Merthyr Express column

1 Jan 09
Head 4 Valleys Girl
Valley’s Girl is a performance project from H4A or Head 4 Arts, the eastern Heads of The Valleys community Arts Project, that aims to draw upon several art forms and disciplines to create a four-stage, bilingual, multimedia presentation devised and performed by members of the community. A performance will be created in each of the county boroughs that Head for Arts serves; with performances in Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Merthyr Tydfil. Each performance will explore a different aspect of a Valley’s Girl’s life; with the Torfaen performance looking at childhood, the Blaenau Gwent performance focusing on courtship, the Caerphilly performance portraying the passing of time and the Merthyr Tydfil performance exploring aging and reflection. Each performance will also be linked to the four seasons of the year with childhood being linked to spring, courtship being linked to summer, the passing of time being linked to autumn and aging and reflection being linked to winter. The theme of the seasons will pinpoint the act of renewal as generation succeeds generation. The project explores the concept of time and therefore aims to involve community members of all ages. The project explores the lives of women and our relationships with women. It does not seek to be a historical or heritage project, but rather a celebration of life in song, words, film and dance. Merthyr Performance of “Valley’s Girl”, Sunday 29th March 2009 at the Engine House, Dowlais. Three ways YOU can get involved: Valleys’ Drama, Valleys’ Digital Stories and the Festival of Four:

Head 4 Drama
H4A would like to set up a drama group targeted towards adults and young people aged 16 + to create a short dramatic piece (approx 20 minutes long) which will feed into the Merthyr performance of the Valley’s Girl project. Workshops will be run by experienced community drama practitioner. Participants would only be expected to attend 2 three-hour drama workshops (dates to be confirmed), plus a dress rehearsal on Saturday 28th March before taking part in matinee and evening performances on 29th March 2009. If there is sufficient interest H4A would consider continuing this group after March 2009.

Head 4 Digital Stories
H4A will be holding a digital storytelling event in Dowlais Library between 3 – 7pm on 19th January 2009. This is an excellent opportunity for community members who do not wish to perform on stage to contribute to the project and have a ‘voice’ in the Valley’s Girl performance.
We will be inviting members of the community to bring a photograph and a treasured item along to the library with them and talk about these 2 things. For the “treasured item”, H4A are particularly keen for people to bring along a doll, a wedding dress, a clock or a significant pair of shoes – but it could be something else that is not on this list. Each item will be photographed and the conversations will be recorded and edited to make digital stories. The photographs and recordings will be integrated into Valley’s Girl performances. Community members will be able to participate in the event through both the mediums of Welsh and English. Please come along – H4A look forward to seeing you! If you, or any of your group’s members, are interested in being involved in either of these elements, please contact Bethan at Head for Arts bethan.watkins@head4arts.org.uk / 01495 357816