Last night at 8.30pm GMT the world began to change. The London 2012 Paralympic Games opened, with a ceremony full of life, vitality, humour – and choc full of disabled performers and figureheads. As Jim White wrote in the Daily Telegraph: Opening ceremonies of the Paralympics have, in the past, been earnest, insipid affairs. Jokes were not [...]
It is with immense pride (and quite a bit of sweat) we can finally announce that all our 12 PUSH ME artists now have their first 90 second films in The Space!
We’ve all been told how digital technologies are bringing audiences closer to the arts; are supporting new business models, networks and forms of creativity; and are offering artists new and exciting ways to connect with their audiences, but what about disabled creatives? Is Digital working for them too? Chaired by Push Me co curator, Sarah [...]
Time to tell you more about our team – this time, it’s the turn of co-curator Sarah Pickthall – just who is she and what does she do? Sarah is a freelance consultant, coach, artist and community producer with over 20 years experience in arts, television funding, training, education in the UK and Japan. She [...]
Many of us are now tapping into Jon Snow’s C4 Paralympic show as he builds GB excitement and connection with the Paralympic Games but being disabled doesn’t mean you have to enjoy watching or playing sport, does it? Hell no! So says our very own Push Me comedian Laurence Clark and runner up in the [...]
We popped up to Glasgow last week to film the second 90 second short based on Claire Cunningham, who was just about the open Ménage à Trois - a darkly humorous and deeply personal portrait that explores Claire’s 20-year relationship with her crutches and asks if it’s possible to find love when there are already three [...]
Box of Frogs have also been finalising their tour – and boy are they busy! after the Southbank on 2nd and 3rd Sept, they move to Preston Guild on Sept 7th, then Circomedia in Bristol on Sept 27th and 28th and The Landmark, Ilfracombe on Sept 29th. Heading north they perform at ARC, Stockton-on Tees on Oct 3rd and at Contact, Manchester on [...]
If you get to see Janice Parker’s Private Dancer, her commission for the London 2012 Festival, the first thing you will notice is the House. Part set, part sculpture, the installation is the construction that houses the five rooms in which the private dances take place, but its more than that too. Its actually a [...]
Our last Push Me blog on Rachel Gadsden focused on her rehearsals for the premiere performances of Alchemy (UGA) on the 5th September as part of Unlimited Festival. But what many people don’t know is that Rachel is also rehearsing Starting Line, a live outdoor piece using film, visual art and performance that celebrates Stoke [...]
Hopefully by now you’ve caught Bobby Baker’s first 90 second PUSH ME film? If not – where have you been? You’ll see that she is deep in conversation with people – laughing, listening and having those all important cups of tea. But just who is it she is talking with? The first film was shot [...]
We were delighted to catch up with Jenny Sealey this week and shoot her 2nd film for Push Me. The Garden’s writer Alex Bulmer has been busy reworking the script for The Garden (as Jenny works on the Opening Ceremony for the Paralympic Games) for its revival at The Southbank for the Unlimited Festival. Alex [...]
I don’t want to join the circus – I just wanted to catch up with the cast of Box of Frogs, Stumble danceCircus’s fantastic exploration of bipolar disorder and all things circus. Turns out I would need a private jet to catch up with all of them.
Today the news is full of the end of the Olympics, following the closing ceremony last night and the extinguishing of the olympic flame. But there is another way to look at it – it means its only 15 days now until the Opening of the summer Paralympics, with an opening ceremony co-directed by none [...]
We’re finding out more about those working alongside our PUSH ME artists – after all, part of the push for them is working with new people, pushing all parties forwards to new levels of achievement. For Unlimited Global Alchemy, Rachel Gadsden has been working with the sensational choreographer and performer Freddie Opoku Addaie, Artistic Director [...]
I’ve been trying to catch up with Janice Parker, but she’s all over the place – and I mean literally! Right now she is in Philadelphia on a two week an international exchange lab investigating devised work and intergenerational performance with People’s Light Theatre. She is working with 6 artists from the Epic Theatre Ensemble of New York [...]