Vibrant performance programme marks arrival of major cultural resource for Cornwall

A vibrant programme of contemporary public performance is to be staged in Cornwall for the enjoyment of the wider community as a result of the launch of University College Falmouth's (UCF) new £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus in Penryn.

Platform is the name of UCF's new, year-round contemporary performance programme that will feature new work by UCF students, staff and alumni as well as by established local, national and international companies.

The launch programme - from Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 October 2010 - will include new work by winner of the 2009 British Composer Award, Graham Fitkin; a performance of Superstition Mountain by innovative film and theatre collective, o-region; a series of metamorphoses by acclaimed US choreographer and dancer, Eleanor Bauer; and the performance of an evocative dance piece created by Cornwall-based choreographer, Angela Praed.

"From talks by students on themes as diverse as the hierarchy of the senses in dance performance and the Cretan fiddle, to bespoke dance pieces, community singing, new work by internationally-acclaimed professionals, and sets by rising stars of Cornwall's music scene, there is something for everyone to enjoy," explains UCF's Head of Performance, Larry Lynch.  "UCF's new Performance Centre offers some of the most impressive facilities in Europe for Dance, Theatre and Music.  We look forward to showcasing a diverse range of work and to welcoming local people to share in this major new cultural resource for Cornwall."

All events are free unless indicated otherwise.

Thursday 28 October

4pm - 4.20pm              Dancing in the Dark - a talk by PhD research student, Sue Smith, about a hierarchy of the senses in dance performance

4.20pm - 4.40pm          Moving through Unmentionable Landscapes - a talk by MA Arts &Ecology student, Alicia Grace, reflecting on a poetic practice of body, place and stigma

4pm - 5pm                   Penryn Pathways - Students from Penryn College and UCF, supported by local people, will animate the historic old drive at Tremough with an intergenerational dance leading to the Performance Centre

5pm - 5.15pm              Bespoke dance piece for the new Performance Centre, exploring movement-responsive technology, the digital world and the body, by third-year BA(Hons) Choreography student, Sheri Burt

5.15pm - 6pm              Swing and contemporary numbers from the award-winning, 20-piece Helston Community College Jazz Orchestra to welcome the arrival of the Penryn Pathways procession

6.15pm - 8.30pm          Performances by Shallal, Live Wire and TR14ers, as part of an ongoing community project supported by Arts Council England

Friday 29 October

6.30pm - 6.50pm          A Fiddle with Identity - a talk by MA student, Janna Bulmer, about the Cretan fiddle, the lyra, its culture and repertoire

7pm - 7.10pm              Request the Quest - an interpretation of the original version of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring by BA(Hons) Choreography graduate, Rowena Tombs

7.15pm - 8pm              Duet for a Bed of Leaves - a specially created dance piece about love, power and searching, created by Cornwall-based choreographer, Angela Praed.

Tickets - £7.50, £6 concessions, available from www.hallforcornwall.co.uk 

8.15pm - 10.30pm        Winner of the British Composer Award 2009, Graham Fitkin, who is widely recognised as one of the most dynamic composers of his generation, directs fresh new work performed by a nine-piece ensemble of virtuoso musicians. There will also be a fifteen-minute pre-show conversation between UCF's Deputy Rector, Professor Geoff Smith and Graham Fitkin at 8.15pm.

Tickets - £10.50, £8.50 concessions, available from www.hallforcornwall.co.uk 

Saturday 30 October

10am - 4pm                 Undergraduate Open Day

An opportunity for potential students to find out more about UCF's courses, meet students and staff, tour the College's campuses and facilities, and discover just what makes the University College and the Falmouth area so special.  Reserve your place online at www.falmouth.ac.uk/opendays

From 2pm onwards, there will be a performance by multi-disciplinary group bursary project, the Foul Mouthed Trustees, about change and movement, featuring a video installation and solo dance performances

4.30pm - 4.55pm          Performing Pedagogy - a talk by MA Devised Theatre student, Saffron Governor

5pm - 5.20pm              Body - Experience - Archive - a talk by MA Contemporary Art Practice & Dissemination student, Cara Davies

5.20pm - 6.20pm          3X3 - An exciting collaboration between Hall for Cornwall and UCF.  Three experimental theatre pieces performed by professionals, UCF and A Level students in response to the new the Performance Centre and specific historical sites on the Tremough Campus.

Tickets - £3, available from www.hallforcornwall.co.uk 

6.30pm - 7.20pm          Big Girls Do Big Things - Navigating the folds, surfaces and transformative possibilities of a too-large bear suit, internationally acclaimed US choreographer and dancer, Eleanor Bauer, performs a series of metamorphoses that challenge and exploit her diverse capacities as a performer, to question the use of self onstage.  Co-promoted with Dartington as part of the Dartington Plus partnership

Tickets - £7.50, £6 concessions, available from www.hallforcornwall.co.uk 

7.30pm                         o-region Presents Superstition Mountain - Written and directed by Carl Grose, (writer of Kneehigh's acclaimed Tristan & Yseult and Cymbeline), blending an epic score, innovative film and powerful performances from Simon Harvey (Kneehigh Assistant Director and UCF Lecturer in Film), and his two real life brothers, this dark comic adventure explores the intimate bonds and savage divides of brotherly love.

There will also be a post-show discussion with Carl and Simon (both Dartington alumni), and the rest of the company.

Tickets - £9.50, £7.50 concessions, available from www.hallforcornwall.co.uk

Sunday 31 October

12pm - 1.30pm             Drop-in Family Singing Workshops

Workshops led by Claire Ingleheart, musical director of the Falmouth Suitcase Singers, supported by UCF students and Penryn College Young Music Leaders.

Open to all.  For more information, contact Platform Performance Producer, Lesley-Ann Eaton on 01326 253696.

1.30pm - 2pm              An informal drop-in session for prospective Performance students

2pm - 3pm                   Sing Up - a collaboration with UCF

Six primary schools celebrate the journey from Dartington to Penryn through song.  To mark the occasion, a song has been specially composed by Young South West Music School singer-songwriter, Josie Newton

4pm - 4.20pm              The Isolationist Folk of Geographic Disappointment - a talk by PhD Music student, Johnny Lamb.

4.30pm - 5.30pm          An informal drop-in session for prospective Performance students

5.30pm - 7pm              Adult Community Choirs

Performances by Tremough Singers, the Falmouth Suitcase Singers and The Fifty Degrees from Penzance.

7pm - 8pm                   Josie Newton and Martin Skews

A tantalising treat from South West songbird, Josie Newton and Falmouth's rising star, Martin Skews.  Martin performed at the Eden Sessions and Hall for Cornwall last year, and has recently released his first solo album, Twisted Tree.

Tickets - £6.50, £5 concessions, available from www.hallforcornwall.co.uk

UCF is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the right to award degrees in its own name. The University College has two campuses - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns and jointly manages with the University of Exeter).

UCF's merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008 created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Dance, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Dartington-based courses have now relocated to an impressive, high-specification £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus, which launches this October.  The European Union's Regional Development Fund invested £12,266,667 in this development which will prepare performance students for success within the creative industries.  The South West Regional Development Agency's Single Pot Fund contributed a further £3M, with the remainder being invested by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Strategic Development Fund.

The Performance Centre is the latest phase in UCF's ambition to create a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unrivalled in the South West.

UCF is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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