Finally, final

“Being a part of the REMIX experience has been a fantastic opportunity for me. I have worked with so many elements of the arts in one project, having had all these different experiences under one roof! To have met so many interesting people all with the same goal and for all our hard work to have paid off was a joy to see and the sense of camaraderie was lovely at the BAC with REMIX all over it. For me as an actor I was pushed and stretched by Natalie Ibu and was given a gem of a part to work with by Sabrina. Within the company I felt supported and therefore able to explore and experiment within the rehearsals without fear, which is vital. When it came to the performances I was very pleased and proud of everyone’s hard work and in the end how it all came together.  I shall not forget the experience and all the lessons learnt and all the laughs and the occasional curse. From one little thought all of this was created and I have been a part of something truly unique and to Lisa, Natalie and Sabrina I thank you.”

Lydia Rose Bewley, REMIX Cast

“REMIX.  Wow.  Roller coaster? Yep.  Excited? Exhilarated? Satisfied? Stomach in your mouth then over a bit quick?  Yep. Yep. Yep and Yep.  For me REMIX was a wonderful journey that I was proud to be a part of.  It took us from a front room trying to find rhymes, to fundraising parties, to Dom James’ bedroom, to riverside studios, to dance attic, to a squat (yeah, a squat, like a full on real one, climbing in via a ladder and stuff!), to MacDonald’s, back to a front room and then to the BAC.  Rehearsing and tech-ing right up to and beyond the half, then BOOM, one show, two shows, three shows, done.  Over.  Lamps out.  Its hard not to sound like a wet lettuce when I say this, but amongst the many super things about working on REMIX, something that stands out to me was the people it brought together.  People who inspired, guided and supported, brought light to rehearsals, brought focus to rehearsals, became good friends, good colleagues and worked with passion and a collective energy to create a very enjoyable evening of REMIX-ness.”

Matthew Raymond, REMIX Cast

REMIX: THE FINAL BLOG

Here we were. Doing what it is we weren’t sure we’d get to do. In a maze of rooms with a myriad of meanings where poetic metaphors met with headphones and party-shop props with performance art. Confused? A normal state of REMIX mind, so don’t worry. Welcome to the family.

Saturday 8 May 2010. A date that back in January had seemed as far away as the possibility of me becoming a non-drinker. Both became a reality scarily quickly.

With three epic performances in one night and four great rooms of REMIX-themed fun we took over BAC with grace, class and just a touch of insanity. From our spandangled rope-light REMIX sign to our multi-coloured sellotape directions, you couldn’t miss us.

Tickets had long-since sold out and we were proud as peacocks as audience members emerged amazed from Gabriella Schmidt’s Dance Room; laughing and transformed from Lewis Smith’s Fashion Room; how they seemed in awe of Mike Chalmers‘ Photography Room and nodded their heads happily in Dom James’ Music Room.

The Theatre Room – product of Natalie Ibu’s sooperdooper directing, Lisa McFarlane’s non-stop production prowess, my findthebloodyrhymeifitkillsya writing and the colossal genius of the actors, as well as all the creative team – went well.

The audience laughed in the right places thanks to energetic, charismatic performances and clever direction. They clapped at the end. Which I took as a good sign.

The question that Ms Ibu’s ambitious (i.e. chicken oriental) but completely wonderful and inspiring REMIX had set out to answer – ‘why do we choose the forms we do to tell the stories we tell?’ had, for me, been answered. I tell my stories in poems because poetry is beautiful and lonely and is bound to nobody, it relies on nobody but itself. But after hearing my poem remixed into Drum n Bass by Dom James, I wouldn’t mind a few more of mine relying on a rave-up every now and again.

Sabrina Mahfouz: REMIX Writer

REMIX-flection

REMIX reached an almighty climax at the live event on Saturday night and for me, it was the end of a project unlike any other. From meeting Natalie Ibu over a glass of Christmas cheer to speed dating, from the finest displays of millinery to complex karaoke negotiations, REMIX has had it all. This was the first project I have ever worked on where I played no part in the creative side of things, which was not altogether an unpleasant experience. When I’m producing I often like to pretend I am on the apprentice and REMIX certainly gave me this opportunity. The aim of the game was to do as much as possible with the smallest overheads, and my hat well and truly comes off to Natalie and Lisa. Saturday night was a classy affair, and in my opinion encapsulated and honoured the mission statement. I wanted to be part of REMIX because I admired the ambition and scale of what Natalie was proposing.  I wanted to meet these emerging practitioners and see if they rose to the challenge. To put myself in a new situation, working for someone else’s vision and forge new working relationships that would be beneficial to all concerned. To see a piece of theatre created by people otherwise unfamiliar with it. This was why I did it, and my expectations were totally exceeded.

Natalie Macaluso, Development Associate

A View From A BAC Step

Natalie and Lisa produce from the front steps of BAC at 8am.

We’ve got 11 hours to go….

We’ve got 11 hours to go

We’ve got 11 hours to go

If you’d like to let us know

Then come and see our show

We’ve got 11 hours before we’ve go to go.

Did you see us on the video, oh no…

Did you see us on the video, oh no…

Here you go.

REMIX done (Thank you So Solid)

Gaby Talks… In Moves and Shapes

Gabriella Schmidt : REMIX Dancer

So! Late off the starting line but launched straight into the amazing REMIX collective and here I am with a quick update on the work on REMIX : Dance so far…

Having joined the project a wee bit late, I took to the studio last week to begin creating some movement shiz using the superb Sabrina’s poem as my starting point. Yes, that’s right. Communicating through the medium of contemporary dance. Good times. I was a little apprehensive, as there are so many changes in the poem that I wasn’t sure how best to use movement (and as a solo at that) to tell the story. But once I decided I was going to explore the character changes in the girl (who we also know as Clarice in REMIX : Theatre) and had picked some tunes to use, I cracked on.

For the first couple of days, I mainly played around with creating some movement material, using the way the character sees herself at each specific point as a stimulus.  I then gradually began to link things together, trying to tell the story’s key moments through the movement and thinking about how it will correspond to the film stuff behind me… (yes, film stuff. Technical term. Look excited.) I also had to consider the room size, as it is fairly narrow, so I couldn’t throw myself around too much.  I also have a habit of talking to myself , which hasn’t been helped by spending all day in a rehearsal room alone and has left others fearing for my sanity. Good.

Once the wonderful Dom James had cut all my music together for me, I was able to link sections together and I now have the basic shape of the piece, though after finally managing to make the video camera work (electricals hate me) and watching it back, I now have some changes to make to certain sections., which I will do this week.

I trained originally as a ballet dancer, but having been acting for 3 years, one particular challenge has been getting fit again (ahem.) After the first 3 days in the studio, let’s just say your 90 year old granny could have walked up stairs faster. With her feet tied together. And a rock on her back. Yep. I ain’t gonna lie…  I was destroyed.  But onwards! And having done a week, the pain is gradually easing….

Next is the film part, which will frame the piece, with images popping up every now and then during the dance. We are shooting that in the next couple of days (nothing like a deadline!) and then putting it together on Saturday. Oh gosh. It’s going to be exciting. See you on the 8^th… Hopefully I’ll be up to walking by then.

Start Spreading The News… REMIX is on Saturday!

Electric Times

Lydia Emerson

Last week the rehearsal room at the BAC was a hub of electric beats, dressing-up delights, naked chests (boys only), and lamplicious lights.

Monday: Dom was our resident DJ, dropping his bad boy beats in the corner as he nibbled his way through chocolate chip cookies and giant-sized packets of roast beef Monster Munch.  With his finger at the ready, Dom was in the zone, quick to cue the stings and start the door bells ringing.

Tuesday: We were without the sexy Sasha so Neil and Clarice worked on their domestic dramas and Ann witnessed Clarice giving her the cold shoulder…there were nearly tears.  Later that day, Natalie and Sabrina met to chat costumes and Neil and Ann went lamp sourcing.

Wednesday: Sabrina came armed with her bag of radical fashion:  jewels, flowers, bows, scarves, hats and a pair of very special pink trousers.  With Trinny (Sabrina) and Susannah (Natalie) at the ready, we stripped and dived into a multi-coloured mass of tops and bottoms, striking a pose for the camera before shimmying into the next out-fit.

Thursday: Sparks were flying through the building as we plugged in our collection of little and large lamps.  A rush of electricity surged through the room as Natalie turned on (“the Christmas lights”) the switches and lit up our stage, putting us all under the spotlight.

Friday: We welcomed our writer into the room for a sneaky peek of how far her words had come from page to stage.  Our action was cut short due to a smashed glass (Sasha and Clarice got a little bit over-excited in the club scene) but we pushed on through and gave Sabrina a good taste of what’s still to come.  Boom!

Le week-end: Natalie escaped to the country for a week-end of re-location (work related duties) but we are back on it tonight in Borough.

Word up!  Don’t forget we are throwing a party on Thursday night at Road Trip Bar, Old Street so come along for some fun times and a cheeky drink!

A View From A Rehearsal…

Lydia Emerson, Zara Tempest Walters and Matthew Raymond (who made these both work with a multi-ended screwdriver and a spare minute or two) in rehearsal for REMIX: Theatre.  Good times.

News

REMIX News : Monday 26 April 2010

THE REMIX-DOWN… T-13.

Welcome to REMIX’s very first newsletter, bringing you all you need to know in the run up to REMIX: The Event, a five-strand experience taking place at the Scratch Festival at Battersea Arts Centre on Saturday 8 May, 2010.

Following six months of planning and parties and rehearsing and REMIXing, there are only thirteen days left.  For the inside scoop – live and direct from REMIX towers – follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook group and bookmark our weblog.  We’re over-sharers, so keep checking to make sure you’re the first to know.

Knowing Me, Knowing You…

REMIX is an innovative multi-disciplinary performance experience for the iPod-listening, blog-writing, Vogue-reading, YouTube-watching generation.

We’d like to take a moment to introduce ourselves. REMIX is made up of a talented and dedicated team of creatives, practitioners and entrepreneurs across dance, fashion, music, photography, poetry and theatre. Mix them all up, give them a grand and what you got?  REMIX, that’s what.

Led by Artistic Director Natalie Ibu, Lisa Macfarlane and Natalie Macaluso make up the management team, heading up all areas from logos to logistics.

Mike Chalmers, Dom James, Sabrina Mahfouz, Gabriella Schmidt and Lewis Smith are your creative hosts for the night, bringing you five REMIXes of a deliciously dark poem by Sabrina Mahfouz.

The acting company include David Ajao, Alexander Aplerku, Lydia Rose Bewley, Lydia Emerson, Matthew Raymond and Zara Tempest Walters who turn their hands from photography to prose for your sensory pleasure.

REMIX is five creatives, specialising in five different art forms in five different rooms at BAC.

REMIX: Theatre

A beautiful young woman has her eyes opened to the power of her beauty and wishes she could look the same forever. Be careful what you wish for… REMIX: Theatre accompanies her on her journey into extravagance and hedonism; waving goodbye to her old life of telly, tango and taxidermy and hello to a new world of fire-coloured hair and skinny model boys.

Keep your eyes and ears wide open as life-sized stanzas smoothly find their way to the stage.

REMIX: Fashion

In the REMIX: Fashion studio, you can turn a jumper into trousers, a piece of rope into a belt, a skirt into a dress or a scarf into a bow tie.  Once you’ve styled yourself with the help of our on-set and on-trend stylist, it’s time to get in front of the camera.  Say cheese, smile with your eyes and get yourself a new Facebook profile picture.

REMIX: Dance

Using contemporary dance and movement, REMIX: Dance will explore the changes in the central character of the poem as she becomes overpowered by vanity and altered by the desire for beauty at any cost.

REMIX: Photography

Enter REMIX’s very own gallery and peruse six photographs, distilling the dramatic beats of the poem.  REMIX: Photography takes you through a stylish visual narrative, telling the story of the poem.

REMIX: Music

Sit down, sit back and prepare your ears for cut up audio, broken sentences and jumbled up rhymes. Listen as REMIX: Music, uses the poem’s verses and volume, rhythm and rhymes and patterns and pace to create a suite of music adapted directly from the poem.

Tickets

Team REMIX just got our first sales report and things are looking good. Tickets are selling quickly, with a third of our tickets out the door already.  There are three opportunities to see REMIX: Theatre (19:15, 20:15, 21:15) and three hours to saunter around the four other rooms.

We know everyone says this but really, book quickly so as not to be disappointed. Imagine having followed us on Twitter, stalked our website and been a loyal fan of our group for six months only to miss out on REMIX: The Event?  Don’t say we didn’t warn you. In fact, we’ll do more than warn you, we’ll even take you by the hand to the place where you can buy your tickets.

http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=BATTERSEAARTS&organ_val=21619&schedule=list&event_val=3535

Aint No Party Like A Remix Party…

Fundraising has been a major element in the success of the project; REMIX began as a pipe dream, for which Natalie Ibu was awarded £1000 from IdeasTap, the online arts magazine. This set a president for the way we saw the project evolving, and what better way to raise some fast cash dollar bling than to throw a collection of REMIXcellent parties?

Some of you were at Sabrina Mahfouz’s very successful Hat party – which raised a useful £250 – others were at Lewis Smith’s Karaokee Dokee or you might have popped into Dom James’ Gumbo Soup but the parties aren’t over.

Join us on Thursday 6 May at RoadTrip Bar on Old Street for the official warm up party.  We put the FUN in FUNdraising so, become a mixologist and create your very own REMIX cocktails at the bar, make requests and watch our world-class guest DJ mix your favourite tunes on command and listen to spoken word artists Dean Atta and Sabrina Mahfouz performing a live mega-mix of cheesy classics. Come and witness musical theatre star Keith Jack get grimy with some garage, watch jazz musicians reinvent hip-hop, beatboxers Max Mackintosh and Andrew London collide with classical music as well as folk, funk and cabaret being REMIXed before your very own eyes.  REMIX your Thursday night and get ready for the weekend early.

Weblog

Like all that wasn’t enough, we’ve just launched our new weblog – an amalgamation of a website and a blog, but cool as hell, nevertheless!

Check out the handiwork of REMIX’s very own creatives, read more about them, find out about their fundraising parties.  Get to know us, contact us and let us get to know you.

www.remixication.wordpress.com

Over And Out

Whatever you do though, don’t forget the party we’re all waiting for… REMIX will be launched on 8 May during a live celebratory event, across five rooms, at the highly acclaimed BAC.

020 7223 2223 / www.bac.org.uk Tickets £5/3.  That’s less than a bottle of wine for five creative experiences.  We are too good to you.

BLOG: https://remixication.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=202734921019&ref=ts

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/RemixProject