We're all in this together...

Check out my DCMS blog about collaboration in the arts:

http://blogs.culture.gov.uk/main/2011/10/were_all_in_this_together_cue.html

Tongue-in-Cheek Dance Parade Footage now live!

Check out the footage of the dance parade from Fiery Rockets - and check out the Fiery Rockets blog on the topic at http://www.fieryrockets.wordpress.com/

Fiery Rockets

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my loyal followers. It's amazing to get this many views on a blog that is just about my life. However, feeling the need for a change, I have now moved to another site, under a different name, Fiery Rockets - www.fieryrockets.wordpress.com

This new vlogging site is for show tours, tattoos, travelling the world and all things performance, and the first video is below. I will still be posting Fiery Rocket videos here, as well as some Broken Rose stuff, so stay tuned if you prefer to stick with one blog site.

Much love.
CC/Fiery Rockets

New Website

www.wix.com/celticcalifornianblo/gemmaconnell

Check it out for my personal portfolio in Production/Project Management/Choreography/Performance.

Will change it for a much more suitable domain name soon. Promise.

Will also get you that long awaited summer blog/vlog soon. PROMISE.

Much Love.
CC.

Miles to go - Little Miss Muffet counting down from Seven - Three - Oh...

I've had some very strange feelings about my career lately. Well, I'm not sure if strange is the right word, but they were certainly unexpected. Not so drastic, but so easy to pick up on when you've been so focused on wanting one thing and wanting it now for so long. It;s kinda hard to orientate yourself when you're being rewwarded with new opportunities left, right and centre, but are still getting things wrong at the same time.

Watching my old dance team, Street Vibe, perform in Warwick's yearly dance show, Pizzaz, last week was an interesting experience - feeling so proud of them on stage and beforehand being praised by them for being the only one to have alunched themselves into a career in the industry, straight out of university. And to watch Broken Rose beginning to chug along slowly, it should be suprising that California is at times seeming further and further away from me... But that feeling is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's spuring me on, making me work even harder.

At MIF, it's obvious that although I'm doing extremely well, I still have a lot to learn, so I've been thinking lately that a course of some kind is perhaps in order.

On top of this, I have so many new ideas that I want to try out in the UK first. Here I'll make some ripples, then bring to California a tidal wave.

Come and see some evidence of the ripples I'm already making in Manchester - I'll be performing at the Greenroom at around 9pm on Saturday 5th March 2011, as part of Contact Theatre's Mixed Movement.

On top of that, check out my solo freestyle performance at the Open Mind Valentine's Special - now available as a playlist, below.



Much love.
CC.

Playspace @ Contact Theatre, Manchester

Hey guys,

It's taken me so long to get this blog together, but hey, it's the holiday season!

At the beginning of December I attended the Playspace event at Contact theatre in Manchester. A fantastic day which explored the possibilities of using new technology in the arts. Not only was I fascinated by the information provided, but I also gained a lot of new connections and friends in the industry.

Below are some highlights of the day.



I also took part in the Body>Data>Space>Telepresence workshop which took place over four hours during the day. To see some of the dancers who took part, please go to www.brokenrose.eu for videos and information.

Much love, and promises of many more blogs in the new year!
CC.

"Remember Me" at Contact Theatre, Manchester, 25/11/2010

One cannot deny Jason Crouch's talent with words. Even when I first saw his play "Remember Me" in the 24:7 Theatre Festival in 2009, I was overwhelmed by the poeticism in his script. Curious as to what changes he had made since then, I went to see a new and extended version of the play at Contact Theatre in Manchester on Thursday.

Stunning. That's what it was. "Remember Me" is the only play I have since which manages to convey, accurately and honestly, what it feels like to be completely in love with someone you know isn't right for you. Crouch's characters describe perfectly what the reality of falling in love is like and how, all though the time they spend together might appear mundane to people outside of the relationship, they are anything but to those who are involved.

The direction was equally praiseworthy, with choreography and movement that even a dancer would be envious of.

Fantastic to see another 24:7 writer going from strength to strength.

Much love.
CC.

Once Upon a Time...

...There was a story. Your story to be precise. At least, that's a key idea in the make-up of my company, Broken Rose Performing Arts. I'm here to remind you of a fabulous YouTube series which began not so long ago on the Broken Rose channel - "Your Story" allows performing arts pracitioners, fans, groups and artists to tell the world their story with regards to the arts, through the Broken Rose YouTube channel.

Tell us about how you got into the arts, what inspires you and what your hopes are for creating your art in the future. A short while ago I made an example video (or rather videos, as I always have too much to say!) which you can view below:





And... see how an organisation has taken advantage of this opportunity, with Warwick Street Vibe's video:



To submit your video, email upload it to rapidshare or megaupload and send the link to brokenroseperformance@googlemail.com or check out www.brokenrose.eu

If you're not a big fan of the arts, but still have a story to tell, email me at celticcalifornianblogger@gmail.com and we'll talk... I might make it at Celtic Californian Blog thing :)

Much Love, and thanks for all the support - now over 1, 000 blog views in just a few months!
CC.

Flirting with London...

I'd forgotten how much I love that city. Even spending just an evening there, as I did on Thursday of last week, you can feel the London vibe creeping through your veins...

My collegue and I had a wonderful train journey down there - meetings on the train are always best, I find - you have more of an opportunity to talk things through. Of course, an extra bit of entertainment was provided by the Virgin Pendolino, with it's fantastic tilt mode on full whack as we steamed around the corners.

We arrived in London a little early for the launch party we were attending, and so our new mission was to find a cafe to sit in for a while and kill time. It was the cafe which we found that really reminded me of my love for this fantastic city.

The Union Theatre and Cafe - housed in what seems to be a garage just off one of the streets that leads from Southwark Underground, this quaint little cafe with it's theatre at the back is the perfect example of what London has to offer - the arts, lit up by fairy lights in a determination to show everybody that they are there, and that they deserve to be. The chairs and tables didn't match, and the doors were left open so that you could hear boy racers pass in their cars on the street, blasting hip hop as they went, but that was the beauty of it - you could watch all of London go by from this cafe, and perhaps watch some of their stories in the theatre behind you. Perfect. I'd love to return to that establishment one day, and take in a play while I'm there.

I'll "flirt with London" as Devina puts it :)

Much Love.
CC.

Inspirations...

...not as abundant as you'd like are they? And I'm not talking about a beautiful summer's day that inspires you to write a poem, I'm talking about people. These days, you get sick of hearing young girls claiming that Miss Katie Price, aka Jordan, is their hero. Hardly an inspiring woman if you ask me.

Having said that, the lack of inspirations in everyday life make it all the more noticable when you finally come across one. This is exactly what happened to me yesterday. I met a woman who commands every room she walks into. The kind of person who you have a conversation with an instantly want to be like her, you wangt to have the same power that she has over people.

This woman offered to help me. And she will be doing so for a year. That's what is truly inspiring about her. She's got where she wanted to be, yes, but she's going to make sure others do the same as well. Now that, especially in such a competitive industry like the arts, is extremely rare, and I've made a pact with myself to make sure I follow her philosophy on teaching others for the rest of my career.

And to top it all off, this woman was absolutely fabulous and a true rock chick.

That's me in 30 years, I promise you.

Much love.
CC.

You're the Boss

Some old cogs are turning. Some new ones too. Alongside my fabulous position of Trainee Producer, dance and writing are returning to my life in a big way, and I'm so thankful that I'm able to do all three. I truly believe that I have some very special people in my life who should take some credit for this.

I've been extremely lucky to have had a couple of rather inspiring employers in my time, who've always done all that was and is possible to make sure that my dreams come true. In fact, one of my previous employers continues to get me involved in various different opportunities, for which I am eternally grateful.

However, despite how much they have helped me over the years, one lesson which they have never neglected to teach me, is that of self sufficiency in the arts world. If you have a dream in this industry, you need to learn to be your own boss. Fast. Don't let those who run auditions get under your skin, and don't give anything to agencies until they prove that work is waiting for you. Go out there and find your niche, find your own work, and work hard at it. There are many examples of industry professionals in Manchester who do just this. Unfortunately, their hard work and passion is not always recognised.

Luckily for me, I've worked with two arts organisations in the City now, and both of them put hard work and passion on a pedastal like no other employer. Such is the heart and soul of this city.

Much love.
CC.

More than Arty-Farty

This isn't just an opportunity to learn about the arts.

Even as a permanent job, I can see how working at Manchester International Festival would be a constant learning experience. Over the past three weeks I've realised just how effective the arts can be as a pathway into learning about the rest of the world... And it's our job to make our audiences see that.

This week I've learnt about the fascinating and inspiring stories the people of Manchester have, through reading about MIF Creative's 2009 commission Procession, by Jeremy Deller. The book which was published after Deller's procession of Manchester groups through the city centre and after the exhibition which ran throughout the 2009 festival, outlines some eye-opening and heart-warming tales. One of these stories speaks of a Manchester family who hired a Jewish au pair before the second world war. Many years later, when the family found out that the young woman they had known and loved had been killed in the Holocaust, they did all they could to help the family she had left behind.

I've read a new report by the Association of British Orchestras which documents the impact of school music workshops on children and their creativity, and can lead to professional music careers in later life. The report is located here: http://abo.org.uk/user_files/ABO Publication Downloads/ABOUnlockingPotential.pdf (you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser as it's some kind of funny link with spaces in it, sorry guys!)

I've learnt that dance is now uniting with politics - the DanceVote2010 website has been launched to allow dancers to email their local MPs and invite them to events, with the long term aim of getting dance to be recognised and considered by MPs nationwide. (http://www.dancevote2010.com/)I've learn about philosophy, Plato in particular:

Leaders should appear to do very little and delegate ruthlessly; they should
listen, think and spend time dreaming about their organisations. Plato
considered contemplation to be the highest form of human activity, the aim of
life being to see life rightly, not to change the world. In our 'busy' age we
should constantly question what we are busy doing.

- Tony Heaton, Chief Executive, Shape Arts

I've learnt a lot more about science and religion too, but for various reasons I cannot yet reveal that information! All in due course bloggers, all in due course.

Much Love, loving it.
CC.

My Beautifully Broken Rose

You may have heard me refer to Broken Rose in past blog posts. For those unclear on what this is, Broken Rose is my very own performing arts company, that is currently trying to stir up some interest on the internet.

Impatience is a virtue. It always gets things done quicker; getting them done better is not the issue, at least you’re flying along by the seat of your pants in a slipstream somewhere, and probably having a delightful time doing it.

So that’s me. Miss Impatient. I’m the kind of girl who’s already reaching for the button on her jeans before she’s closed the cubicle door because I’m having far too much fun bumbling along to waste extra seconds in the loo.

And that’s Broken Rose; performance that wants to show off now, and not later when it could be more practiced. No. That would ruin the aesthetic. We’re here to teach something primal. Here to tell a story of love, hatred, and someone who never made it by others’ standards, but by some other warped one, one day you’ll see their name in ‘effing lights.

Aiming to smash through every preconception and convention the performing arts world has ever held, Broken Rose is a performing arts company which combines all forms of performance in their work. Currently putting together a performing arts crew of alternative lovelies. Remember, you’re a Rockstar.

The above should give you a flavour for what we do at Broken Rose, and the below video should add to that. Similar videos can be found on our YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/brokenrosearts



We have various projects in the running at the moment, one of which is a Music Drawing project with Artist Naomi Kendrick. Naomi is currently working on a mass music drawing project, which will take place in Manchester next year. She was interested in working with Broken Rose because dancers hear music in strikingly different ways. I recently spent an afternoon doing some music drawing with Naomi. Her innovative idea of music drawing involves letting music flow through you, drawing what you feel onto the paper whilst a piece of music is being played. We tried out various different styles of music during the afternoon, and noted the difference in the drawings with each genre.

We also played around with movement in our session, with me dancing whilst Naomi drew the music. Naomi described my movements as being what was going on in her head as the music was being played.



Apologies - the audio on the final clip went a bit funny, so a different track is over the top. For the full video of that clip, please go to http://vimeo.com/user3350784

An extremely successful session, Naomi and myself will be meeting again soon to perform some more music drawing experiments, so stay tuned for that!

For more information on music drawing, check out Naomi's blog at http://deadrabbit-ablog.blogspot.com/

For more information on Broken Rose, please go to our website at http://www.brokenrose.eu/
For more Broken Rose videos, please go to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/brokenrosearts
And follow Broken Rose on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brokenrosearts

Much Love.
CC.

Ready, Aim... Fire!

I'm so proud - my brother's got a job interview tomorrow. I really wish him all the best and pray (not in the religious sense) that he gets the job, but it is another reminder of my job search.

I spent hours per day (something which I have yet to see my little bro do) filling in application forms, emailing scores of performing arts companies with my CV, and sending even more to "back up" jobs, letting industry professionals know that I was searching for work, attending auditions and interviews. Because I was applying for positions in the performing industry, something which is not heard of in my family, and largely seen as far too ambitious, even for a trained dancer and Warwick University graduate with experience coming out of her ears, those jobs I was applying for tended to take a little longer to get back to me. My mother was convinced that I was just dreaming, that a job such as the one I now have (Trainee Producer at Manchester International Festival) was not possible for me, OR, as she told me more than once, that I simply wasn't trying hard enough.

Now that, I wasn't happy about. It's difficult to explain to a mother who's generation grew up leaving school at 14 and going out and getting any job to "earn your keep" that I had been preparing myself for such a job search for 5 years. All through sixth form and university, I filled my days with performing arts projects and events, many of which I was the sole producer, so that I could fill my CV and pretty much guaruntee huge chances of getting a good job in this industry at the end of my university career. Explaining this to my mother, didn't work.

I find it really difficult to understand people without ambition. I'm not saying that not having a huge ambition is a bad thing, it's just that my brain doesn't seem to work that way. I guess it must be the same when it's the other way around, and that's why my mum couldn't understand me. Everything I do is aimed towards California. It's not just to pay the bills...

...Which is why, when I heard my dad tell my mun to stop trying to change my mind about the move the other night, it made me smile sleepily.

Never give up my friends.
CC.

Rock and Respite

I've just got back from the "Rock and Respite" festival at Manchester's Sound Control. The event was put on in aid of Francis House, which aims to give terminally ill children a better quality of life. A fantastic cause, and a fantastic gig put on in aid of it.

I love events like this. I've said before that I don't go to enough festivals, so I guess this was me starting as I mean to go on. The line-up was phenomenal. As The Suns stamped the balls of their toe picker shoes in unison, even a discarded penny managed to get in on the action, bouncing it's way onto the set.

Highlighs included Kid British's punk/reggae/rap which showed everyone how proud they were of being northern, cleverly including a song about getting lost in London, which definitely warmed the cockles of my heart!

As always, The Jesse Rose Trip were simply amazing. Their funky riffs juxtaposed with Jesse Rose's Soulful voice make for unique listening. You heard it here first - this girl is going to be huge!

Bummed that I missed my faves, Sonic Boom Six, because the last train home is ridiculously early. Man, I need to learn how to drive...

Jesse Rose Trip Photos:




Much love.
CC.

Artistic Promiscuity

That's what my new boss called it. Mixing different styles and elements of otherwise unrelated performance arts. Something I've done before, and will continue to do in the future and something which Manchester International Festival are involved in. Fantastic. In my opinion there's not enough of this kind of thing in the world.

One of the best examples I have seen of this Artistic Promiscuity was in Tanja Liedtke's Twelfth Floor, which I saw at the Warwick Arts Centre in February 2009. Liedtke's mix of fluid the contemporary dance, which was performed by the majority of the cast, with the rigid balletic movements of the repressive dictator character created a show like nothing I've ever seen before. To top it off, the story that was told was extremely touching, visually arresting and rather thought provoking. A true performance with such unique artistic flair.

Artistic Promiscuity...
Ima keep using that :P

Much love.
CC.