SOAP in countdown...

We are into our final run of rehearsals as the countdown to our performance of The Wedding begins...

Community volunteers and a professional cast will come together to present our exploration of Stravinsky's ballet-cantata The Wedding on Wednesday 24th November at 8pm at Contact, Oxford Road, Manchester.

Tickets are FREE but should be reserved by calling Contact's box-office on 01612740660 or through the website www.contact-theatre.org.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The SOAP entwines....

SOAP have been working on the third scene of The Wedding where the bride departs for her wedding day...

...and as the bride's family and friends share their hopes and fears about the wedding, we explore our hopes and fears for the community of Broughton....

...as the hops entwine together we too...

...we too...

...we too....

...we too...

...we too... ...we too...

...we too... ...we too...

SOAP opportunities...

SOAP are looking for…

….DANCERS and ACTORS….

…for a performance of Stravinsky’s ballet-opera Les Noces (The Wedding).

The performance will be on Wednesday 24^th November on the main stage at Manchester’s Contact, and will be the outcome of a project bringing together community volunteers with a young professional cast from the Royal Northern College of Music.

This is a chance to perform in a new interpretation of one of the twentieth century’s most exciting and rarely performed works in a professional venue. It is also chance to contribute your talents to an ambitious project aiming to break down barriers to opera, and give voice to the community of Salford.

What we need…

We would like you to perform in a short section of the piece that has been devised specifically for this special performance.

You will need to be able to commit to the following rehearsal and performance times:

• Tuesday 23^rd November, 6-9pm
• Wednesday 24^th November, 2pm – 5pm
• Performance 24^th November, 8pm

Interested?

If you would like to take part or find out further information then please contact Katherine Wilde, Project Manager, by email katherine.soap@gmail.com or by phone 07971845840

The SOAP thickens...

There will be a change of venue for this week's workshop, which will be held at The Outreach and Well being Centre, Mocha Parade, Lower Broughton.

The workshop starts at 6pm, and all are welcome - bring a friend if you like.

For a map to the venue please click here.

For more information please contact Katherine (Project Manager) on 07971845840 or at katherine.soap@gmail.com

SOAP develops...

SOAP workshops continue as we explore the music and develop our own material for the performance. Last week we welcomed new members and their ideas, and we all left in search of stories about Salford linked to the idea of community.

If you have anything you want to share (stories, pictures, poems....) about Salford and its community please do get in touch, as we would love to include them in our work.

We would still like to welcome new members to the next workshop this Wednesday 20th October. Please do get in contact if you are interested or simply turn up!

We look forward to seeing you there...

SOAP on hair...

SOAP workshops have opened with success - we have been working on the opening of Stravinsky's opera The Wedding where a young bride is distraught because she is forced to have her hair changed from two plaits to one. In Russian culture these two plaits were the symbol of a girl's virginity.

In the workshop we explored events where hair is at the centre of a ritual or tradition. Watch the clip to see a short section of the outcome...

SOAP's next workshop is on Wednesday 13th October - all are welcome to come along, just contact Katherine on 07971845840 or email katherine.soap@gmail.com

Stars wanted for new Salford SOAP opera....

Interested in performing arts?

Living in Salford?

Free on a Wednesday evening?

Then come and take part in the SOAP project 2010...

...SOAP is the opportunity to work with professional artists in weekly workshops to create your own performance material and showcase it at the Contact Theatre on November 24th...

...workshops kick off at 6pm this Wednesday 6th October at North Salford Youth Centre.

Please do get in touch if you want to book a place or find out any more information. Contact Katherine (Project Manager) on 07971845840 or by email katherine.soap@gmail.com

For North Salford Youth Centre head North out of Manchester City Centre for 5 minutes down Bury New Road. The centre is on the corner of Devonshire Street and Leicester Road, next to the Trampolining Centre. For a map to the venue please click here.

SOAP in action...

Last night we met at the Outreach and Wellbeing Centre for our first taster workshop, where we got involved with lots of movement and music, shared stories about hair, and generally had a lot of fun.

Massive thanks must go to David Fraser and all the wonderful people who came along to the session to make it a success.

We are looking for more young people to join us, and the next opportunity will be a second taster workshop at 5.30pm this Wednesday 29th September at the North Salford Youth Centre...

...and if you can't make that time then there is a second workshop that evening at 7.30pm at the same place. No excuses - come with a friend and find out what SOAP is all about.

North Salford Youth Centre is off Bury New Road on the corner of Leicester Street and Devonshire Street, just next to the City of Salford Trampoline and Gymnastics Centre of Excellence. For a map to the venue click here.

Come and get your hair 'done'...

SOAP's first taster session starts tonight, Monday 27th September, at 6.30pm in the Outreach and Wellbeing Centre on Mocha Parade.

Come along if you want to get involved in some music, dance and drama activities and have the chance to act out your very own crazy hair stories.

Tonight's session is all about having fun and finding out what it would be like to take part in the SOAP project 2010...

...and don't worry if you can't be there tonight. Other opportunities to get involved are:

• Wednesday 29th September, 5.30 - North Salford Youth Centre (Taster)
• Wednesday 29th September, 7.30 - North Salford Youth Centre (Taster)
• Wednesday 6th October, 6 - 9 - North Salford Youth Centre (Workshop 1)

Any questions contact katherine.soap@gmail.com or David Fraser on 07785252391.

We look forward to seeing you there, and the more the merrier, so bring your friends along.

Outreach and Wellbeing Centre

2-3 Mocha Parade

Lower Broughton

Salford

M7 1QE

For a map click here

Interested?

We have finalised our design for the flyer started to get this out to organisations across Salford: The Outreach and Wellbeing Centre, Salford Youth Offending Team, Albion High School, Salford City College.

We have loads of other organisations in mind, but let me know if you if can think of one that we definitely shouldn't miss...

O2 Think Big

SOAP is funded as part of O2's 'Think Big' which aims to support young people between 13-25 to make a positive impact within their own community. We have our own cloud which you can check out on the Think Big website...

Maybe some Russian dancers?

The opera that I have chosen for this project is Stravinsky's Les Noces (The Wedding) which looks at the rituals involved in a traditional Russian pagan wedding.

I chose Stravinsky's 'The Wedding' because I feel it has some really rich material to explore with young people: rituals, tradition, the relationship of the individual to society, and the transition from childhood to adult life.

Creating a flyer...

Just in the process in designing a flyer that will persuade young people to be interested in the project and into a taster workshop. These are coming around quickly:

Monday 27th November, 6.30 - 8pm

The Outreach and Wellbeing Centre, Mocha Parade, Lower Broughton

Wednesday 29th November, 5.30 - 7pm

North Salford Youth Centre, Devonshire Street, Higher Broughton

Wednesday 29th November, 5.30 - 7pm

North Salford Youth Centre, Devonshire Street, Higher Broughton

What do these images say to you?

Future Fires 2010

SOAP is one of eight projects taking place across Greater Manchester as part of Future Fires 2010. Future Fires has been set up by Contact with support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to enable emerging artists to plan and deliver their own community arts outreach projects.

Check out the video to find out more or take a look at the Future Fires Blog

SOAP

Salford Opera Action Performance

Opera in Salford

I do not see why Opera has so many stigmas attached to it: conceited, overly complicated, expensive, and inaccessible. It has the potential to engage many different people on many different levels through the richness of its music and drama and the power of the human voice. It just takes time, and a creative way of cutting through the barriers.

This project will bring Opera into the community of Salford, a community often characterised as white working class and angry, as having had generation upon generation of unemployment leading to a negative outlook. It is a community that has been too often overlooked by arts outreach work. It is also a community that has recently seen big changes in its cultural make-up, causing tension and resentment. Through the process of producing Opera I hope that we can create something that allows those involved to explore themselves and the world around them.