lockdown? Beyond its daily dose of fun, glamour or freedom, there are stories about connection, confidence and transformation. Just look at Bill Bailey! This webinar looks at 6 inspirational stories of dance in lock down with Laura Nightingale from Exim, Lois Taylor & Sam Lawrence of Dance Centred, Rhythm City, Dance in Devon and Plymouth Dance.

The stories will be shared and the panel will discuss how dance has helped people through lock down. There will be plenty of time for questions too, for those looking to set up projects or experience dance on their doorstep.

About your panelists…

Exim Dance Company 

Exim Dance provides the opportunity for ‘At Risk’ people in areas of deprivation in Plymouth to participate in socially engaged dance wellbeing services that build on community cohesion to enrich their lives.

Exim works across the city in the most deprived areas, with a high focus on mental health and wellbeing through a person centred approach. We are passionate about using dance and breaking down the ideological barriers that surround it, to help vulnerable people. Within our work we hope to see improved mentalhealth, increases in confidence and self-esteem and to build on social skills all while keeping participants physically and mentally fit.

Our work centres around our core value that anyone who wants to do something can do it.We support those on low income by offering our services for free. We seek to unite communities and encourage people to work collaboratively together; something that is particularly important at present!

Dance Centred

Based in SE Cornwall, Dance Centred is a CIC with innovation and creativity at its heart. Working with health, community, education and arts organisations to inspire the imagination and bring people into the experience of moving together. they share a love of dance through performance, workshops, choreography and training.

Current projects include Breathing Space with a focus on mental health and wellbeing and funded by Arts Council England and the National Lottery, and Physical Postcards, reaching adults in isolation and funded by Sport England. The artistic programme is devised by Co Directors and dance artists Sam Lawrence and Lois Taylor and brings high quality creative opportunities for people to explore the potential of their bodies, imagination and ideas through dance whatever their age and experience.

To join this free masterclass please complete the form below. You will then be emailed a link to the Zoom session when your place is confirmed.

Thu 11 Mar ‘Live Event Production: the importance of working in a team’ with Ceri Wade 6pm – 7:30pm via Zoom

Extraordinary work doesn’t happen in isolation. Ceri Wade is an award winning Events Producer who managed not only Glastonbury’s largest late night arena: Arcadia – but all the international project management for touring Arcadia’s shows. This is a brilliant opportunity to hear about best practices, working on large scale spectacles, international touring and developing systems for flame throwing giant spiders.

Ceri Wade is an experienced professional with over 20 years working in events, arts and culture in the UK and internationally. She has worked across many roles in areas including operations, project management, event production, international touring, business management & large- scale budget management.

In 2016 Ceri was the first female to win the TPI’s ‘Production Manager of the Year’ . The show she delivered on behalf of Arcadia also won ‘Live Production of the Year’ as part of the Bristol Green Capitals’ cultural change project.

Ceri has worked globally, producing shows in over 6 continents working in countries such as South Korea, USA, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia. Ceri has organised STEM Events for over 3,000 children in cities such as Perth, Australia, London & Bristol. She has also managed the 50,000 capacity Arcadia arena at Glastonbury since 2009.

Ceri has featured on panels and delivered keynotes at events including IPM, Womex and AFO.  She is currently a board member for  Bristol based performance company Action Hero and also for Arcadia Reach CIC.  A passionate believer in engaging with the next generation of creatives, Ceri has been external professional advisor for Bath Spa University for Business & Management in Festivals & Events (BA Hons) and has done numerous educational talks at colleges including Confetti in Leicester, Tileyard in London & Bath Spa university.

To join this free masterclass please complete the form below. You will then be emailed a link to the Zoom session when your place is confirmed.

Thu 18 Mar 2021: ‘Building giant parading puppets’ with Ruth Webb 6pm – 7:30pm

Learn how to create giant puppet masterpieces. Ruth Webb, theatre maker and designer behind our hugely successful giant puppet parade back in September, will take you through the ins and outs of puppetry design. She will talk through what materials to use, how to make the puppets strong but light and list of other vital insight. She will also talk through the new puppets we are building for our next puppet parade!

Ruth Webb is a maker, who loves to be outside. She was lucky enough to have been surrounded by music, stories and theatre since birth. She tried growing up and she tried to find her own way in the world. Life took her down a few wiggling paths, until eventually she found her way back home, to the world of theatre.She is involved with the creation of the Lostwithiel Giant Procession, which is no 30 years old, and has been been running puppet making workshops for 5 years. She has been part of a team to make  made 5 giant puppets (7 meters tall!) some which which you saw in Barbican Theatre’s Backalley Puppet Parade in st Judes in September 2020! She has designed and been part of many shows with Burn the Curtain over the last 8 years.

Design of Props and Bikes and Stage managed Don Quixotes Adventures on Bicycle. Design and performed The Bureau of Extraordinence survey, Design Costume and Props. The company of wolves, Design Costume and Props, and Stage managed The Hunting of the Snark and Design Costume Timothy the Tortoise.Among many of the people she is proud to have worked with Stackedwonky Designer, Stage management and Production assistant, Theatre Alibi Design Assistant and Quirk Theatre Designer .She also loves building Giants, and running community workshops. She is so very happy to have been able to combine her loves of making and being in the great outdoors in her working life.  Currently she is finding new ways of creating, with natural materials and making fires with children at Forest school”Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” – Albert Einstein

Thu 25 Mar ‘Chicago Footwork – the story of a new style of dance for Plymouth.’ with Drew Shears & Saf Hazeldine 6pm – 7:30pm

Groovement Project’s Drew Shears and Saf Hazeldine as they talk about the evolution of this dance style and how Plymouth is at the centre of the UK chapter of the scene (and one of the two main places for the style in the whole of Europe!)

Drew is a member of the international Chicago Footwork dance crew Creation Global. We will see some demos from Drew and Saf, as well as footage from Creation Global.

Footwork is a style of house dance/street dance that originated in Chicago in the late 1990s, with music that is a blended style of electronic dance derived from ghetto house with elements of hip hop.

The dance involves fast movement of the feet with accompanying twists and turns, and usually takes place as part of a “battle”.

The masterclass will be a mix of discussion, demonstrations and an open Q&A session.

About Drew Shears

Drew is known as one of the major figures for the South-West Street Dance scene since teaching in the region from 2009.

As well as teaching nationally and internationally, he currently runs ‘The Groovement Project Dance Company’ alongside Ellen Coulton, which has now grown to be one of the most successful dance companies in the U.K after being founded in 2013, and is now has a growing global reputation after being widely praised in the international dance scene.

Since October 2020, Drew has also been a member of the world-famous Chicago Footwork crew ‘Creation Global,’ which is led by King Charles. He is one of just 3 members based in the UK and 5 in Europe.

As well as Chicago Footwork, Drew is very well rounded in the Street Dance styles, in addition to Choreography, but he has mainly built up his reputation over the past 11 years through House Dance.

As well as being the current ‘World Of Dance’ UK House Battle Champion and being chosen to represent House in the UK for the world battle event ‘Red Bull: Dance Your Style,’ he was the first dancer in the South-West to teach a regular House Dance class in 2010, and since then the South-West built on this, progressed and has become a major hotspot for House Dance in the UK; especially known for bringing through the next generation of House dancers in the UK.

He created the South-West House Dance collective, ‘House Of Groove’ in 2013, to bring together and push House dancers to learn regularly and progress alongside each other, as well as bringing some of the world’s finest House dancers and teachers to share with dancers in the UK and the South-West.

From this, these crew members and the south-west House Dance scene has thrived with consistent great success through multiple generations of House dancers.

As well as having a long list of personal battle credits from events all over the UK, some other highlights include training battle winners and finalists for House Dance UK and the UDO British Street Dance Championships, as well as winners and finalists for multiple prestigious London-based battles, and making the semi-finals of the world-famous ‘Juste Debout’ UK House battles with his brother Ryan.

As a teacher, Drew has also helped to train and choreograph for G.P.D.C’s award-winning crews; racking up a staggering 44 wins since 2015, with this being unmatched at any other UK dance company.

This is in addition to training the next generation Street Dancers at The Groovement Project; picking up a mass of prestigious individual titles and achievements.

Drew also trained in Los Angeles in 2015 and 2017 alongside some of the finest dancers and teachers on the planet; taking groups from The Groovement Project to receive world-class training. Whilst there he also performed at the world famous Universal Studios in Hollywood as well as Disneyland California; choreographed by himself and other teachers at The Groovement Project.

Additionally he has also choreographed and performed pieces for ‘Breakin’ Convention,’ ‘U-Dance’ at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, The Birmingham Clothes Show and many more, including pieces that have been performed in London also.
Drew has also performed for music videos, appeared on Sky 1’s series ‘Delicious’ and also appeared on Sky 1’s ‘Got To Dance.’

As well as being the Co-Director of the very successful ‘Groovement Project’ Dance Company, he continues to spread his knowledge all over the South-West in particular, at dance companies in Devon and Cornwall as well as numerous local schools to inspire and nurture the next generation of dancers in the region. Drew also taught a House Dance masterclass at the prestigious ‘Headway Dance Studios’ in Malaga, Spain in 2018.

Whilst pushing on a strong foundation in the Street Dance styles as well as Choreography, Drew also has a strong emphasis on encouraging individuality and pushing boundaries in dance, and is now actively trying to grow and spread Chicago Footwork as a leader in the UK and European scene.

To join this free masterclass please complete the form below. You will then be emailed a link to the Zoom session when your place is confirmed.

Masterclass Sign Up Form

If you have a suggestion for a Masterclass you’d like to see or one you could teach please let us know by emailing rebels@barbicantheatre.co.uk

Barbican Theatre ReBels Masterclasses

We think it’s important that you get to see, hear and learn from the best and get a chance to hear about and get excited about all the creative careers you could have.

It doesn’t matter if you know nothing about the subject – take a risk and see where these masterclasses take you.

Learn about everything from how a record gets made and distributed to fundraising, how to do your tax return, producing outdoor events, to what a dramaturg is and who on earth is a ‘fixer’.

Our ReBels masterclasses are free, suitable for ages 15+, and will feature these subject areas

Digital (D)
Overview (O)
Freelance (F)
Production (P)
Technical (T)

Watch recordings of all our other ReBels Masterclasses, such as funding and fundraising, ethical making and creativity, sound engineering, mass movement and projection mapping, risk assessments, and how and why to form a theatre company,  by clicking here:

WATCH RECORDINGS OF ALL MASTERCLASSES