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Case Study: Objects and Stories

Posted on March 2022June 2022 by Alice Cramer

This case study is part of our project evaluation for Phase 2.

In 2020 Michelle Brace was commissioned by MarketPlace and the Creative Collective to pilot an objects-inspired oral storytelling project, ‘Mantlepiece’ to connect and celebrate communities. This project has since tested and developed it’s distance engagement methods as an intergenerational project between a school and a care home. In this latest testing phase the model trials democratised delivery and archiving potential within community organisations and by community advocates.

Read the full Objects and Stories case study here.

Read the full Phase 2 evaluation report here.

An excerpt from the case study:

The first iteration of the project tested the model of remote recording and artwork production with groups during lockdown over Zoom. The first iteration saw the collective share objects and stories over Zoom and send their content to Michelle to create a SoundCloud library of their stories and a group portrait of objects to represent the group.

The sharing and intergenerational potential of the project, due to the nostalgia of items shared by people, resulted in a second commission testing a distance delivery model between a care home and a school group. This enabled sharing of heritage and learning about past generations whilst increasing the wellbeing and feelings of value felt by care home residents. This delivery model provided resources and instructions to staff to deliver the activity to safeguard against COVID-19 transmission. This resulted in an exhibition of the stories and objects including the responses of the children to the experience.

When MarketPlace was approached by Suffolk Libraries to partner on their Let’s Get Creative programme and platform development, Michelle’s project was a natural fit for working across multiple locations to create a sense of ownership and belonging of libraries with its existing users and new audiences. Objects and Stories is the latest iteration of this concept, testing a new devolved delivery approach.

MarketPlace has a specified geographical area for delivery and so Michelle delivered the project in Brandon, and Community Producer Louise led delivery in Newmarket, with mentoring from Michelle. A training day was held in order to reach the wider West Suffolk Libraries to support the staff through the experience and to explore the potential for delivering activity directly with their service users.

“When we did the CPD session with library staff I came away feeling overjoyed and convinced that this is a great idea and works with everyone. They all came with a story, some thought out, others grabbed on the go, but they each told a compelling story of who they are. The objects provide a lovely way to connect people and enable them to be vulnerable and share, as it’s an insight into who they are. They become not just a person in a library but a guy who had a fine art degree.’ – Michelle Brace, artist

Read the full Objects and Stories case study here.

Read the full Phase 2 evaluation report here.

#TinyDance comes to Fenland and Forest Heath

Posted on November 2021April 2022 by Alice Cramer

Casson & Friends, an award-winning dance company based in London spent early Summer 2021 bringing their own unique style of dance and ‘people powered performance’ to our area. The goal? To speak to as many people as possible to create a dance inspired by what people love about where they live.

Dancers engaging with community members, especially young people, to create a bespoke dance for their towns and districts resulting in a Collaborative Choreography

The Community Producer POV

We asked Jodie Hicks, our Community Producer, to give her point of view about her summer worling with Casson & Friends.

Events in March, Wisbech, Brandon and Newmarket

Across four events in Fenland and West Suffolk two teams of dancers had the chance to engage with people of all ages, to dig deep and mine their thoughts and memories for choreography ideas and inspiration. It was a real joy to observe someone, with great animation, describe a cherished memory about their town or a certain place within it, and then to see the dancers transform these words into fluid movements.

_{Casson & Friends brought their dance moves to Forest Heath in Brandon and Newmarket in August 2021, inspiring choreography moves with creative people in their creative places. Photography credit: Malachy Luckie.}

A moment which stood out for me was at National Play Day at The Spinney Adventure Playground in Wisbech. Not only did the parents and children speak to the dancers, but they actually got involved physically to help create these moves alongside them.

On a couple of occasions, some of the children would correct the dancers and suggest their own alterations to more accurately capture what they loved about their hometown. The connections and collaborative process was a truly wonderful watch after we have all spent the past two years keeping distance from each other.

Slowly but surely, as each day would draw to a close, singular movements would grow into short sequences and in turn develop into a dance performance lasting a few minutes long. Alongside this, MarketPlace was on hand to invite people to also write down thoughts, feelings and also provide some suggestions for filming locations for the final stage of the project, producing a dance film.

_{Casson & Friends dancers performing their finished #TinyDance in Fenland for the final film.}
_{Filming day photography: Jodie Hicks.}

Bringing the moves together…

After our days in March, Wisbech, Brandon and Newmarket the dance teams went away and explored all of the information they’d gathered, narrowed down the filming locations to just three in each town, (no easy task) and put all of the choreographed motions together to create two distinct dances for Fenland and Forest Heath.

_{Casson & Friends dancers performing their finished #TinyDance in Forest Heath for the final film.}
_{Filming day photography: Jodie Hicks.}

All that was left to do was film it. Our travels took us to all sorts of places from racetracks to mausoleums, and even a castle. The #TinyDance teams accomplished the astonishing feat of filming in 6 locations per day and performing the Tiny Dances a staggering 18 times over the course of each day!

It was exhausting just watching them! Not only this, but in true East Anglia fashion, the dancers and filmmakers had to compete with weather ranging from sunshine to wind and rain and back again and often in the space of an hour (which could be a little detail to look out for in the Forest Heath film).

_{Clips from the Casson & Friends performers creating the final video on location in Brandon, Suffolk (Forest Heath).}

What was never lost was the sense of fun and wonder from the Casson & Friends team. They had the chance to visit all of these little gems we have in our towns, and really experience for themselves; what we are proud of and what is distinctively unique about living in Fenland and Forest Heath.

The #TinyDance films will be ready very soon so be sure to keep an out on our social media pages or sign up for our newsletter to have it sent direct to your inbox.

With all that said, where’s my popcorn…?

Written by MarketPlace Young Producer, Jodie Hicks.

Read about Casson & Friends’ Tiny Dance project and watch the final videos here.

To stay up to date with all our project news sign up for our newsletter.

Tiny Dance

Posted on July 2021March 2024 by Alice Cramer

Across Summer 2021, MarketPlace teamed up with Casson and Friends to make Tiny Dance – short dance films inspired by conversations with communities in Fenland and Forest Heath. Collaborative Choreography you might say.

The dancers visited 4 market towns around Fenland and West Suffolk (Forest Heath) and chatted to residents about what they loved about where they live. They also encouraged people to collaborate on some moves – watching the dancers and helping to shape choreography.

Casson and Friends are a record-breaking dance theatre company that aims to always be accessible, interactive and joyful. The company believes in ‘people powered performance’ – dance that is co-created with the help of the public.

Tiny Dances are short dance films inspired by the shared conversations, stories and anecdotes, plus choreography ideas. Choreographer Tim and his team of dancers use the information shared to create a bespoke dance reflecting our unique rural landscape.

View the finished videos below and let us knowwhat you think.

#TinyDance Fenland

_{Event photography credit: Malachy Luckie.}

Casson & Friends brought their dance moves to Wisbech Play Day at The Spinney Adventure Playground on Wednesday 4th August and March Market on Saturday 7th August, inspiring choreography moves with creative people in their creative places. Take a look at the final #TinyDance below and view the full album of photos here (credit Malacky Luckie).

#TinyDance Forest Heath (West Suffolk)

_{Event photography credit: Malachy Luckie.}

Casson & Friends dancers spent a week focusing on Newmarket Memorial Gardens Earth Arts Festival (19th August) and Brandon Festival (21st August). Talking with local people helped them create a unique West Suffolk dance.

Take a look at the final #TinyDance below and view the full album of photos here.

Read about how our Community Producer, Jodie Hicks got on this summer with Casson & Friends.

To stay up to date with all our project news sign up for our newsletter.

More Than Music with Leanne Moden, Matt Cooper and Louise Eatock

Posted on August 2020March 2024 by Lorna O'Brien

Commissioned as part of our Creative Conversations in Isolation programme.

In a time of people feeling disconnected, Leanne, Matt and Louise wanted to connect people through their passion for music. They offered free online workshops for an evening to talk about live music, concerts, celebrations and the communities we build around our favourite music venues.

Through writing and music-making exercises, the groups shared memories about the ways music has been an integral part of their lives, inspiring them to become musicians or being a part of their everyday experiences.

A a result of the sessions, Leanne and Matt wanted to create a collaborative audio piece that would encapsulate those memories, sounds, words and phrases shared throughout the workshops. Leanne, a poet, wrote a participatory poem and Matt, a musician, created a musical soundscape.

You can listen to the finished audio piece or read Leanne’s poem below.

The conversation continues on the More Than Music Facebook public group. Please feel free to join – we’d love to hear your stories and musical memories.

Leanne was interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk with presenter Jon Wright. Hear them chat about the More Than Music workshops and Leanne and Matt’s collaborative piece here.

More than Music

Back when the chemist sold records,
we knew music was the best medicine.
The natural remedy of melodies played
on record players and tape decks.
Bedrooms and basements bristling
with beats that felt like balm
for messy teenage lives, the storm before the calm.

Back when we held songs in our palms,
we played each cassette until the tape snapped,
mapped our lives through CDs we made ourselves,
filled shelves with every emotion
we couldn’t quite express.
The immeasurable endlessness
of being alive, expressed in four: four time.

We read lyrics like incantations –
confirmation that we were never quite alone –
and we sung every word as if it was our own.
Our best-kept secret bands we shared sparingly,
These earthquake lunchbreak mixtape heartbreaks
reviving us, repairing me.
The words were spells we cast to guide ourselves through,
leading you to me, and me back to you.

And when our local venues sold good times,
we spent Fridays living a better life.
Pressed between bodies, surrounded by noise
our joy magnified by this moment in time.
Sweet sweat and spilt beer, whiskey and lime
and the sense of being sonorous: this new paradigm.
The smoke in our hair, and the bass in our bones;
feeling like we’ve made it, like we’ve finally come home.

There’s more this than music, more than instruments and noise:
it’s empathy and mystery, it’s freedom and it’s choice.
It’s magic and it’s medicine, it’s acceptance and escape,
Integrity and anarchy, on record and on tape.
Community through unity, when we play and when we sing,
There’s more to this than music: and the music’s everything.

Download the poem here

More Than Music by Leanne Moden (26.3 KB)

Image reads "Featured on #ArtOfCovidChat podcast series. Click here to listen."

Listen to Leanne’s podcast episode from the series #ArtOfCovidChat here where she discusses the challenges and triumphs through lockdown with fellow writer Belona Greenwood.

Chapter in our Lives by Regina Ray

Posted on July 2020December 2020 by Alice Cramer

As part of our Creative Conversations in Isolation commissions programme, photographer Regina Ray, was commissioned to make portraits of key workers in Newmarket, during the period of lockdown.

Regina is a medical photographer at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and working during the Pandemic, she was inspired to ask the question:

‘If this was a chapter in your life, what would the bold print be?’

‘The WHY is obvious – because we love stories. We love to tell them and we love to hear them. We are fascinated by other people’s life stories and these stories help us define ourselves. But moreover, in times as unusual as these, when no one has prior experience, the sum of collective experiences will contribute to knowledge wealth and potentially makes us much more adaptive and prepared in the future. Storytelling is a way of collective learning and my aim is by telling individual stories to contribute to the collective survival knowledge base.’ Regina Ray.

Regina’s project was exhibited at Babylon Gallery, Ely as part of their All Together Now exhibition which took place in October 2020. Watch a short tour of the exhibition here.

Explore her full gallery here.

See how the project developed on the Chapter in Our Lives Facebook page.