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DIRECTOR’S REPORT
YOUNG AT ART 2001
A FESTIVAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
MAY 18TH
-27TH
CONTENTS
INRODUCTION
PROGRAMMING/VENUE
STAFFING
PRESS & MARKETING
OUTREACH
BOX OFFICE & AUDINCE FIGURES
CONCLUSION
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INTRODUCTION
The fourth Young at Art festival took place from 17-25th
May 2001. The timing, increase
in programme and additional staffing has made a significant impact on the festival which
is now viewed as one of the major children’s festivals in Europe.
The quality of events, brochure and the additional staffing made this years’ festival the
smoothest run and most efficient to date. Funding was tighter than ever but used to the
maximum.
This year we invited international producers and promoters of young people’s work to the
festival and were rewarded by Imaginate booking Puppet Magic to perform at the Lycium
and the Traverse Theatres in Edinburgh during the children’s festival in May 2002. This
now means that a Young at Art commission from Northern Ireland has toured on the
international stage for the last three years.
This year Young at Art presented 24 different projects, over 100 separate events with
additional 28 workshops and 22 performances presented as outreach projects. We
received more television and radio coverage than ever before and received very positive
feedback about our brochure and distribution.
This year’s market research shows that the average attendance overall was 78% - the best
so far. However, owing to the very small numbers able to fit in to our partnership venues
the number of attenders was not as high as last year. Outreach work and workshops
during the festival were all sold to capacity and we still enjoy our largest audiences from
the early years with 78% attendance.
As usual a third of our audience is made up of first time arts/theatre attenders and two
thirds say they are returning following previous festivals.
We are delighted with the continued support and commitment from the public and
schools throughout Northern Ireland. We now believe that Young at Art has become the
kite mark of quality for children’s live arts
.
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PROGRAMMING
The programme for the 2001 festival has been the most exciting and challenging to date.
The theme Co-ordinates worked extremely making events easier to promote and giving
the media a concept to work around.
The range of medium, the quality and provision for all ages and tastes worked very
successfully with a balance of international and local projects.
Last year the key needs were to:
Continue to develop programme (NI wide if possible)
Continue to develop indigenous work
Continue to develop technology and art projects
Continue to develop relationships with venues
Continue to make partnerships
Continue to develop international profile
Continue to develop participation
Develop a viable year round programme
Develop web-site with young people
Develop school contacts through the young review
Develop training opportunities in conjunction with Stranmillis
How successfully were these recommendations addressed?
Continue to develop programme (NI wide if possible)
Several tours were undertaken this year with Puppet Magic being performed in venues in
Cookstown, Lisnaskea, Armagh, and L’Derry. Also Washday was performed in
Coleraine and Armagh.
Continue to develop indigenous work
The festival commissioned two new pieces from local performers; Puppet Magic by Paul
McEneaney for 6yrs+ and a family show “Recipe for Disaster” by Will Chamberlain.
The family friendly day focused on local artists, storytellers and performers.
Continue to develop technology and art projects
Building Frames project with Rita Duffy engaged young people to record and present the
changing landscape of the architecture and buildings in Cathedral Quarter though
photography and digital manipulation. This project was open to all ages to encourage
empowerment through the creative experience.
Continue to develop relationships with venues
Stranmillis University College was the venue for the Farmyard Recital performance by
Da Capo and Stranmillis Theatre was used for Sleep Tight. The Group Theatre was used
for the first time as a Saturday venue for Washday and Puppet Magic. Belfast Circus
School was used for the first time as the venue for Wash Day. Other venues for
storytelling included the LinenHall Library and our partnership with Belfast Parks
continued with a Tepee in Botanic Gardens.
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Continue to make partnerships
New partnership was made particularly with new venues above as well as the touring
venues. We also consolidated previous partnerships. and developed a very successful
Play-Zone at Old Museum arts centre that proved to be very popular.
Continue to develop international profile
The International profile during festival was raised with performances by Gruppe 38 from
Denmark and Theatre Triebwerk, Germany. This year we invited several international
producers on the family friendly day to offer a platform for NI work. This has resulted in
Puppet Magic being selected to go to the Lyceum and the Traverse in Edinburgh for the
Scottish International Children festival in May 2002 with a view to promoting it for the
American market thereafter.
Continue to develop participation
The Co-habitation project encouraged the participation of 18-25 yrs over to develop
several installation pieces for Habitat on the Family Friendly Day. Numerous free
projects including, resident musician sessions, storytelling art workshops as well as the
family activities helped increase participation. Over 2000 children also enjoyed the
outreach programme.
Develop a viable year round programme
We have successfully begun our year-round programme of activity with the outreach
work (see outreach section) that also involves the Young Review and workshops in
schools, the best friends scheme and school friends scheme, a Halloween storytelling
event at Lagan Weir for schools and public. Five projects that will involve schools and
youth groups to contribute to the Unlocking Creativity programme and the forthcoming
Share Centre Project for disabled and able bodied children in Lisnaskea
Develop web-site with young people
This is to be developed in conjunction with a sponsor.
Develop school contacts through The Young Review
A School’s Friend Scheme is being set up and will be implemented for school year
2001/2
Develop training opportunities in conjunction with Stranmillis
Da Capo Music Training workshops are hosted in Stranmillis. Additional training
sessions will take place on the lead-up to the international Conference 2002. Staff
training has also started on a regular basis with workshops covering aspects that range
from ‘Young people’s needs’, ‘ how to facilitate workshops with disabled young people’
and ‘what makes good quality theatre for young people.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
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Hansel & Gretel Gruppe 38, Denmark 7yrs+
Old Museum arts centre UK & Ireland Premiere
This was a highly technical and sophisticated rendition of the famous fairy tale.
Definitely one of the best quality pieces of theatre for children or adults. The company
helped host a Talkshop discussion on the nature and exposition of theatre for young
people. This has led to Open Space a forum for professionals working with young people
to meet and talk organised by Young at Art.
Moby Dick Theater Triebwerk, Germany 10yrs+
Old Museum arts centre UK and Ireland Premiere
Imaginative & humorous introduction to this classical adventure by Hamburg’s ‘Theater
Triebwerk’. This award winning production proved to be highly accessible and thrilling
for all the audience.
Resident Musician All Ages
Paul Marshall was our resident musician and conducted a series of imaginative
workshops for all ages during the festival on boats, in Omac and out and about on our
family friendly day. He is becoming the first Da Capo Music facilitator in Northern
Ireland. Young at Art paid for his initial training so that he could develop his skills and
lead music for under 5’s throughout NI.
Farmyard Recital Suite 3yrs+
Da Capo workshops led to this highly successful performance following Da Capo
training early year’s teachers and pupils with Ulster youth orchestra
Sleep Tight Theatre-Rites, England 3-5yrs
Stranmillis Theatre Ireland Premiere
Theatre-Rites returned with the best work available for under-fives. Performed at
Stranmillis College Theatre. Once again the quality and production value of their work
were outstanding.
Washday Little Big Top Theatre Co 4-9yrs
Belfast Circus School/The Group Theatre & Outreach venues
A journey through the outer limits of laundry by a local company. This production
toured to Armagh and Coleraine. A performance from a very new NI company, which
had, lots of lovely images, some confusions but potential for good new work in the
future.
International Storytelling
African Tales with Tony Agogo, Indian Tales with Nisha Tandon and Native American
Tales by Laura Simms and Traditional stories and music with Willie Drennan.
Family fun day
A wide range of events were held on the Family Fun Day making it the most successful
yet. New events included a series of art, puppet and map making workshops introduced
in Castlecourt, Botanic and Stranmillis. All led by local artists.
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Puppet Magic Paul ‘Bosco’ McEnaney 6yrs+
Old Museum arts centre/Group Theatre & tour UK & Ireland Premiere
A YAA commission funded by ACNI National Lottery. Magic and puppetry combined
with original music created a really first class piece of theatre. This production travelled
to four venues across NI for outreach performances. The fact that it had no words made it
accessible to all.
A Recipe for Disaster Will Chamberlain Family
Old Museum arts centre UK & Ireland Premiere
A YAA commission. This 45-minute production brought together the best in traditional
and modern clowning. Local audiences loved this show and it is clear that ‘clowning’, as
a familiar form is a successful audience attraction.
Building Frames Rita Duffy All ages
Northern Whig House/Downpatrick
This project engaged young people in recording the changing landscape of the
architecture and buildings in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter through photography and digital
manipulation. Supported by Laganside. The exhibition was excellent and is currently in
Downpatrick and due to tour further.
Co habitiation All ages
Daylong installation performance in Habitat on Royal Avenue by 10 young people during
the Family Fun Day. This was an enormous success and involved a window performance
as well as a dance piece in the furniture department and sleeping in beds!
Smelly Won’t Behave Replay Productions 4-9yrs
Tower Street
Designed to tour as a theatre residency programme for Special Schools. It was performed
twice at Tower Street during YAA.
Teechers Tower Street 4-9yrs
Fusion Theatre Company
Performed by HND Performing arts students from BIFHE presented in association with
the Department of Creative & health Studies Centre for Performing Arts.
VENUES
Our main problem concerning venues is that they are either too small to accommodate
sufficient audiences for good box office return or that they are too large and costly for
Young at Art to hire with tickets at only £3.50 for sufficient box office return to cover the
hire fee. For this reason we use new and unusual spaces, however, we do need a
partnership venue that can offer us more space but at an affordable cost.
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QUOTES Sleeptight “excellent particularly the interaction with the children”
“Excellent performance for young and old both”
“Beautiful, funny and gentle – nice to have something softer and more
contemplative than much children’s entertainment”
“I thought the performance was fantastic and I loved it”
“Magical, bedtime will never be the same”
“Theatre-Rites once again proved to be utterly enchanting and spell
binding theatre for young people. Congratulations”
“All superb. A delight for our 2yr old toddler and us”
Hansel & Gretel
“Again Young at Art maintains brilliant standards!! This is a magnificent
piece of theatre. A masterclass in storytelling and characterisation”
“Excellent. We have been to quite a lot of shows over the years and this
was very good.”
“Magical, witty inspiring, visually spectacular”
“Very, very good play, excellent storytelling and effect scary and
enjoyable”
“Loved it. Theatre form other countries is great to see”
“An excellent event, very high quality. The children enjoyed it very
much. More of the same please”
“Venue convenient – very nicely managed of the children”
“The show was very good, I would give it 10/10. It was nice the way the
woman mixed up Danish and English in it”
SMELLY WONT BEHAVE
“Good interactive entertainment especially for the 3-7 yr. olds.
Convenient venue for us”
“Very professional and very useful and direct. Kept my children’s
attention throughout”
“Brilliant, the children really loved it”
“I thought is was fantastic”
“I thought it was super and I want to be in a show when I am older”
‘Great venue although difficult to find. A festival map would have been
handy”
STORYTELLING
“Really enjoyed both sessions”
“Expert dancer – no music available more explanation than storytelling.
Lovely personality shone through”
“Extremely interesting stories very well told”
“Captivating wonderful storyteller”
“Storytelling venue excellent”
“Very accessible and child friendly”
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ART WORKSHOPS
“Children left very much to make own choices/ideas. All seems relaxed
and easy going – children happy – thanks.”
“It was fun but I wish it lasted longer”
“It was wonderful and good fun. I think it should be on every week”
“Kids enjoyed the fun and education activities”
DA CAPO FARMYARD SUITE
“Venue very hot – performance fantastic”
“Well done everyone concerned. Absolutely terrific”
“Well done enjoyed it very much”
“Brilliant, wonderful music and singing”
“Very enjoyable – good introduction to rhythm”
MUSIC WORKSHOP
“Music workshop had the potential to run for longer – at 30 mins was a bit
on the short side.
“Music workshop was excellent. Could have lasted longer. Would have
been nice if instruments for each child. Paul Marshall had a lovely
rapport”
WASHDAY
“Absolutely great – so imaginative and really well aimed at the young
audience. I loved the props and effects and the simplicity and coherence
of it”
“The play was wonderful, very imaginative”
“An ideal venue for this show”
“Excellent performance”
“I enjoyed the show very much”
“Children really enjoyed this festival”
“It was all fantastic and we need more of it all year round for this age
group”
“A very interesting, washy story”
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STAFFING FESTIVAL 2001
For the first time ever there were enough staff on board to run the festival as smoothly
and efficiently as it should be. Despite the drop in funding from the previous year we
decided that we could not do without additional people without serious problems arising
and burnout setting in. It has been a very worthwhile venture.
Director
This is now the fourth festival run by myself as director. It was however, the first time I
had had a complete year to work on the festival and this was enormously beneficial.
Clearly one’s strategic vision and management improves with time but it has to be said
that the additional staff this year made an indescribable difference, allowing me to use
my time during the festival more effectively to network, look after international guests
and nurture partnerships.
General Manager of the festival (freelance & part time)
The addition of Shemaine Kerr as the General Manager released everyone else to do their
own jobs properly since she took over the detailed administrative responsibilities,
contracts and day to day finances. The efficiency of this opened up time for people to be
more imaginative about their work and give total commitment to the project
Outreach Officer
The ACNI National Lottery and Northern Ireland Events Company have funded this post.
Suzanne Marner has produced outstanding work and continues to involve a vast amount
of schools in high quality arts provision. In just 3 months she had personally contacted
and organised 50 schools to participate in Young at Art activity surrounding the festival
and we received more attendance from rural schools and special needs schools than ever
before. The quantity of work covered and the evaluations arising from this is impressive.
Project Manager (freelance and part-time)
Rebecca Hunter is an exceptional person in the field of arts and will make for a very
classy festival director herself. The attention to detail and the profound understanding
she has of the needs of a festival meant that she genuinely followed through all projects
that were planned in detail in terms of how they would be realised. She also assisted in
the final programming and managed to enthuse no less than 25 volunteers to come and
join us
Communications (freelance and part-time)
Matt Curry gained us the best coverage to date with more TV than ever before and more
radio. With a budget of just £2,000 after the brochure design and print, he makes it look
as though we have a range of quality resources that is in fact just him. His idea for
Captain Co-ordinate as a living figurehead for the festival gave great promotional
opportunities Matt also did our first proper audience market research, which gave
interesting statistics. (Please see Press and Publicity report).
Production Manager (freelance)
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Again Connor Kane proved to be our best production manager to date. He came on
board a little late and therefore had to do more with less time but produced fantastic
venues –technically speaking, and forgot nothing. He does without question need an
assistant for this post.
Box Office Manager (freelance)
Fiona O’Donovan, a highly experienced box office manager, worked with us to tidy up
our systems and offer new ways of selling tickets, ensuring that we also had notice of
ticket sales (or the lack of) well in advance. She worked throughout the whole festival
and is one of the funniest people we have ever had the pleasure to work with.
Festival Assistant
Sally Murphy acted as festival assistant/runner on the festival and took the post on as a
way of training/learning about press and marketing as well as the general running of a
festival.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Most staffing needs have been met, although the freelance and part-time staff would
ideally be in place year-round to make sense of their posts. A committed Press Officer or
assistant to the communication manager would really extend the amount of material we
could get out and be a part of.
YOUNG AT ART 2001 PRESS AND PUBLICITY REPORT
Overall media coverage of Young at Art 2001 was favourable compared to previous
years. In fact TV coverage was the slightly better with a strong programme and images
accounting for this fact.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
BBC NEWSLINE 6.30– 30 second slot on day of launch 25/04/01 with Captain Co-
ordinate at waters edge and brief piece of Anna’s interview.
UTV LIFE – 3/5 minute feature from Frank Mitchell on first day of festival 18/05/01
with Anna interview, piece from Will Chamberlain, music workshop and kids reaction to
the first show.
UTV FAMILY SHOW – 3 minutes with Anna on 23/05/01 as she discusses the festival
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GMTV – Recorded feature for original broadcast on Monday 21/05/01, then stalled –
Paul McEnaney performing exerts from Puppet Magic and straight interview with Anna
about festival.
TOTAL: 4 specific television features.
RADIO COVERAGE
Radio coverage improved this year – with more specific features on the festival from
more outlets as well as many more useful ‘mentions’ and previews from DJ’s on other
shows.
BBC Radio Ulster- Good support again this year. A 3/5 minute feature on day of launch
25/05/01 from ‘Evening Extra Arts’ programme and ‘Across the Line’ youth programme.
Subsequent support at festival time extended to reviews of performances from young
people coupled with previews of what was on for the rest of the week and a feature on
John Bennett. Friday May 18 had 2 separate features with a five-minute package on the
‘Building Frames Exhibition’ as well as a review of Puppet Magic and A Recipe for
Disaster. Thursday 24th
had three young people reviewing Hansel and Gretel and Moby
Dick on Evening Extra Arts. Laura Simms also had a good 15/20 minutes chat with on
Friday May 25th
with John Bennett, telling stories and giving away tickets for her
sessions the next day.
Downtown Radio – Improved coverage again. Usual Saturday before interview with
Candy Devine and Anna about festival 12/05/01for 5/7 minutes. Improved with a 5/7
minute general piece from Damian Murray interviewing Matt – broadcast on evening of
Monday 21st
May. Also drive-time 2/3 minutes on Friday May 18th
opening day with
Matt going. Coupled with repeated mentions from these and other DJ’s throughout
festival week.
Citybeat – Usual 6/8 minute feature from Citybeat Radio between launch of programme
and festival start.
TOTAL: 10 specific radio features.
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE
Newspaper coverage was widespread and positive with more than 20 features and articles
in print from provincial papers to Belfast Telegraph, Newsletter and Irish News.
Disappointing lack of reviews in print as usual. See coverage.
BILLBOARDS
48 Sheet billboards used again this year in three separate locations across Belfast as
opposed to just on Gt Victoria Street as last year. Mixed reports from people as to the
effectiveness of spreading the coverage and message across town although cost effective
in the respect that we got one of these free for a cycle. Total cost: £1000.
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ADVERTISING
Only advertising taken out was with Big List with picture and phone number as with
previous years. Best advised to put that sum (£100+vat) in the budget for something more
spectacular, visual and of our own making for next year.
DISTRIBUTION
First time we paid someone to distribute programmes for us (£400) – money well spent as
it left us free to do other things even if it was out if our control. But distribution was done
thoroughly and would recommend we continue this practice while paying attention to
possible new outlets and expanding databases.
CAPTAIN CO-ORDINATE
Always vital to have a theme and the Captain captured that for us very well both visually
through the programme, billboards, on television and in person. Generally considered
effective in use.
POSTERS
We haven’t used poster since year two of festival and this low- level presence is needed
in some way to reinforce the festival. Fly posting outdoors for a BCC sponsored event is
illegal so we need to be aware of what we are doing with posters and where they are
going before we spend on printing them up.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- emphasis on letting the schools know early what is going on
- Concentrate on pre-primary schools and crèches and make contact with heads of these
groups to get deals for them coming along.
- Visual stunts outside the realm of mainstream media to attract attention, with good
press, TV and radio.
- Take on a Press Assistant to help with general press work to free Press Officer to
concentrate on marketing and promotions
- Continue with billboards but rethink advertising in Big List perhaps finding more
suitable publication
- Continue to use independent distribution of programmes
- Daily Listings would be useful
- Tie things in to the theme earlier in the year
- Develop brochure – dare to be ever- more different
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YOUNG AT ART 2001 AUDIENCE EVALUATION RESULTS (%)
ATTENDED YAA PERFORMANCES HOW OFTEN TAKE KIDS TO ARTS?
IN PREVIOUS YEARS ?
0 33% Once 13%
1-2 21 Every six months 33
3-4 28 Every three months 34
5-6 12 Every month 7
7-10 3 Regularily 11
11+ 3 Never 2
HOW MANY PERFORMANCES HOW FIND OUT ABOUT
ATTENDED THIS FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE/WORKSHOP
1-2 38% Through post 28%
3-4 34 pick up at venue 8
5-6 19 elsewhere 22
7-10 6 Newpaper/mag A 1.5
11+ 4 Newspaper article/review 1
TV 1
Radio 0.6
Word of mouth 13.5
Listings 0.6
School 12
Personal contact 7.5
Other 3.75
Posters (48 sheet) 1
WHICH NEWSPAPERS DO YOU WHICH WEEKEND PAPERS DO YOU
READ ? READ ?
Tele 43% Irish Times 20%
Irish News 14 Sunday Life 13
Guardian 16 Sunday Inde 6
Irish Times 11 Guardian 25
Local 0.3 Other / Sunday Times 37
A’Town News 0.7
Mirror 1.7
Inde 0.7
Newsletter 3
Community Tele 5
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Belfast News 3
Regional 3
WHAT RADIO LISTEN TO ? WHAT MAGAZINES DO YOU READ ?
Radio Ulster 27% Homes & Interiors 32%
Radio 3 2 Ulster Tatler 10
Radio 4 21 Womens News 3
Citybeat 11 Arts.ie 23
Radi0 2 12 Northern Woman 15
Downtown 4 Lagan Lines 2
Radio 1 8 Big List 14
Cool FM 14
Radio Foyle 1
Previous Attendance
From the results of the evaluation one third of our audience this year was new and that
two thirds came back for more after being to at least one event last year.
One third of our 2001 festival audience had not previously attended a YAA event.
One half of our 2001 festival audience had attended between 1 and 4 previous festival
events.
Almost one fifth have attended 5 or more previous festival events.
Attendance to festival this year:
Attendance to one or more events this year is split quite evenly with one third attending
one or two, one third going to three or four and one third going to more than five events.
Shows good programming and spacing.
More than one third of the audience attended 1 or 2 performances this year.
More than one third attended 3 or 4 performances this year
Almost one third attended 5 or more performances this year.
General arts attendance
General arts attendance to arts events is on the whole quite low with almost 80% of those
questioned taking their kids between 1 and four times a year and only 11% attending
regularly.
One third of our audience take their children to arts events four times a year.
One third of our audience take their children to arts events twice a year
13% take their kids to arts events once a year and 11% take their children to arts events
regularly.
Knowledge of YAA
Almost 30% of our audience found out about YAA with a programme though the post
and almost a quarter by picking up a programme elsewhere. Word of mouth and through
school each accounted together accounted for another 25% with the quarter accounted for
by personal contact ‘other’ newspaper, advertising and radio in that order.
28% of our audience found out about YAA with a programme through the post
22% of our audience found out about YAA from a brochure they saw elsewhere
13% found out by word of mouth and 12% through school
8% picked up a programme at venue and 7.5% found out through personal contact
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The other 4% found out through press, radio, ads, listings and other
Daily newspaper preference
Almost half our audience (43%) read Belfast Telegraph followed by The Guardian
(16%), Irish News (14%) and Irish Times (11%).
The community telegraph is read by 5% followed by the newsletter, Belfast News and
regional locals (all with 3%)
Weekend newspaper preference
The Sunday Times is the most popular weekend paper followed by The
Guardian/Observer (25%), Irish Tines (20%), Sunday Life (13%) and Sunday
Independent (6%)
Radio station
BBC Radio Ulster 927%) and Radio 4 (21%) are the most popular radio stations followed
by Cool FM (14%), radio 2 (12%) and citybeat 9115) then radio 1 (8%0 and Downtown
(4%)
Choice of magazine
Homes and interiors is clearly the most popular magazine (32%) followed by arts.ie
(23%), Northern Woman 915%), the Big List (14%), Ulster Tatler 910%), Women’s
news (3%) and Lagan Lines (2%)
Outreach Report, April-June 2001
An Overview
The Young at Art festival 2001 saw an addition to the core members of staff with an
Outreach Officer starting work in April. This new position allowed the existing outreach
work of the festival in previous years to be built upon and extended throughout Belfast
and beyond. Between April 1st and May 31
st Young at Art provided 50 schools nurseries
and community groups with the highest quality artwork available on the international
circuit, as well as commissioning local artists to produce new work and tour it around
Northern Ireland.
Young at Art brought 28 workshops and 22 performances to 2,253 school children during
this time, as can be seen from the maps attached. The work taken to the school children
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varied from origami workshops by Alex Sutton Vane, to the world class performance of
‘Hansel and Gretel’ by Gruppe 38. There were a variety of music workshops, storytelling
sessions and theatre productions that toured to venues and directly into schools across
Northern Ireland. Young at Art also provided two days of teacher training for Early
Years Practitioners during this time.
For some of the projects in this year’s festival Young at Art worked with groups of
school children towards a festival event. The ‘Farmyard Suite’ by Da Capo worked with
four groups of Early Years children to perform a recital of songs that they had learned in
workshops. The ‘Building Frames’ exhibition led by Rita Duffy worked with two groups
of primary school children to take photographs of their home environment and the
architecture around Laganside. Their work was exhibited during this year’s festival.
The Outreach work also involved working with the Young at Art Best Friends, as well as
working in partnership with other organisations on some projects. Young at Art
collaborated with the Ulster Youth Orchestra for the Da Capo project, and also with
Children’s Express who reviewed work in the festival for The Young Review.
The festival forged good relationships with venues out-with Belfast. Puppet Magic was
a Young at Art commission for this year’s festival. Following the premiere of the show
at Old Museum arts centre, the piece toured for four days around Northern Ireland to four
different venues. Puppet Magic toured to The Burnavon, Cookstown, The Share Centre,
Fermanagh, The Market Place Theatre, Armagh and The Playhouse, L’Derry. Washday
by Joanna Williams, toured to The Riverside Theatre, Coleraine, and The Market Place
Theatre. Instead of going directly to schools with these performances, using local
venues allowed more children to see the work in an environment that worked best for
these shows. The venue programmers were impressed with the quality of the work, and
are keen to have a show tour there next year.
The Projects
Da Capo Early Year’s Music
Da Capo is a method of teaching music to children from the age of 3yrs and up. They are
a London based school of music, and as part of the Young at Art festival 2001 they
worked on a project with Early Year’s groups in Northern Ireland.
The project with Da Capo began with some training in their methods to Early Year’s
practitioners in Northern Ireland. This training lasted for two days, and out of this came a
group of interested people who wished to take part in the workshops and ‘Farmyard
Suite’ recital. Da Capo teachers then went to these four groups to do a series of four
workshops using their music teaching methods.
Young at Art provided each group with a Da Capo toolbox, and each child with a pair of
claves. This meant that each group had the resources to then practise the exercises and
songs that Da Capo covers in their lessons.
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The performance of ‘The Farmyard Suite’ went brilliantly, and was enjoyed by parents
and children alike. The Ulster Youth Orchestra accompanied the children as they sang
their songs, with a newly revised, and very humorous, arrangement of ‘The Farmyard
Suite’, which had the audience and the children captivated.
Feedback from teachers and parents has been overwhelmingly positive, and seems to
highlight a need for good quality pre-school music. The teachers seemed to get a lot out
of all aspects of the project. One teacher wrote,
“An excellent experience for all concerned. The children have developed very
sophisticated musical skills and they thoroughly enjoyed the whole process! The training
days were excellent, the materials first class, the workshops were well organised and very
practical. Excellent overall! Well done!” Wendy Armstrong, Sydenham Infant PS
‘Building Frames’ Photography Exhibition
‘Building Frames’ is a photography exhibition led by Rita Duffy with the primary six
classes of Euston Street PS, and St Matthew’s PS. The exhibition looks at the
architecture in the Laganside area, and examines the children’s sense of ownership of the
buildings that surround them.
The project started with Rita giving a talk and slide show with each of the schools,
looking at the notions of shelter and design. The children were given disposable cameras,
and asked to look at their home environment and take photographs of their house, street
and family. The children were then taken around the Laganside area, to take photographs
of the architecture in the area. In the final session, the children were encouraged to think
creatively about the photographs that they had taken. They were asked to leave a mark of
their identity on the photographs.
The result was a stunning series of surreal images that were displayed as part of the
festival. ‘Building Frames’ toured to The Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick in July
2001.
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The Workshops
There were a variety of workshops conducted with school groups and others throughout
the festival this year. Alex Sutton Vane held origami workshops in schools, with the
Best Friends and with the general public in Castlecourt shopping centre on the Family
Friendly Day. The school children made a fleet of ships, and the Best Friends watched
Alex make a giant elephant, and made simpler animals of their own. The school children
really enjoyed the workshops, and we were inundated with requests from them to come
back the next day for more!
Paul Marshall, a local musician with an interest in the Da Capo music methods, worked
on board The Tenacious and The Joyce to make music with school groups, and members
of the public. The workshops were very much enjoyed by the school children and
teachers. One teacher wrote,
“The pupils and staff thank you most sincerely for the opportunity to go on the S.S
Tenatious last week…the experience was enjoyed by all” E Cousins, Mitchell House
Special School
The Storytelling Sessions
There were several school storytelling sessions by international and local artists in this
year’s festival. Laura Simms, an American storyteller, visited Good Shepherd PS in
Poleglass to tell stories from all over the world, to a group of 100 primary six children.
The children were spellbound by Laura’s performance, and the principal wrote,
“It was a brilliant and unforgettable experience.” Joe McGinnity, Good Shepherd PS
Tony Ogogo visited Stranmillis PS to tell African stories to the senior school, explaining
some aspects of African culture and life. See photographs attached. Nisha Tandon
visited Malone College to do a workshop on Indian Storytelling and dance with a group
of their first year students. The students really enjoyed the experience, and hope to bring
Nisha back at some stage to build on this session.
Frances Quinn visited Bunscoil Leath Chathail in Downpatrick to tell some traditional
Irish stories to an infant group. The children and teachers enthused about this experience,
and are eager to be part of a similar session in the future. The teacher commented,
“ Very worthwhile venture. Frances had a good rapport with the children and she
incorporated drama into her storytelling which the children thoroughly enjoyed.” Nuala
Ni Chathain, Bunscoil Leath Chathail
Willie Drennan worked with two schools in a storytelling session with musical
instruments to tell some Ulster Scots stories to Ballymena Academy Prep, and to
Gracehill PS. Willie then asked the children to collect or compose a story of their own
about where they live, and collated these to return to Young at Art. One of the teachers
wrote,
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“Excellent blend of music and storytelling - infact ‘yarning’ at its best! The follow up
idea by Willie Drennan –great idea! We enjoyed joining ranks with another local
school.” Sylvia Crossey, Ballymena Academy Prep Dept
The Performances
Jo Williams performance of Washday toured to The Riverside Theatre and The Market
Place Theatre, as well as showing in the Circus school and Group Theatre in Belfast.
Feedback from the schools’ shows and public performances were overwhelmingly
positive. One teacher wrote,
“Excellent performance- well thought out; aimed exactly at the right level for children of
this age. Lots of props, involvement, tongue twisters, action and even some rudeness.
Perfect!” Annemarie Fitzpatrick, St Patrick’s and St Brigid’s PS, Ballycastle
A Recipe For Disaster is a traditional clown show specially devised for this year’s
festival by Will Chamberlain. Overall the feeling was that there were aspects of the show
that could be improved upon. The feedback from the school performance was mediocre,
“Quite appropriate for this age group. They enjoyed it.” Anne Dunphy, St Bernards PS
Theater Triebwerk did two school performances of their show Moby Dick, which was
very well received. One principal wrote,
“They all came back raving about the wonderful production and indeed they said it was
the best thing they had been to see in a long time.” Nuala McCaughan, St Michael’s PS
The performances of Sleep Tight were tender and beautifully delivered. They went
down extremely well, and Theatre Rites are always very popular with pre-school groups
and Special Needs groups. Theatre Rites have established an excellent relationship with
these groups in Belfast over the years, and their shows sell well.
“Kept the children’s imagination for the whole of the performance. Soothing and
exciting. Extremely enjoyable.” Anita Curran Barnados, (Tuar Ceatha)
Gruppe 38 did a school performance of Hansel and Gretel in additon to their public
performances. The feedback from both the public and from schools was overwhelming.
The show was the highlight of the festival, combining simple storytelling with
sophisticated projection.
“The performance was really excellent, enjoyed be the children and teachers alike. The
costumes and effects were stunning and greatly added to the atmosphere. It was so
enjoyable that some children went to see the play again.” Anne O’Gorman, St Joseph’s
PS
Puppet Magic performed to school audiences when on tour to Cookstown, Fermanagh,
Armagh and L’Derry. The comments from teachers are listed below give an indication
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of the success of this piece. It was extremely well received, and it was a very accessible
piece with no spoken words, making it suitable for Special Needs Schools and Irish
Medium Schools. Some of the schools found the title of the piece to be misleading, and
were expecting a ‘Punch and Judy’ show. The piece will probably be renamed to
‘Buster’ for future performances.
“Excellent Performance, great story line and thoroughly enjoyed by children and staff.
Bosco was fantastic with the children especially as he took the time to meet and greet
them. A wonderful performance and a great day out.” Roisin Daly, Dungannon PS,
(Special Needs Unit)
“Lovely venue (Share Centre) - good vision for children. Performance was charming -
not what we expected, but the children thoroughly enjoyed it. Many were spellbound.”
Jennifer Cramble, Jones Memorial PS, Enniskillen
“Venue top rate. Performance excellent-captivated children who would have watched for
a further period if it had been possible.” S.C Mc Bride, Newcastle PS and Nursery Unit
“Excellent performance although parts of it were ‘above’ P1/2 children. Venue - very
good (Share Centre)” Debbie Gervais, Moat PS, Lisnaskea
Conclusion
Overall, the Outreach work of this year’s festival was a great success. As can be seen
from the comments above, the children and teachers very much enjoyed the shows that
Young at Art brought to them during the festival.
It is hoped that the relationships with the schools targeted this year will be built upon,
with the launch of the Young at Art School Friend’s Scheme. Young at Art hope to
develop our audience by working in a number of schools, bringing them workshops and
performances for a set fee. For some schools who cannot afford this subscription, this
will be offered free of charge.
It is hoped that the Da Capo project will be built upon next year, from both training and
workshop perspectives. There seems to be a genuine need for more pre-school music in
Northern Ireland, as parents and teachers have pointed out. Young at Art hope to develop
the relationship with Paul Marshall and Da Capo next year, with a view to Paul becoming
a Da Capo teacher here in Northern Ireland.
It is hoped that the stories that are collected from the storytelling sessions this year, will
be collected and built upon in future. Young at Art very much hope to produce a
publication of children’s artwork and stories, about the town or village that they live in.
The artwork has been collated and the stories will in the main be collected from monthly
storytelling sessions that Young at Art intend to collaborate upon with The Linen Hall
Library.
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Collaboration between other organisations and venues went very well this year. Use of
local venues, instead of school gyms, was easily organised and extremely well received.
It made the pieces accessible to more children and built good relationships with arts
officers and venue programmers. It is hoped that these relationships will be built upon
next year. Other venues have voiced an interest in receiving some work next year. The
St Patrick’s Centre in Downpatrick is keen to have some storytelling or workshops in the
centre. An Grianan, in Letterkenny, are also happy to have a show tour there during
Young at Art 2002.
The Outreach work of this year’s festival built well on the success of previous years. The
contacts made this year will be all offered the chance of becoming a School Friend. This
will be offered Northern Ireland wide for interested schools.
The Young at Art Best Friends Scheme will continue to be offered to members of the
public who have booked with Young at Art this year. A tea party and storytelling session
will be offered to the Best Friends in August. Young at Art hope to offer high quality
arts events to both the schools and public through the School Friends and Best Friends
throughout the year until Young at Art 2002.
SCHOOLS AND PROJECTS
OUTREACH SCHOOLS APRIL-JUNE 2001
1 ABBOTS CROSS PS NEWTOWNABBEY 25 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
2 BALLYMENA ACADEMY PREP BALLYMENA 10 PUPILS W. DRENNAN, MOBY DICK
3 BUNSCOIL CHOLMCILLE L'DERRY 83 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
4 BUNSCOIL LEATH CHATHAIL PAIRC THOMAS RUSSELL 15 PUPILS FRANCES QUINN
5 CARR'S GLEN PS BELFAST 43 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
6 CLONTIFLEECE PS WARRENPOINT, NEWRY 32 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
7 COOKSTOWN PS MOLESWORTH ST, COOKSTOWN
202 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
8 CORNAGAGUE PS NEWTOWNBUTLER 35 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
9 CRANMORE INTEGRATED PS BELFAST 24 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
10 DUNGANNON PS DUNGANNON 13 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
11 EDENDERRY PS PORTADOWN 55 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
12 EGLINTON PS EGLINTON, L'DERRY 56 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
13 EUSTON ST PS BELFAST 26 PUPILS BUILDING FRAMES
14 GLENCRAIG PLAYGROUP HOLYWOOD 15 PUPILS DA CAPO
15 GRACEHILL PS BALLYMENA 20 PUPILS WILLIE DRENNAN
16 HARDY MEMORIAL PS RICHHILL, ARMAGH 57 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
17 JONES MEMORIAL PS ENNISKILLEN 45 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
18 LISTRESS PS L'DERRY 12 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
19 MALONE COLLEGE BELFAST 25 PUPILS NISHA TANDON
20 MILLSTRAND PS PORTRUSH 35 PUPILS WASHDAY
21 MITCHELL HOUSE SPECIAL SCHOOL HOLYWOOD RD 15 PUPILS PAUL MARSHALL
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22 MOAT COUNTY PS ENNISKILLEN 40 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
23 NETTLEFIELD PS BELFAST 35 PUPILS ORIGAMI, P.MARSHALL
24 NEWCASTLE PS NEWCASTLE 27 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
25 OAKWOOD INTEGRATED PS BELFAST 21 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
26 OVER THE RAINBOW PLAYGROUP BELFAST 9 PUPILS DA CAPO
27 PRIMATE DIXON PS DUNGANNON 84 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
28 QUEEN'S UNI. STAFF NURSERY BELFAST 11 PUPILS DA CAPO
29 RICHMOUNT PS PORTADOWN 55 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
30 SAINTS AND SCHOLARS PS ARMAGH 38 PUPILS WASHDAY
31 ST BAITHIN'S NATIONAL SCHOOL CO DONEGAL 29 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
32 ST BERNARD'S PS BELFAST 31 PUPILS ORIGAMI, P.MARSHALL
33 ST COLMCILLE'S PS CLAUDY, L'DERRY 89 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
34 ST COLUM'S PS PORTSTEWART 50 PUPILS WASHDAY
35 ST EUGENE'S PS ENNISKILLEN 43 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
36 ST JOSEPH'S PS BELFAST 75 PUPILS HANSEL AND GRETEL
37 ST MARY'S PS ANNALONG, NEWRY 15 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
38 ST MATTHEW'S PS BELFAST 18 PUPILS BUILDING FRAMES
39 ST MICHAEL'S BOYS PS CORNAGRADE, ENNISKILLEN 35 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
40 ST MICHAEL'S PS BELFAST 67 PUPILS MOBY DICK
41 ST PATRICK'S AND ST BRIGID'S PS BALLYCASTLE 55 PUPILS WASHDAY
42 ST PATRICK'S PS SAUL, DOWNPATRICK 16 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
43 ST THERESE'S PS GALLIAGH, L'DERRY 57 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
44 STEWARTSTOWN PS DUNGANNON 25 PUPILS PUPPET MAGIC
45 STRANMILLIS PS BELFAST 250 PUPILS TONY OGOGO
46 SYDENHAM INFANT PS BELFAST 20 PUPILS DA CAPO
47 THE GOOD SHEPHERD PS DUNMURRAY 101 PUPILS LAURA SIMMS
48 TUAR CEATHA,BARNARDOS BELFAST 10 PUPILS SLEEPTIGHT
49 ROSSTULLA SPECIAL SCHOOL NEWTOWNABBEY 33 PUPILS SLEEPTIGHT
50 WEE CARE BELFAST 33 PUPILS SLEEPTIGHT
Box Office & Audience figures YAA sales
PROJECT AUDIENCE
TOTAL
ATTENDANCE
%
PARTICIPANTS BOX OFFICE
INCOME £
Hansel &
Gretel
355 46 294
Moby Dick 213 59 199.5
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Paul Marshall 100 250 0
Farmyard Suite 120 100 300 111
Sleeptight 583 73 1823.5
Wash Day 255 50 780.5
Tony Ogogo 32 17.5 75.5
Nisha Tandon 11 12 33.5
Willie Drennan 100 70 0
Francis Quinn 18 20 49
Laura Simms 171 95 555.5
Map making 63.8 251 48
Discovery Trail 62.5 26 60
Puppet making 100 22 12
Native
American ws
98 46 46
Puppet Magic 520 72 843.5
Recipe for
Disaster
396 73 666.75
Building
Frames
100 100 44 0
Co-Habitation 1250 100 10 0
Smelly Won’t
Behave
181 95 549.5
Teechers 160 38.5 28 52.56
Balloon Race 100 225 27
Face Painting 100 103 103
Art Table 100 39 39.9
TOTALS 4365 71.9% 1414 6370.71
Total audiences and participants = above +Outreach (2053) + Omac sales (521) 8,353
Overall attendance 78%
Box Office received by YAA (LESS CREDIT CARD DEDUCTIONS AND E CHARGES)
Total YAA £64.71 + Outreach £3188 + Omac Net £1553 = £11109.65
CONCLUSION
This year’s festival was the best- planned, managed and executed to date with the highest
quality work so far. It had a good theme and the most integrated events and brochure
design. We enjoyed improved media coverage and good audiences. The most significant
improvement for me personally and for the health of the organisation was the increase in
staff, who proved to be a very able and happy team – generating the very positive attitude
that one would wish for from Young at Art.
Young at Art is becoming known for its good commissions for children on the
international arena with a new piece being produced for export each year. With an
audience attendance of 78%, participation at 100% and 33.3% brand new audiences each
year, it has the feel of an organisation on sure ground.
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We do of course need more money to make staff full time and we also need more core
funding. Both of these I feel are achievable in the next year. Young at Art is also lacking
in a general Northern Ireland - wide awareness and needs better publicity more regularly
and continuously throughout the year. The festival needs earlier promotion in the city
centre and our message of quality and accessibility needs to be fore-fronted.
The year ahead offers large challenges to Young at Art: To develop its audiences and
widen its profile, to plan strategically and practically for the team, the festival and the
year’s activities. We are consistently asked back to schools and to venues that know us.
The job for us now is to ensure that this increases substantially over the next 5 years.
