EDEN Court CREATIVE, home of what is acknowledged to be the UK’s largest theatre-based creative learning programme, last night presented a vibrant showcase of the many diverse projects and activities they currently provide – both in Inverness and across the Highland region.
The evening was organised and written and hosted entirely by their young CREATIVE Ambassadors: a team of Highland secondary school students who have been working closely with Eden Court throughout the past year to spread the CREATIVE message in their schools and communities.
Alongside CREATIVE manager, Katyana Kozikowska, the CREATIVE Ambassadors , James Walton (17), Shannon White (17), Zander Donaldson (20) and Miffy Morgan (20) guided the audience through a selection of original theatre pieces, short films and live dance performances.
With more than 60 unique classes and activities provided each week to choose from an incredible range of performances was on offer.
The musical theatre cast opened proceedings with the toe-tapping ‘Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now’: an excerpt from their current production of Hairspray Jr, which will be performed again on the OneTouch stage on the 23rd June.
As well as pieces by Great Glen Youth Theatre, Eden Court Young Dance Company and Gracenotes Adult dance class, Accessible Arts Worker Ruby Worth discussed some examples of the work she does as part of CREATIVE – from teaching in-house classes that celebrate integrated physical theatre, to working one to one with people with additional support needs.
A number of partner organisations were in attendance and as a Highland partner for Creative Scotland’s Cashback for Creativity programme, CREATIVE’s digital artist, Graeme Roger, showcased film projects undertaken with local young carers.
The programme invests recovered proceeds of crime into arts activities for hard to engage young people who are not in education or work or at risk of offending and has had a lot of success engaging with these groups and helping them on to further education.
The evening also celebrated the successes of the students studying SQA Drama and LAMDA qualifications.
Alasdair and Heather Davidson expanded upon their experience of studying Higher Drama at Eden Court over the past year: “It’s been really great fun; we’ve been doing workshops: learning how you should move on stage, how to use your voice and get into character. You learn a lot about how to perform and make great friends too.”
Guest speakers included Colin Bradie, Youth Arts programme manager for Creative Scotland, who expressed his delight at the hard work and talent displayed by the youth who organised the evening.
He said: “The work of Eden Court CREATIVE is vital and this is exactly what we should be doing: listening to the young people and placing their voices at the centre of it all.”
Another guest speaker, David Cameron, who was a key player in Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence planning summed up the evening, by saying: “The experience that’s being offered here and across the area by Eden Court Theatre’s CREATIVE department is utterly outstanding and the best example (of creative learning) I have seen.
“I have been genuinely moved by what I’ve seen tonight… you should all be very proud of yourselves.”
ENDS
For further information, interview requests or to arrange picture opportunities, please contact Eden Court marketing department / marketing@eden-court.co.uk / 01463 239 841.
Notes to editors:
- Eden Court is the largest multi-arts venue in Scotland. It re-opened in November 2007 following an extensive redevelopment programme, which saw the addition of two purpose built cinemas, a brand new flexible second theatre space and two dance and education studios.
- Eden Court CREATIVE Arts Workers live and work in ten different areas covering the whole of the Highlands of Scotland, from Nairn to Skye, from Lochaber to Caithness. They specialise in making drama, dance and digital media activities accessible to both children and adults in the Highlands. Eden Court CREATIVE also employs two additional support needs specialists, making the arts as accessible as possible for the entire community.
- Eden Court is the only theatre in Scotland to offer Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) courses in Drama and Dance. These are extracurricular courses, which offer pupils from across Highland the opportunity to study at Eden Court for an SQA Higher Dance, Drama or Intermediate 2 exams. Aside from Eden Court, there is only one school in the Highlands where pupils can sit SQA Higher Drama exams.
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