Festivals and Poetry

Two new Fiery Rockets Videos now live!



"The Edge" - a piece of spoken word based on a true story, by myself, Gemma Connell.

Photos by Francesca Hughes of The Big Walrus (www.bigwalrus.co.uk) and Music From Rainy Skies Magazine (www.musicfromrainyskiesmagazine.com)

An accompanying blog will follow at www.fieryrockets.blogspot.com



I reviewed the Manchester stop of the Dot-to-Dot Festival for Music From Rainy Skies (www.musicfromrainyskiesmagazine.com). Here's some footage from the bands we saw:

Patterns
Turbowolf
Wonder Villains
2:54
A Plastic Rose
Pure Love
Dog is Dead
The Drums

An accompanying blog will follow at www.fieryrockets.blogspot.com

Life on both sides of the curtain...

Three new Fiery Rockets videos now live!



A new poem, entitled "Second Frame" by myself, Gemma Connell.



The second stop in my Tour Diaries series - I talk through the Chester performance of Cheshire Dance and Walk The Plank's "The Moment When..." - a community dance and pyrotechnics spectacular that formed the finale of the Olympic Torch Celebrations in Chester on Tuesday 29th May, 2012.

My role in this project is that of Groups Coordinator - coordinating and recruiting over 10,000 dancers to be part of the project as a whole. I also served as a Stage Manager during the performance.




I reviewed BEACHED Festival in Manchester for Music from Rainy Skies (www.musicfromfrainyskiesmagazine.com) and here's a little showcase of the bands we saw that day.

They Royals
Sam Haine and The Blood Flames
Little Volcanoes
Bluebird Kid Clark
Hey Sholay
The Minx
John Ainsworth
Seeing Hester
Kid British
The Jessie Rose Trip
The Whip
The Futureheads

Accompanying blogs will follow soon at www.fieryrockets.blogspot.com

In the studio...

A short piece of improvisation playing around with mirrors and reflections in the studio. An accompanying blog will follow at www.fieryrockets.blogspot.com



A contemporary dance performed to an Untitled poem of mine. An accompanying blog will follow soon at www.fieryrockets.blogspot.com

My Artistic Process - Writing a Poetry Set

I recently had to write a whole new set of poetry for a gig at Sandbar, Manchester, as part of Light In The Dark Entertainment's "Into The Light" Showcase.

In this video, I share the process of creating that set, as well as snippets of the final product.

If you'd like to see the full set, please go to www.youtube.com/brokenrosearts

An accompanying blog will follow soon at www.fieryrockets.blogspot.com

Poetry Set at Into The Light - Gemma Connell of Broken Rose Performing Arts

Broken Rose Artistic Director, Gemma Connell, performs a short poetry set as part of Into The Light, (22/02/2012) an event hosted by Light In the Dark Entertainment at Sandbar, Manchester.

Performing a set of brand new poems, Gemma provides her audience with an insight into different areas of the human psyche.

www.brokenrose.eu

Four NEW Fiery Rockets Videos now live!

Four NEW Fiery Rockets Videos now live!

"Breaking A Rose" - The Career of a Professional Artist/Producer



A look into the career of an Artist/Producer.

Dancer, Choreographer, Writer, Director, Producer and Project Manager Gemma Connell of Broken Rose Performing Arts - http://www.brokenrose.eu/

In this video, I'll take you through my career to date and offer advice for any budding artist or producers who'd like to make it in the industry.

The Making of "Flow!" - Broken Rose Performing Arts and Contact Theatre




Producer and Dancer Gemma Connell discusses the making of Open Stage Spoken Word and Dance event "Flow!", produced by Broken Rose Performing Arts and Contact Theatre, Manchester. Part of the Manchester Literature Festival 2011.

http://www.brokenrose.eu/
http://www.contactmcr.com/
http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.com/

The Making of "Bitten" - Broken Rose Performing Arts




Writer/Director Gemma Connell talks through the process of making the play "Bitten" by Broken Rose Performing Arts.

Play Syopsis: Raven's always felt drawn to people. But not necessarily for their personal qualities. Strangely, she still agrees that "it's what's inside that counts." Join Broken Rose Performing Arts in this short piece of theatre which explores the story of a young girl who finds herself with a rather unorthodox craving... and then dedicates her life to finding out why."

Starring Francesca Smith.
Written and Directed by Gemma Connell.

"Bitten" has toured to:
26th October 2011, 9:25pm, TV21, Thomas Street, Manchester
22nd November 2011, 9:25pm, Sandbar, Manchester

#INKED - Episode 1



First in the series. I take you through my fabulous collection of tattoos, most of which were done by artists at Spear Studio in Birmingham.

An Update from Inside the Industry

Hello it's been while, but to make it up to you, here's some footage from my most recent shows! Enjoy!

"Bitten" - A Short Play by Broken Rose Performing Arts
Raven's always felt drawn to people. But not necessarily for their personal qualities. Strangely, she still agrees that "it's what's inside that counts." Join Broken Rose Performing Arts in this short piece of theatre which explores the story of a young girl who finds herself with a rather unorthodox craving... and then dedicates her life to finding out why.

Starring Francesca Smith.
Written and Directed by Gemma Connell.



Gemma Connell's Spoken Word
In November 2011, I made my spoken word debut, performing some of my poetry at Light In the Dark Entertainment's "TEN" in Sandbar, Manchester. It was a thrilling experience, and certainly one I aim to relive again and again.



"Flow!" - 2011
Flow! took place on 14th Oct 2011 at Contact, Manchester, as part of the Manchester Literature Festival. An extremely succesful first event, Broken Rose are currently evaluating this first incarnation, and moving forward with plans for further events.

Produced by Contact and Broken Rose Performing Arts, Flow! is a revolutionary open stage event that will see dancers in close conversation with poets. From its roots in the USA, slam poetry has become a cultural phenomenon, touching the hearts and minds of those involved in the hip hop genre, as well as that of modern literature. Over the years, the lines between this form of performance and other arts have begun to blur. Flow! takes this a step further, allowing the spoken word to entwine itself with the human body. This event sees a succession of freestyle duets, teaming up poets and dancers to showcase their art forms collaboratively. Each pair locks, pops, spits and rhymes their way through a spontaneous set.

Perform at Flow! - Brief for Poets and Dancers

Broken Rose Performing Arts and Contact, Manchester

Flow! Co-produced by Broken Rose Performing Arts and Contact, Manchester, will take place in Space 5, at Contact, 9:30pm on Friday 14th October. This event is FREE.

Project Outine

Flow! will bring together dancers and spoken word artists in an extraordinary fusion of movement and words.

In recent years, much slam poetry has begun to sound like MC-ing, and has therefore become associated with the Hip Hop genre of music. With this in mind, it seems appropriate to bring two otherwise polarized sets of artists together; dancers and slam poets.

Similarly, Contact's monthly event Mixed Movement is Manchester's only "open mic night" for dancers. The brainchild of a dancer, theatre artist and poet, DawN Crandell, Mixed Movement gives dancers and musicians a chance to improvise, celebrate and show off their skills. Flow! is heavily influenced by Dawn's show, it being a chance for artists to meet, collaborate with each other, and share their ideas.

Dancers, poets and MCs can apply to perform at Flow! The evening will be split into three sections:

1. A dancer and a poet will be paired up and one will begin, with the other joining in as soon as they are ready. The freestyle will be a conversation between the two artists. Both artists are encouraged to interact with each other during the performance, rather than simply performing side-by-side.



2. A completely freestyled performance for all involved. 1 poet will begin, and all the dancers will freestyle with the poet as and when they feel its appropriate. Gradually, other poets will come in and have their say, until the performance naturally comes to an end (This will be discussed with performers prior to going onstage). Again, all artists should interact with each other during the performance.
   


3. WILDCARD SECTION - Again, a section inspired by Mixed Movement, a dancer and a poet will be pulled out of the audience to freestyle with each other.
   

Flow! is to be launched as part of the Manchester Literature Festival 2011.

Many thanks go to DawN Crandell and Baba Israel for inspiring this opportunity.

To Apply

If you would like to perform either as a dancer, poet or MC at Flow! please send an expression of interest (as below) to brokenroseperformance@googlemail.com. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST:

NAME, DANCER/POET/MC, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PAST EXPERIENCE

www.brokenrose.eu

www.contactmcr.com

www.manchesterliteraturefestival.com

Not Stationary, but Shooting.

I feel good. I feel like I'm back writing again, but properly this time. During my three years at university, I never really got the chance to write much more than the odd poem; I was far to busy with essays and dance societies and performances.

But now, I seem to have a lot more time on my hands. I've been faffing around with my two new scripts on Final Draft 8 for the past couple of days (excellent programme, I reccommend it to anyone writing a play or screenplay) but it hasn't really felt like I've been writing. Tonight, I opened the novel I had begun working on a few years ago, "Gemini". Then I really got back into the swing of things.

The reason I've been working on the same novel for years is because I changed so much whilst I was writing it, as a writer and a person. The plot has undergone many changes and the characters even more... Just like life, I suppose. I'm determined to get stuck into it. So, after furnishing you guys with a blog about the Scruff of the Neck festival in Deansgate, Manchester tomorrow, all day Sunday I plan to spend on the novel and on finishing the first full drafts of the plays "Bitten" and "Cobwebs."

I'm so excited to finish them. All my life I've never properly finished a writing project, unless it was a university project, in which case, if I didn't I'd have been screwed! Instead, I've always managed to fill notebook after notebook full of ideas and my hard drive is currently overflowing with excerpts from novels, plays and screenplays I will one day write. I can't wait to see the final products now.

I'm also working on putting together an anthology of my poetry - I've written so much of it over the past few years that it shouldn't be too long before I get enough words together to make a book. Now, as I have accumulated some extremely dedicated fans of this blog over the past couple of weeks, I'm gonna reward you with a little taster of my poetry.

Much Love.
CC.


"The Price of Fame"

His mother had always told him
He had bedroom eyes
And when he walked in
With his piercing gaze and feathery locks
Leda could see what she had meant

I’ll make you a star

Not stationary, but shooting
I’ll make your limbs sparkle through the sky
But first let me sculpt my scene around you

She didn’t know what he meant
But she let him move closer
Longing for the devotion he had promised

And when the pain kicked in
And her eyes flushed with tears

She persevered