Are you passionate about the Arts and want to promote them in the Dorchester area?

Dorchester ARTS is seeking two new members for our Board of Management/Trustees.

Dorchester ARTS is funded by Arts Council England South West, West Dorset District Council and Dorchester Town Council to provide both performing and visual arts for the people of Dorchester and the surrounding area, via venue based performances and community projects.

Dorchester ARTS’ Board of Management/Trustees is responsible for guiding the organisation, supporting its creative vision, overseeing operational activity and ensuring Dorchester ARTS continues to fulfil its statutory obligations with regard to its position as a Company Limited by Guarantee, a Registered Charity and a publicly funded organisation.

The Board is particularly interested in attracting potential Members who apart from a keen interest in the arts also have expertise in the fields of business, financial matters, and fundraising.

Experience of previous Board membership is not essential, as a full induction process will be offered to new members. The Board meets every two months with occasional special meetings or sub-group meetings. Dorchester ARTS aims to “inspire, involve and entertain” and is committed to Access, Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

If you are interested in applying please send a covering letter explaining why you are interested and a CV to Louise Sheaves, c/o Dorchester ARTS, School Lane, The Grove, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1XR or send via email to louise.sheaves@btinternet.com. The closing date for applications is 21st December 2012

Dorchester ARTS is a registered charity (1015546) and Company Limited by Guarantee (2752793).

Best Film award for The Helpful Dead

Dorchester Arts' Olympic film, The Helpful Dead has won Best Film by primary age children at the Electric December 2012 awards in Bristol.

Four of the filmmaking team from Wyke Regis Junior school joined facilitators Sharon Hayden and Alastair Nisbet from ScreenPLAY to receive the award at Bristol's Watershed - and a bag of film goodies from sponsor Aardman Animation.

Project producer Sharon Hayden said it was a wonderful achievement for the ten year old filmmakers. "We're thrilled their work is being recognised in this way. “It’s the first time any of these children have been to Bristol - and being part of these awards has opened their eyes to some of the opportunities out there in our creative industries. Best Film in Electric December could perhaps be a first step on the path to a career in film.”

Entries included films from across Europe and filmmakers travelled from as

far away as Poland for the awards. Best animation went to 20 year old Agnieszka Konarska for her atmospheric film Hunt about a Raven and its bid to escape. Best Comedy went to Taking Out Tim by Tiverton High School students with My Pockets, and Best documentary to Adrenaline Junky, a moving film about a motorcyclist regaining his action packed lifestyle after an accident.

Electric December producer Hannah Higginson said the films had all been chosen for their imaginative and distinctive style. “I’ve been knocked out by the huge amount of flair and talent on show this year. We are committed to developing new talent and it’s a joy to see the exciting range of films from across Europe.

All the Electric December films are on the website electricdecember.org - including The Big Splash, one of the other Dorchester Arts Olympic films by St John’s Primary School in Weymouth.
Characters in The Helpful Dead were inspired by Victorian works of art in Birmingham and Cambridge. Read about the real people behind the story.
The Helpful Dead was funded by the Lottery's First Light initiative with additional support from b-side, Departure Arts and the school itself.

A Love Like Salt - two for one ticket offer !

The Devil's Violin Company
Saturday 1st December
7.30pm Dorchester Arts Centre
***SPECIAL OFFER Two tickets for the price of one ***  
How much do you love me?...
What would you do for the one you love?
How far would you go?
How far is too far?
 

A Love Like Salt features three wonderful tales that have gripped us for hundreds of years - tales of drama and danger, love and lust, humour and pathos that inspired two of our most popular storytellers: Chaucer and Shakespeare. 
 
Aided by the dramatic, driving rhythms of an inventive strings and accordion trio, Daniel Morden, renowned for his powerful storytelling, takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride to King Arthur’s Camelot, the Breton shores and the ancient Britain of King Lear.
 
A Love Like Salt is a rich tapestry, peppered with magic and morals, lovers and villains, desire and disguise.
“A scintillating combination of music, sound and story” The Times

“One of the most stunning experiences I have ever had in a theatre” Audience feedback

Commissioned by the Bodleian Library and the English Faculty at the University of Oxford, ‘A Love Like Salt’ – with its hugely accomplished simplicity – is a timely reminder of the power of the story to unite.
 
Tickets £12 / £10 members & concessions
 
***SPECIAL OFFER***
2 TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF 1
Booking Office: Dorchester Arts 01305 266926
or Tourist Information Centre 01305 267992

Electric December for Children’s Olympic films

Animated films by children at two Weymouth primary schools have been selected for an international showcase of young filmmaking talent.

The Big Splash and the Helpful Dead, made for the Olympics by pupils at St John’s Primary and Wyke Regis Junior schools will be part of Electric December, a countdown calendar featuring the best of young people’s short films from across Europe.
The films, seen by thousands on big screens during the summer, will now bring Weymouth and Portland - as seen through the eyes of ten year olds - to an international audience.

Over the course of a month in each school the young filmmakers worked with a group of six artists from Dorchester Arts, led by Sharon Hayden of digital arts organisation ScreenPLAY.

She said the children gave both films a strong sense of place and local identity. 
“In the Big Splash they wanted to capture the feel of the torch relay on Weymouth seafront and the determination and courage of a group of young people swimming across the bay. In researching Helpful Dead, the children found a head teacher’s diary from 1872 with descriptions of a shipwreck off Chesil Beach. This gave them the idea to link a Victorian tragedy with the 2012 Olympics,”  she explained.

The films, plus the third in the trilogy the Portland Race, were funded by the lottery through the BFI’s First Light initiative. More information about the project is at www.dorchesterarts.org.uk/projects or www.screen-play.co.uk.

Manchester screening for The Helpful Dead

The Helpful Dead - one of Dorchester Arts’ trilogy of animated films made by young people in Weymouth and Portland has been selected for screening at Britain’s oldest film festival.

The three minute Inspire-marked drama screened during the summer at the Weymouth Olympic live sites, ICCI 360 dome and National Sailing Academy, is being shown at the Co-operative Film Festival in Manchester this November.

The film, made by year five children at Wyke Regis Junior School supported by a team of artists from Dorchester Arts, tells the story of an Olympic sailor battling strong winds - and an emotional link with a shipping disaster off Dorset’s Chesil beach more than 140 years ago.

Project Producer, dramatherapist Sharon Hayden said the children had studied and photographed their locations to give the film a strong sense of place and local identity.  “In their research they found a first hand account of the wreck of the Royal Adelaide in a head teacher’s log book from 1872. This gave them the idea to link a Victorian tragedy with the 2012 Olympics,”  she explained.

“We are incredibly grateful to First Light for believing in us. Thanks to their support, these nine and ten year old children have produced some remarkable work. It has been a transformative experience for them.” 

Watch The Helpful Dead here www.dorchesterarts.org.uk/projects
More about the production team: www.screen-play.co.uk.

The project was funded by the Lottery through the BFI’s First Light initiative.

Join us 'On Golden Pond'

On Golden Pond, the popular play written by Ernest Thompson, comes to Dorchester Arts Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday 4th, Friday 5th and Saturday 6th October.

This beguiling story that gives a glimpse of what lies beneath the stormy waters of family ties may be familiar from the 1981 blockbuster film starring Katherine Hepburn and Henry and Jane Fonda. Originally Thompson’s play opened on Broadway in 1979 and ran for 126 performances before an additional 256 after, ironically, a summer break. Now director Mel Hooley transforms this classic for Dorchester Arts’ stage.

The drama takes place inside the Thayers’ holiday home as they enjoy their 48th summer ‘On Golden Pond’ but this time past misunderstandings threaten to shipwreck their gently moving idyll. As the sun sinks on the lake and summer turns to autumn they grapple with the bittersweet feelings of impending old age and unresolved family issues.

Director Mel Hooley says: “It’s a fascinating study of the anguish of a daughter, now trying as an adult, to heal childhood wounds and create a true father/daughter relationship with a difficult man for whom time is running out.”

This production features a cast of local players including Trevor Williams, Dee Thorne, David Lucas, Georgie Willis, Matt Daisley and Paul Friese-Greene After Mel Hooley’s string of outstanding plays at Dorchester Arts Centre including ‘Doubt’ with a Zimbabwean cast, ‘Duet for One’ and ‘Crimes of the Heart’ it would be advisable to book tickets early.

DORCHESTER ARTS CENTRE • 7.30pm (doors and bar 7.00pm) • £9 / £7 members and concessions tickets from Tourist Information Centre 01305 267992 or Dorchester Arts 01305 266926

ahab ready to rock Dorchester’s Arts Centre

ahab, one of the hottest and most exciting young bands on the music scene hits the road later this autumn and arrives at Dorchester’s popular Arts Centre on Saturday 29 September fresh from playing at Bestival, Isle of Wight. The band’s visit is part of a twenty-two date tour that will see them visiting every corner of the UK - including Dorchester, Exeter, Southampton, Southsea and Brighton in the South and West.

London-based ahab’s unique take on alt-country rock is based around stunning four-part vocal harmonies. With four talented songwriters in the line-up, the band’s set features highly original compositions that have a freshness and dynamism and their blistering performances are guaranteed to captivate and excite.

To coincide with the tour the band are releasing a live fourteen track CD. Recorded earlier this year, the album ‘Live in London’ captures the real spirit and energy of the live band. The album includes five previously unreleased tracks and will be available at the gigs throughout the tour.

Guitarist and vocalist Dave Burn says ‘Live performance is our trademark and the album truly represents the atmosphere of our shows - that is how we want fans to remember their evening’.

The band already has an enthusiastic following with both fans and music business professionals. Legendary broadcaster Bob Harris first saw ahab at Fairport Convention’s annual music festival in Cropredy, Oxfordshire:
“I thought their live set was blistering,” he says. “They showed real class and I love their alt-country edge.” He is not the only BBC presenter to sing ahab’s praises - Radio 2’s Simon Mayo says: "This band’s top-notch British Americana is the real deal."

DORCHESTER ARTS CENTRE • 8pm (doors and bar 7.30pm) • £9 / £7 members and concessions