Culture Vannin Summer School
03 Sep 2014
Culture Vannin summer school
Inspired by the motto of ‘try something new for Island of Culture’, Culture Vannin held its first summer school at the Youth Arts Centre in Douglas last month. During the five days, students aged 10-18 took part in a wide range of activities relating to Manx culture led by Culture Vannin staff and guest tutors.
Of course Manx music and dance played a major part in the summer school. Culture Vannin’s Manx music specialist Chloe Woolley and Acting Director Breesha Maddrell led sessions on music hall songs, folk group work and beginners’ whistle, as well as assisting students to compose new tunes and songs. Guest tutor Ali Carroon taught the dance “Shooyl Inneenyn”, a version performed by her team Perree T, and a couple of the girls chose to spend their creative session time choreographing a new dance to Erika Kelly’s song “Better I Try”. Clare Kilgallon RBV and Annie Kissack also joined the team to help the students create a hilarious short play which featured a motley crew of Victorian holiday-makers and music-hall favourite “Flanagan”!
Beginners learnt plenty of Manx during the week from Culture Vannin’s Manx language development officer, Adrian Cain, and they used their skills to produce mini films for use on Culture Vannin’s social media sites, as well as providing voice-overs for a new Manx iPad game developed by Elly Cretney as a teaching aid in primary schools. Visiting tutor from Oregon, Brian Hart, also taught the students some basic Irish using American sign language, which demonstrated that there is potential for using the method to teach Manx.
The students also spent a wonderful afternoon with John ‘Dog’ Callister learning how to make traditional bumbie cages and St Bridget’s Crosses from locally-sourced rushes. They were also lucky enough to have a session with professional illustrator and animator, Gary Myers, who inspired the youngsters to bring Manx folklore characters such as the Dooinney Oie and Tehi Tegi to life on paper.
History was an important part of the week’s activities, with themes centring on WWI and the tourism boom in the Isle of Man. Culture Vannin’s Charles Guard led a guided tour of Douglas Promenade where students learnt about the age of tourism and the role of boarding houses as internment camps during WWII, followed by a fascinating trip to the Camera Obscura. Some students extended their historical interests with a visit to the WWI exhibition at the Manx museum, and they later presented short studies about some of the Manx people involved in the Great War, including Mona Douglas, Tommy Cain and Archibald Knox.
The summer school ended with a fantastic hour-long concert and exhibition for family and friends, which showcased the work of the students.
To see photos and short video clips from the Summer School check out the Culture Vannin Facebook page or the website: www.culturevannin.im
*Bree Manx music & dance movement will be holding their workshop weekend at YAC on 1 & 2 November. Watch out for details in October KMJ*
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