Time and Tide Festival
Donna Johnson
/ Categories: General
TIME AND TIDE – Festival of the Sea
At the beginning of March, CVA Dance students took part in an emotional site-specific performance as part of Portsmouth’s Festival of the Sea festival which saw live and digital performances exploring our relationship with the waters that surround us.
Back in June 2018, Miss Nutland, Head of Dance, was contacted by Liz Weston from the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth with a proposal for a site-specific performance at the Square Tower in Southsea. After several months of discussions and different ideas being proposed, the final theme that was decided on was The Sea, a performance involving our Year 9 dance students along with a number of elders from the NTR.
With the theme set, our Year 9 students came up with an idea to base a performance around the sadness of saying goodbye to loved ones who are leaving to go out to sea and, in contrast, the excitement of (hopefully) welcoming them home again.
Students wrote post cards to loved ones who they imaged had gone away which were then transformed into solo dance pieces. Several months and many rehearsals later, they had a piece which not only explored their postcard ideas but began the story of the whole production. The girls worked tirelessly throughout the project and were able to collaborate and work with a number of the NTR players who came in to our rehearsals on a number of occasions. The end result was simply stunning. The girls performed with passion and a clear sense of storytelling and emotion. Several audience members were left in tears during the performance and commented on how professional the girls were throughout the entire production.
Liz Weston, Director of Time and Tide said, “I am writing to you to say how much the New Theatre Royal Dancers and Players enjoyed working with you and your dance students on "Time and Tide". I have had a great deal of positive feedback from audience members saying how impressed they were with the high standard of your students' performance and how well it worked within the overall performance. The girls worked very hard to create and perfect the piece and I was impressed seeing their commitment to the whole performance. Their interpretation of the theme was sensitive, beautiful and moving. Their behaviour during rehearsals and the actual performances was excellent - they were, indeed, great ambassadors for Castle View Academy!”