Phakama

Message in a Bottle video clips

2012-02-06T13:59:00.001Z

From the 12th to the 19th of November 2011 Phakama hosted partners from Poland, Basque Country, Portugal, Turkey, Ireland to start planning our year-long Message in a Bottle project

It was a great week of adventurous exchange where lots of ideas/ dreams/ creativity and aspirations for the future were exchanged!

Check out some videos from the exchange week:

Tripwires Documentary

2011-12-15T13:03:00.003Z

Please check out our Tripwires documentary - directed by Mariusz Majchrowski and produced by Mile End Films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIXx5IR3WgM&feature=youtu.be

The film follows what happened when a group of young people, professional artists and campaigners came together to explore where to draw the line in contemporary debates around freedom of expression and censorship. The film shows how understanding of rights and responsibilities of freedom of expression is developed through artistic expression, and offers an engaging lens into personal, local, national and international politics.

Tripwires Digital Magazine

2011-12-15T12:51:00.001Z

Check out our Tripwires digital magazine - edited by our trainees and QMUL student Kaamil Ahmed

Open publication - Free publishing - More tripwires

New Projects

2011-11-02T14:42:00.000Z

We have two new exciting projects on the pipeline!
They are called Message in a Bottle and the Edible Garden
To keep up to date with our new projects visit the following blogs:
www.the-ediblegarden.blogspot.com
www.messageinabottle-euproject.blogspot.com

Free2B FINALLY HERE

2011-10-04T17:56:00.000+01:00

Hussina Raja, Loretta Addo, Zia Ahmed, Faiza Mukith, Thania Mukith, Zubenur Mukith, Marjan Begum, Jen Marillat are FREE2B. A creative initiative run to learn and collabroate with like minded individuals across the world. The first stop being Palestine.
The magic of theatre allows people to be free regardless of their surroundings or circumstances. The power of the creative mind is beyond the realms of reality.
This project has joined 10 passionate people to join forces and share their skills and gain new experiences from an international perspective!

Phakama have sent myself (Lance Kirby) and Juancho Gonzalez to do and blog the process!

2 days in Palestine

2011-10-04T17:54:00.000+01:00

I would just like to clarify that FREE2B's journey is to come and run theatre workshops in Palestine, but we were in Jerusalem (Israel) when I wrote the last blog .

It is our 5th day and we are finally in Palestine. We have now been staying here for 2 days and it is an amazing country to say the least.

We have done two workshops with Karama organisation for women and children's development and YES Theatre, an organisation and a theatre company we will be visiting again before we leave.

The Karama organisation for women and children's development was a pleasurable day spent with welcoming, charasmatic, fun (wild) and happy children. Many of the children did not spaek English but the language barriers did not stop the FREE2B team from working their magic. They did playful exercises with the participants ages 9-15, whilst I slipped away to join and lead some games with the volunteers before we had lunch with director and founder of Karama, Yasser Al- Haj.

http://www.karama.org/eng/index.html

http://www.yestheatre.org/pages/1

Phakama´s Natwest Community Force Campaign

2011-09-23T17:50:00.000+01:00

Dear Friends,

Phakama joined the Natwest Community Force Campaign. Voting for Phakama´s natwest coomunity force project open on Monday 26th. Please don´t forget to place your vote and to tell your friends about our campaign too. One simple click can help us continue producing outstanding work with and for young people and local communities http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/1230

Thanks a million

Project Palestine Day 2

2011-09-21T18:29:00.004+01:00

Hussina Raja, Loretta Addo, Zia Ahmed, Faiza Mukith, Thania Mukith, Zubenur Mukith, Marjan Begum, Jen Marillat are FREE2B. A creative initiative run to learn and collaborate with like minded individuals across the world. The first stop being Palestine.
"The magic of theatre allows people to be free regardless of their surroundings or circumstances. The power of the creative mind is beyond the realms of reality."

This project has joined 10 passionate people to join forces and share their skills and gain new experiences from an international perspective!

Phakama have sent myself (Lance Kirby) and Juancho Gonzalez to document and blog the process!

It has been just over 24hrs since we have embarked on our journey. We have spent a night at the Abassi Palce Hotel in Amman, where we were greeted with warm hospitality and a good night rest to prepare us for the trip over the Israeli border. Our Muslim team members unfortunately endured over four hours of gruelling questioning before finally being let through, to carry on to Jerusalem where we currently are staying at the Abraham Hostel. Tomorrow we will head to Bethlehem to spend a day with the Karama organisation for women and children's development

We look forward to it. We will keep you updated!

FREE2B

Project Palestine - Day 1

2011-09-20T21:36:00.002+01:00

So just touched down in Amman, Jordan. Staying at the Abbasi Palace Hotel, the staff here are truely blessed, treating us to a traditional mint chai. Also scared the crap out of Faiza with their new addition to the hotel, Mus Mus the cat! So far so good, next step crossing the border into Palestine and touching base in Jerusalem.

Peace and love :)

FREE2B x

Tripwires Performance

2011-05-12T12:54:00.000+01:00

On the 19th and 20th of April the Tripwires trainees performed a thought-provoking piece at the Mile End Arts Pavillion - here is a snippet of what happened

Tripwires from Juancho Gonzalez on Vimeo.

Phakama's BigGive Campaign

2010-12-06T16:43:00.001Z

This winter your donation can go further.
Please give from as little as £5 to as much as £5,000
And every pound will be doubled!

Phakama and Index on Censorship have joined forces this year to run Tripwires - a young people’s leadership training and performance programme. We use theatre, poetry, music, dance, film and more to explore freedom of expression, offence and self-censorship.

This project has already secured the support of City Bridge Trust, Awards for All (Big Lottery Fund) and Queen Mary, University of London but in order to deliver the full programme, we are still fundraising and need your support.
We need your help to meet our target of £6,000 this December. Every donation made online between 6 and 10 December 2010 will be matched pound-for-pound by the Reed Foundation and Phakama’s and Index's major supporters.

Your donation will:

* Help 25 young people gain access to a 20-week arts training programme designed to develop their leadership skills enhancing their prospects of further training and employment
* Enable the 25 trainees to run workshops themselves with peer groups widening the project’s reach
* Support a group of culturally diverse young people achieve Arts Awards Accreditation
* Enable the production of a final large-scale performance involving 60 young people (including the 25 trainees) in a two-week devising period with the support of professional artists

This chance to double the value of your donation is only available between 6 and 10 December 2010 – so please to log on during these days go to:
http://bit.ly/tripwires

Please make your donation go even further by choosing to GIFT AID. For every £1 you donate, we will receive a further 28p through HMRC.

Please pass this message to all your friends.

Thank you for your support!

Tripwires Voxpop

2010-12-02T14:46:00.002Z

Check some interviews with our Tripwires trainees

Phakama's BigGive Campaign

2010-12-01T15:02:00.002Z

This winter your donation can go further
Please give from as little as £5 to as much as £5,000
And every pound will be doubled!

Phakama and Index on Censorship have joined forces this year to run Tripwires - a young people’s leadership training and performance programme. We use theatre, poetry, music, dance, film and more to explore freedom of expression, offence and self-censorship.

This project has already secured the support of City Bridge Trust, Awards for All (Big Lottery Fund) and Queen Mary, University of London but in order to deliver the full programme, we are still fundraising and need your support.
We need your help to meet our target of £6,000 this December. Every donation made online between 6 and 10 December 2010 will be matched pound-for-pound by the Reed Foundation and Phakama’s and Index's major’s supporters.

Your donation will:

Help 25 young people gain access to a 20-week arts training programme designed to develop their leadership skills enhancing their prospects of further training and employment
Enable the 25 trainees to run workshops themselves with peer groups widening the project’s reach
Support a group of culturally diverse young people achieve Arts Awards Accreditation
Enable the production of a final large-scale performance involving 60 young people (including the 25 trainees) in a two-week devising period with the support of professional artists

This chance to double the value of your donation is only available between 6 and 10 December 2010 – so to log on during these days please click here

Please make your donation go even further by choosing to GIFT AID. For every £1 you donate, we will receive a further 28p through HMRC.

Please pass this message to all your friends.

Thank you for your support!

Phakama AGM and Housewarming Party - 01 Dec 2010

2010-11-09T15:13:00.005Z

Dear Friend,

Come and join us for our Annual General Meeting and find out about our latest achievements, our present endeavours and our future plans.
We would also love to officially invite you to come and see our new home at Queen Mary University and to toast with us.
This evening will be a great opportunity to hear about our projects from artists, board members and young people.

When?
Wednesday 01 December 2010 from 8.30 - 10.00pm

Where?
Pinter Studio (Arts Building - number 29 on the map) - Queen Mary University, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS
Please click here to download a map of the Campus

If you would like to attend this event please email RSVP to Ines at inest@projectphakama.org by Friday 26 November 2010.

We look forward to meeting you,

The Phakama Team

Tripwires

2010-09-08T12:00:00.003+01:00

Tripwires is a leadership training and performance programme. We use theatre, poetry, music, dance, film and more to explore freedom of expression, offence and self-censorship.

We are looking for 25 people aged 17-23 from East London to be the Tripwires leadership trainees.
Starting on Saturday 23rd of October at Queen Mary, University of London (Mile End Campus), it runs for 20 Saturdays, followed by outreach and performance in Spring 2011.

If you would like to join us to explore these issues, learn new skills in the arts, plan and deliver your own projects and help devise the final performance, with the opportunity to go for accreditation, email Isobel by 26 September 2010 at arts@indexoncensorship.org for more details.

-----------------------------------
Tripwires is a collaboration between Index on Censorship and Project Phakama UK, with the support from City Bridge Trust and Queen Mary, University of London

Phakama and Orpheus group photo

2010-08-27T15:55:00.003+01:00

A huge well done to all members of Phakama and Orpheus for creating the most amazing show!

Phakama and Orpheus Outdoor Spectacular

2010-08-11T12:10:00.000+01:00

Dear Friends,

Phakama and Orpheus have joined forces this summer to create a site specific event at the Orpheus Centre.

Phakama's and Orpheus' young artists and facilitators will be in residence at the centre for two weeks this month. The two groups will bring together shared experiences and stories which will become a short exploratory performance full of puppetry, music and audience interaction.

Come and join us at Orpheus Centre on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th August, 7.30pm.
Tickets are £8 (£6 concessions) available on 01883 741414 or email marketing@orpheus.org.uk

For details on how to get to Orpheus Centre please check the link below:
http://www.orpheus.org.uk/contact-us/map-and-directions.html

We look forward to seeing you at the performance,

Best wishes

The Phakama team

Postponing The Inevitable

2010-07-14T11:36:00.004+01:00

Dear Friends

After careful deliberation between Teater Tetas, Project Phakama and our UK supporters - Queen Mary's University and The Indonesian Embassy - we have made the decision to postpone the European premier of The World At My Feet until October this year.

Although we have been working extremely hard to try and ensure the project went ahead this month, time has really been against us. We set ourselves a difficult challenge when the TWAMF plan was first hatched in March because of two excellent performance opportunities that presented themselves to us:

The chance for Tetas to perform with us at the Trashcatcher's Carnival in Tooting

The chance to take The World At My Feet to Contact The World international theatre festival in Manchester

These two events, both taking place now in July, were the reason we gave ourselves such a short amount of time (4 months) to garner the high level of support needed for such an ambitious project.

Sadly, although very generous offers of support have been pledged by organisations both in the UK and Indonesia, there were certain key pieces of paper that we were unable to obtain in time, namely:

Visas

Plane tickets

HOWEVER! We are now, thanks to the revised schedule, able to give The World At My Feet an even brighter future for October. Our intentions are now:

To increase the number of performances in London

To offer enhanced workshop opportunities for local schools

To offer enhanced workshop opportunities for drama practitioners and the public

So do not take your eyes from this spot because over the next 3 months it's gonna get hot, hot like a Latin disco. And we want you there in the front row at the opening premier European show! See you in October, if not before.

Viva Phakama! Viva The World At My Feet!

Un abrazo muy fuerte

De los Phakamistas

Trashcatchers Carnival route this Sunday

2010-07-02T09:31:00.002+01:00

Click on the poster for all the details you need to know for
Sunday's Trashcatchers' Carnival including the route and the
finish point on oft-locked Fishponds playing fields! We can't wait!

Volunteers for Sunday

2010-07-01T11:39:00.000+01:00

Are you free on Sunday and want to volunteer on our Carnival? We are looking for extra stewards and groups hosts - come and join our parade! It will be a joyful and fun experience - email inest@projectphakama.org for more details

Volunteering opportunities

2010-06-18T16:46:00.001+01:00

We are looking for volunteers for our Trashcatchers’ Carnival in Tooting.

Everyone is welcome!
The roles include technical support, front of house, group hosts and more.

If you have some free time between now and the 4th of July get in touch!

Also if you know of someone that might be interested in volunteering with us please pass them this message

Email Ines on inest@projectphakama.org for more details.

The World At My Feet

2010-06-16T15:49:00.012+01:00

THE WORLD AT MY FEET (TWAMF) - update

Well now what a lot to report! We have been extremely busy working towards what is setting out to be an incredible performance event and an amazing achievement. As we have been working away in London to try and secure the best possible support for TWAMFs transfer to the European stage, our comrades in Jakarta, the fantastic Teater Tetas, under the unswerving belief and determination of Director Mas Adji Dipayana have been working hard towards the same ends in Indonesia. Here are some of the biggest recent news items:

The Bake-A-Thon was a sure-fire hit and no miscake! Yes the fundraiser that saw Corinne's carefully co-ordinated and expertly enacted 24 HOURS OF BAKING AND SELLING take place on the 3rd and 4th of June was fantastic. Many thanks to the Francis Lee Community Centre for the use of their kitchen for 13hrs of cooking, and all the staff involved with staking out our pitch at Queen Mary's University for 12 hours of selling. Also we really could not have pulled off the magnificent achievement of baking over EIGHT HUNDRED CAKES without the tireless efforts and generosity of Elaine and our professional aides, Lee The Baker and Mikolaj The Chef. And of course we would heartily like to thank the generosity of Queen Mary's staff and students, and our own friends and relations without whom we could not have raised over £1000! (which we did). It was also brilliant to see some of our multi-talented fellow Phakamites at the end of the day at our evenings festivities, Andrianne, Noelle, Janice, Sara, the funky feelings of the Yabbafunk Trio (AKA Helen & The Baldies), the beautiful music of JP and Adilson (Jake's Cousin).

Next in line for a massive thanking is The Indonesian Embassy who are continuing to provide invaluable support for the project - both in terms of their first-rate diplomatic assistance regarding the acquisition of passports and Visas for Tetas which can be a difficult process; and also their continual commitment to supporting the project logistically as far as their resources can allow. We are eternally grateful for this. We are now hoping to stage an Indonesian theatre weekend workshop at the Embassy itself in Grosvenor Square.

More details to follow soon!

I will leave you with a poem which I think sums up all our feeling here at Phakama regarding the TWAMF project:

Yeah yeah yeah!

Phew.

We're gonna get there.

We continue to welcome any support you may wish to give.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Charity Fundraiser - HUGE success!

2010-05-26T16:25:00.000+01:00

Hello!

So Last Friday we hosted the Charity Fundraiser......and If i do say so myself the night was an absolute success. I wasn't down to play on the bill myself, but in true cem fashion I managed to sneak a go on the guitar!

Now it goes without saying that there were some fantastic performances. A particular favourite of mine was Dynamo David Weston's song "Umpah Lumpah".

Also the comedy stylings of Chasity ButterWorth A.K.A Gemma Whelan (she's one to look out for.

My Mum's food was pukka! Cheers Mum. You always manage to pull it out of the bag, and that's why i love ya.

It was stressful to organise but I loved every second of it.

For those of you that came, thank you for all of your support and help. For those that couldn't never fear, the next event will be just as big, just as bashy, and just as in need of your Support!

Support the arts!

I've been Cem Pakiry-Turgut, You've been wonderful! Thank you and Good Night!

2010-05-20T14:51:00.002+01:00

Check out the link below to see a small film from one of our latest workshops in Tooting.

We are preparing, together with various members of the community, a sustainable Carnival made out entirely of recycled materials!
Come and join us on the 4th of July in Tooting High Street to see this fantastic event come to live!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCM3cTKo3Uw

The Orpheus Centre: Day 2

2010-05-18T22:39:00.000+01:00

Got so excited about writing about the experience that we forgot to tell you a bit about the piece that we are working on!

"All Over the Place" is a piece that explores three diverse real life stories that, in one's opinion, acknowledges the lack of communication and equality in our world. With these stories, today's sessions were focused on an improvisational devising process which allowed us to create a structure for various scenes.

Music is a core element in the work at Orpheus, whereby every song produced and sung is done by the students at the centre, therefore they are consistently at the heart of their projects.

As enablers, we have found these experience liberating as no structure is ever produced before hand and then imposed upon the students. The art work is solely created by them and we are the support mechanism that can ensure guidance and encouragement.

On a personal level, we have noticed how the students' confidence has risen dramatically in the two days' rehearsals he have had. We are looking forward to witnessing their achievements when preparing themselves to perform at such a venue as the Royal Opera House!

We shall keep you updated!

Salwa and Juancho ;-)

Orpheus Centre: Day 1

2010-05-17T21:45:00.000+01:00

First day at the Orpheus Centre, and if there was a word to sum up the entire experience it would be... AMAZING!!!

The Orpheus Centre is an organisation that was founded by entertainer and musician Richard Stilgoe in his former family home in Godstone in 1998. The centre promotes transistion into independent living; providing opportunities for young independent adults to promote personal development through Performing Atrts so they gain the skills to live independently in the community and to make informed choices about their futures.

Over the next two weeks Salwa and Juancho are members of a team of enablers (this consists of dancers, musicians, artists, actors and writers) which will work in partnership on all artistic activities with a group of tutors and the students from the centre, in order to produce a resounding show that will be staged at the Linbury Studio in the Royal Opera House.

Today we met with the entire team (a group of about 40 people) in their theatre which is a lovely converted barn. In this morning's session we explored a number of games which involved the entire group, one to one and small group work in order to learn everyone's names and their personal interests. Bearing in mind this is the first time all parties of the group have come together, by the end of the morning session, in agreement with Danny, the director of the centre, we were delighted with what we had achieved as it seemed as though we had known and worked with one another for a long time.

For the rest of the afternoon the group was divided into three small groups where we explored elements of the performance through devising ideas and games. We also learned a couple of songs that were written by some of the students and with these we brought the day to an end.

The plan for the rest of this first week is to devise all the material that we will use in the performance and use the second week for polishing and tech and dress rehearsals.

We shall be keeping you updated on the process.

Salwa and Juancho ;-)

Charity Gig on Friday 21 May 2010

2010-05-14T10:11:00.000+01:00

Phakama's young artists are organising a charity gig on Friday the 21st to help bring their fellow Indonesian artists to the UK.

Come along for a night full of surprises, prices and laughter!

See details for the event below:

Start Time:	Friday, May 21, 2010 at 7:30pm
End Time:	Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 12:00am
Location:	The Sir Richard Steeles
Street:	Haverstock Hill, Chalk Farm, NW3

or to go to event page on facebook click here

Phakama at Queen Mary's

2010-05-13T22:48:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Phakama attended a very enjoyable event hosted and attended by academics and students at Queen Mary's University. This was an opportunity for us to introduce ourselves to some of the students and staff with whom we have not yet come in to contact with at the University, and to talk a little bit about past, present and future Phakama projects. After a short presentation by Fabio, Jenny, Sam, Juancho and Ines the attendees were able to ask questions about, and discuss the work. We were then invited to a lovely dinner at a local restaurant where the discussions continued. We made some good new friends!

Flickr account

2010-05-12T13:42:00.000+01:00

To see some of the pictures from the project in Indonesia click here

Singing in rehearsals

2010-02-06T09:14:00.000Z

We are now rehearsing a traditional Indonesian song that will open our show.
The song goes as follow:

"I'm standing at the edge of the day
Wondering of the change of seasons
I see everybody leaving in a hurry
Here I'm standing alone, keep on waiting
Waiting for the golden age to come
Happiness for the whole world
From time to time I keep on praying
Amongst the sorrow of Manking
I'll finish my sorrow without tears"

Day 1 and 2

2010-02-02T10:03:00.000Z

Day 1

Day one started of early. we all woke afresh and had to leve the apartment by 9. we travelled to the school to get our first glimpse of our future workplace for the next two weeks the whole group was really excited to be working in such a beautiful place. and to be encouraged by the local spirit of all the students. the thatre in which we are to perform is is amazing the main stage is extremely big, and even the supporting rooms such as the wallace stage are big in their own respect. after we had our tour of the theatre and had lunch we organized and planned workshops for the week and even ran one the main subjects we focused on was onsamble work, how to bond within a group it went really well. after our firsty worokshop we finally met with the British international school (bis) group who would be our main chorous. they are really friendly and approacable. they warmed to phakama really quickly and were up for almost anything. we spent time in that workshop designers gaurdians that were personal and what we considered a gaurdian to be. there was some really good images on display most people opting for the mythology type gargoyle. we then finished on a high with a game. after this workshop we went to go visit the free school whitch is founded and funded by BIS this was really good and a touching experiance the classroom was just situated on a piece of land and the classroom was about as big as a caravan but they just made it work ! :D we proceeded to meet with aji and his group of young people ( theatre tetas) they were really pleased to see us and us them, there rehearsal space was outside in the open and was a old boxing ring! none the less we still had fun and made some progress with productive work based around on what both groups had been previously rehearsing. the group of young people are really kind and nice. we finished the session at about 11:10 and then made our way back to the accommodation most people to tired to stand, goodnight...

Day 2

day 2 started afresh with everyone all awake and alive and kicking, we was all looking forward to breaking of into groups and vidting different sites 4 young people went to go visit the free school (jake, regis,jenny,salwa) and 4 went to go visit the scavanger site which was a site full of rubbish and people living there made a living by collecting rubbish and sorting it for the local truck to come and pick it up to recycle it. both groups said that this experiance was really good and they felt good after, a real rewarding experiance for bioth parties and the people at both sites were pleased that outsiders had come to see them. so after this we left with a friendly goodbye and made our way back to the BIS school in order to have lunch and get ready for our workshop. we arrived at the BIS school and ate lunch planned the workshop and then got ready. the BIS students arrived and was ready to work, we progressed our work with the gaurdians in which we designed the day before. we then had to talk about their qualities and choose a single one and then create a still image in what we think these emotions represent. then we moved on to stage 2 and added movement and sound finally stage 3 which resulted in leading the whole group in from outside and putting on what we had done in our small groups of 5. it went really well and the group felt spectacular. were now getting ready to go meet adji and work on some more scenes with the group.

on behalf of the phakama company
Jake Boston.

In Dubai....

2010-01-30T23:49:00.000Z

Here we are 10hrs later waiting for our connecting 8hr flight to Indonesia!!!

We have mixed emotions; excited, tired, sleep, bloated... overall really need a bed. However, loving the hospitality!

We Shall keep you posted on our arrival.. watch this space!

Salwa

A bit of rehearsals

2010-01-29T19:43:00.001Z

Hello Teater Tetas

2010-01-29T19:36:00.000Z

The Company

2010-01-29T19:35:00.001Z

The World at My Feet

2010-01-29T19:22:00.000Z

THE WORLD AT MY FEET

I lay my dreams at your feet

Tread softly for you tread upon my dreams

In a world where islands are made of rubbish, stories wash up along the shore, and hope falls from the skies, we ask what will you do to survive?

A leader from a lost tribe, a man who has sold his soul, a mother who leaves her children and grotesque figures stuffing their faces. People hoping, wishing, dreaming, fighting, struggling, running for their lives. We explore what separates us and what brings us together and what is the value of human life in a world where people are disposable?

The World At My Feet is a collaboration between Project Phakama UK, Teater Tetas and the British International School Jakarta. For the past two months both Project Phakama and Teater Tetas have been independently exploring ideas about recycled worlds, stories and dreams and join together for a 14-day residency at the British International School Jakarta to create a performance at BIS, Gedung Kesenian Jakarta and Trento Free School. The project is supported by the British International School, WorldTheatre and Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.

Phakama is going to Indonesia

2010-01-29T19:20:00.000Z

Project Phakama is flying with a team of 7 young actors and 3 facilitators to Indonesia to work with the British International School and Teater Tetas.
Watch this space for updates on our adventures and experiences whilst in Jakarta.

´WOOOOOOOOW!!!

2008-12-13T21:12:00.000Z

Greetings from Masana, Phakama SA...

Just checking in because i am two weeks late.... but who can blame me? I am amazed at Brazil. It is filled with beautiful men (chuckle chukle), women and children, the laughter, the smiles, the art, the culture; it has all come together in one beautiful mosiac I take home with me behind my eyelids so that each time i close my eyes there it is!

On arriving in Sao Paulo my first thought was shoooooo heat wave! But i had little time to let the weather sink in as we dashed from check in point to check in point, a little similar to when we left South Africa running about and missing our first flight to joburg... but with a little charm and sass that Lerato and i carry around in a little bag, we managed to hustle a flight... BUT yes, back to Brazil...

I have LOVED it, in hindsight it was not always easy being here but as these two weeks draw to an end i dont think God placed me here for kicks and giggles.... the big word on the tip of my tongue about this project has been ´stretching´i have grown far and wide...but not just because of the amazing bahian food... mostly because i was challenged to use every part of me to express myself and to make sure people understood, and also to understand people, to be at a place where the most important thingis not how I feel, but how WE feel. I look at all of us and see us as different paintings on exhibition (the final performance), with no words to communicate just facial expressions and indents from a paint brush... all of us waiting for someone to describe what the artist really meant by painting the artwork (which in this case it was patrick!) but all of us relying on who we are as artworks (different, beautiful, strange, indulgent, quirky, absurd) to get the message across: no matter how different we are, we are still the same... hahaha the same difference!

I would love to go into detail... which I will, I promise... but not now... now i have less than 24 hours of Salvador left and I want to slurp it all in until i´m full of it... and i´ll share some with you i promise! Unfortunately, i won´t be able to share the most amazing cooldrink with you (drum roll please): GUARANA!! OW!!!! it is too amazing.... ok toodles noodles... chat to you across the atlantic! all my love

Finallll Dayyy..!!

2008-12-13T14:23:00.001Z

so this final day has just been thrown upon us! i type from fabios most amazing parents house! with two bathrooms!!! yes 2!! any ways as you all no me and regis are flying home today!! after 14-16 days of intense heat!! which i got burnied!! lool.......well its been enjoyable a really wicked and good experiance, the people we have met and the process has jus been fantastic!!! myyyyy goooddd!!

this is from me jakeeeyyy!!!

this experiance for me has been by far the most amazing and experiance of my life! along side ctw its not every day you get told your going to brazil!! and to have lived the life i have a jus to escape for 2 weeks!!! i absoloutley loved it ! but on the contrary i have missed england..!! i have missed my lifestyle !! but have also enjoyed living the hectic lifestyle of coming to brazil and working for 2 straight weeks!!... yesterday was by far the most emotional day! due to it being the last day many people were crying and the tears were flowing issssoooooo!! lol not from me though i wasnt crying i jus had two big flies who flew into my eyes whilst they were open!! loool.. but it was emotional plenty of pictures were taken and memories made! indentations on peoples hearts and memories!!!! including me! i jus dont what to say really im sure i can evaluate more when i see all you guys!!! but on here it just seems like im rambling on and on!! but i shall now depart and past you to regis!!! casue we are going shopping now!! :)

hi everyone speaking from my heart and in middle of tears my man jake and i had a really good time here in brazil. unfortunately it is time to say good bye to this magic land. i will tell you more details when i´ll get back to reality and dry my unllimited tears.

A Week In A Few Paragraphs!!

2008-12-08T02:19:00.001Z

helllloooooooo, every one a massive hello from me and regis!! sorry it has taken so long to do this!! i lost the details lol sorry guys!! well me and regis landed safely in brazil and was greeted by a hoard of singers and dancers and also the very very humid air!! we arrived at the hotel and then went shopping with a guy we met called patrick, a translator! whilst fabio sat in the hotel doing work :( we bought some clothes to make us look like locals ! and then we met the peopel from south africa the are realllllly nice ! really funny and caring!!! we will elloborate more at a later stage then we ermmmm went to sleep lool, the next day was spent virtually swiming, shopping, and sleeping!!! the work then started on the third day, meeting all of our fellows actors from novos novos and some over groups i cannot recall the news sorry! the process and has been quite different but a really enjoyable experiance so far!! really loving it me and regis..!!! we have pictures but not great pictures lool we havnt really had a chance to take any pictures becasue the schedule is really demanding and there is only one break! in the day lool working under the blistering sun !! is hard work! whilst you guys jus freeze loool... dont worry im sure there is some spare sun going for sale! right now we are exactly a week into our schedule and work has been really productive and our theatre piece is coming together really well!! tommoro ill be monday and it will begin the intence rehearsal period for monday and tuesday as wednesday we perform and the thursday..... really excited!!! as i type regis is tidying the hotel room lool yes regis is tidying!! lool...... but he is finished now and wants to come and type his piece lool.........

From Regis!

yakawa london, regis AKA regis here, telling how good my trip in brazil in few words won't be easy but i will try my best. well, so far i have been enjoying myself in the little routine between the theatre, the hotel,the restaurant,and of course the beach. well here people are lovely especially the girls. they are banging!!!! there are so many of them that you don't know where to look. so far i may have more than 10 lovers at the same time, me a simple frenchy londoner wauu!!because of my wonderful spanish skills ii is really easy for me to communicate with others in portuguese(more or less).my work with the young brasilians as always started with a big smile from me the first contacts were easy and on a day i learn the basic survival frases such as: que linda(what a beauty), obrigado(thank you) and of course eu te ammo(i love you).ok, here comes the profesional side now, i first had to work with one of the local facilitators which is lulu(mi amor). she is specialiced in movement thru her choreography career. her and i were meant to be together,lol!!,since the first reunion we had a special chemistry the language was not a problem she does speak a bit of english and me portugese so and if it is too uncomprehensible we used our body to express our idea. thanks too god she is funny just like me and also open, simply lovely. personaly after this few days spent here in brasil i feel pretty special and lucky, to all of you guys, thank you very much for every thing and i am sure jake and i will come back with a lot to share, but not my women lool!!! allright now its jake' turn to express his deep(Alfa) feelings

From Jake

yooooo to all you lovely people!!! just wanna start with a a massive thanks to all you guys for understanding the situation and i hope you are all well..!!!well since iv got here iv had nothing but fun fun fun i havnt seen one female i dont like!! tru talks!!! lol im not a smooth a regis but i got me a chika! lol since iv been here i have really enjoyed the process and the people i have met as with regis this lulu has made a lasting impression on me !!! as well as the other facilitators!! it is really funny becasue most of the girls the only english the kno is i love you so thats all they say loooool and our names! me and regis are really loving all the attention we are getting lol my god we sound big headed! we have taught the locals some of our london traits! and they have taught us!!! ( pegada ) wen we get back we will be sure to teach you all!!! the weather along with the beautyfull sun and sexy senoritas!!! it is all jus bliss i feel really lucky to have been put forward for this project and i will be sure to give it my all! well right now i am feelign tired so i am going to hit my bed i cant wait to get my hands on her!! lool good bye people and we love you all!!! xx

welcome

2008-11-25T17:34:00.000Z

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