Slung Low Cultural Community College announces exciting new programme of activities for term three
After a successful second term and launch at their new base – The Holbeck – the acclaimed Leeds theatre company Slung Low have unveiled their biggest programme of Pay What You Decide cultural classes for their third term at the Slung Low Cultural Community College.
The new term, which will start on 11 May 2019, will offer an extensive array of cultural activities for adults aged 18+ including plastering, self-defence, bike maintenance, Asian cookery, Yoga and film-making. Free at the point of use, all the courses and classes will be Pay What You Decide.
Other classes in the new term will include a class on how to write a soap-opera, an introduction to the basic navigational tools needed to get lost with confidence and an overnight camping trip.
The Holbeck will host weekly evening short courses, one-off weekend events and daytime sessions to suit all schedules. For the new term several courses will also venture outside the Holbeck area.
Booking is free, but essential as many classes sell out quickly. Then once you’ve completed the activity you Pay What You Decide it is worth and you can afford. Book your places here: www.slunglow.org/cultural-community-college-summer-2019
As with previous terms, the courses will be led by artists from the region, of the highest standard who will share their skills, experience and passions with the students. This term’s artists will include the performer and playwright Daniel Bye, fellow playwright and musician Boff Whalley, Penny Greenland MBE, Dr Usama Hasan, John Fox, the celebrated co-founder of Welfare State International, and the team from the award-winning Leeds based Manjit’s Kitchen.
The curriculum has been chosen by the participants from previous terms.
Slung Low are a company that make adventures for audiences outside of conventional theatre spaces. The company’s aim is to make unlikely, ambitious and original adventures for audiences, each with powerful, moving story at its heart. Shows that re-examine how audiences go and see a piece of theatre. The company are based in their new home of The Holbeck. Recently the company produced the award-winning Flood by James Phillips as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017.
The Cultural Community College is a major part of the company’s long- term ambition to create Leeds People’s Theatre: a major new citizen theatre producer of epic, outdoor political theatre for the city combining Slung Low’s trademark staging style with a permanent programme of participation and citizen training. In the next term members of the Slung Low team will offer a weekly course of performance skills training that starts with the belief that there are performers in all walks of life.
Slung Low’s Cultural Community College is supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England. An advisory board made up of educators from across the education spectrum including universities, theatre education departments, home education and the private sector will support the team throughout the new term.
The third term of the Slung Low Cultural Community College went on sale on today, Tuesday 2 April.
For further information and to book activities please visit www.slunglow.org/cultural-community-college-summer-2019
SLUNG LOW CULTURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE – FULL THIRD TERM LISTINGS
MAY
BIKE RIDING
Learn from the very basics all the way through to getting out on to the road with confidence and safely. If you need to borrow a bike let Slung Low know and we can lend you one.
Course Format: A one-off session
Dates: Sat 11 May
Times: 10am – 4pm
SELF-DEFENCE
Keep Yourself Safe Gain insight to the fundamentals of Self-Defence, from safety concepts and the law, to basic techniques. A fun, introductory session led by Lawrence Nicklin, black belt in Hung Kuen Kung Fu and with a decade of experience in the security industry.
Course Format: A one-off session
Dates: Thurs 16 May
Times: 6.30pm – 9.30pm
SHOWSTOPPER
Carnival Costume Making Discover the basic skills and techniques used in creating carnival costumes, with Co-founder of the Leeds Carnival band AnonyMas, Lorina Gumbs. Bring your paper design into reality, develop new skills and walk away with your very own costume pieces in time for Carnival. All materials and equipment are provided. No experience needed.
Course Format: Five weekly Friday evening sessions
Dates: Fri 17 May – Fri 14 June
Times: 6.30pm – 8.30pm
CYCLING SKILLS
Bike Maintenance Learn how to maintain your bike: the basics of checking and adjusting the bike, working with punctures, gears and brakes. Bring your own bike. Course Format: A one-off session
Dates: Sat 18 May
Times: 10am – 4pm
GET LOST
An introduction to navigational skills Daniel Bye and Boff Whalley will teach you some of the basic navigational tools needed to get lost with confidence and then take you on a 6-mile run-around in the woods to put these tools to use. Speed is not a factor, but a basic level of fitness is needed. We’ll end by discussing why getting lost might be more important today than ever.
Course Format: A one-off session
Dates: Sun 19 May
Times: 11am – 5pm
MANJIT’S KITCHEN
Cook vegetarian Indian food Discover how to cook delicious street food based on traditional south Indian dishes with Manjit’s Kitchen. Manjit and her team, winners of a BBC Food and Farming Award, will guide you step-by-step through the recipes as you learn how to make tasty curries, chutneys and more. Course Format: Two stand-alone sessions. Book one, or both to learn different recipes.
Dates: Sun 19 and Sat 25 May
Times: 11am – 1pm
TAKE THE STAGE
Performance Skills Slung Low specialise in making epic productions in non-theatre spaces with a large group of community performers at their heart. These citizen companies’ welcome adults of all ages, from all backgrounds and of everybody type. This course, which includes acting, movement, voice and stage combat, is imagined both for people who have never performed before and for those looking to develop some new performance skills.
Course format: A nine-week course on Weds evenings
Dates: Wed 22 May – Wed 17 July
Times: 6.30pm – 9.30pm Times:
INTRO TO YOGA
Roll out the Mat Yoga is for everyone and there are always ways to make sure you can access each pose. Build strength and flexibility with yoga teacher Amy Manancourt, increase your fitness level and become more mindful at the same time. For beginners and those wanting a deeper understanding of the basics.
Course Format: Six weekly Thursday evening sessions
Dates: 23 May – 27 June
Times: 7pm – 8pm
JUNE
A LOCAL ADVENTURE
Overnight Camping Take off on a Midsummer Micro-adventure with Lupine Adventure Cooperative. Leave the city for an evening’s overnight camp, cook on camping stoves and enjoy an evening in each other’s company, watch the stars come up and the sun rise, and return energised. Please note this event includes two 6km journeys on foot to the campsite and back to Leeds for a well-earned second breakfast.
Course Format: Three Thursday evening training sessions and an overnight camp Dates: 6, 13, 20 and 21 June
Times: 7pm – 9.30pm and 7pm Fri 21 June – 11am on Sat 22 June
THE HOLBECK CHOIR
Sing for your supper Each Tuesday evening we come together to chat and eat some home-cooked food before singing together. Emma Pryde will lead you through a selection of songs skilfully arranged into three- or four-part harmonies. No matter what musical style is explored or the experience of the singers, the focus is always that singing is enjoyed.
Course Format: weekly Tuesday evening sessions
Dates: Tues 4 June – Tues 9 July
Times: Dinner at 6.30pm, Singing 7.00 – 8.30pm
BIG IDEAS
Inspirational practitioners discuss their passion projects
Penny Greenland on ‘Two Marians and a Mary’
Penny Greenland MBE is the Director of JABADAO – national centre for physical play. She will discuss the work of three of her big influences, Marian Diamond (neuroscientist), Marian Chase (dancer) and Mary Starks Whitehouse (dancer) – amazing women with big things to say about the brain and the body, and ultimately about what we human animals need to thrive.
Dates: Sun 9 June
Time: 5pm
WRITE A SOAP OPERA
Get out of my pub! Have you ever watched telly and thought, “I could write better than this!”? Now is your chance to try, with the help of Mark Catley, who said exactly the same thing fifteen years ago and has written over 100 hours of television since. Course Format: A weekly course in three sessions
Dates: Wed 12, 19 and 26 June
Times: 7pm – 9pm
GAME ON
Introduction to Bridge Mentally stimulating and a great way of making new friends, perfect for novices and total beginners, experienced players Kevin and Celia will introduce and de-mystify the “King of card games”.
Course Format: Five weekly Tuesday daytime sessions
Dates: 18 June – 16 July
Times: 11am – 1pm
FILMMAKING
Cinematography. Production. Editing. Filmmaker Brett Chapman will draw on his experience of producing several award-winning independent films to offer the inside track on micro-budget production techniques in this two-day workshop.
Course Format: A two-day, weekend workshop
Dates: Sat 22 and Sun 23 June
Times: 10am – 4pm
PLASTERING
Do It Yourself Learn the basics on how to a fix plasterboard as well as mix and apply plaster to achieve a smooth and professional surface to start decorating with. Take control of re-decorating and realise your creative vision with Paul Fox.
Course Format: A one-of session
Dates: Sun 30 June
Times: 11am – 3pm
CPR
Save a Life Gain the knowledge and confidence to respond to a range of common emergencies. This practical course is designed for complete beginners to learn basic CPR with our experienced instructor, firefighter Gary McCurdy.
Course Format: A one-off session
Dates: Sun 30 June
Times: 12pm – 2pm
BIG IDEAS
Inspirational practitioners discuss their passion projects
Dr Usama Hasan on ‘The Hero of Arabia’ “Why the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is my inspiration for the social justice struggle”
A talk by Dr Usama Hasan, astronomer and senior researcher in Islamic Studies at the Quilliam Foundation.
Dates: Sun 30 Jun
Times: 3pm
JULY
CREATIVE BEGINNINGS
Get out of your head Getting started on your own creative project can be daunting. And it can be even harder to make the time and give yourself the permission to begin. Join Helen Goalen from RashDash Theatre to explore potential starting points for a creative process including movement, improvisation, writing and collage. Discover the best way for you to get out of your head and into your flow. :
Course format: One-off session
Date Sat 13 July
Times: 11am – 5pm
BIG IDEAS
Inspirational practitioners discuss their passion projects
John Fox On ‘Engineers of the Imagination’
The celebrated co-founder of Welfare State International (with Sue Gill) and one of the leading alternative theatre makers of his generation is coming to speak about his experiences and the values that are the foundation to his work.
Date: Sun 28 July
Time: 5pm
