Mareel secures another screening of The Nutcracker by Bolshoi Ballet

Shetland Arts is delighted to announce that it has managed to secure another screening of The Nutcracker, performed by Bolshoi Ballet, to be shown in Mareel on Saturday 29th December at 3pm, despite originally being told by distributors that only one screening would be possible.

In November Shetland Arts announced that, as a special festive treat, it would be showing its first ever “alternative content” (a filmed live event e.g. opera, theatre, ballet, and/or a concert) in Mareel on Sunday 30th December at 3pm with a screening of The Nutcracker performed by the Bolshoi Ballet. This event went on sale on Friday 30th November and sold out very quickly.

Shetland Arts’ Head of Development, Kathy Hubbard, said: “Originally we were told by distributors that we could only book one screening of The Nutcracker, but after receiving a huge amount of requests from customers who hadn’t managed to get a ticket for the show and who desperately wanted to see it, we asked our programmers to approach the distributors again to see if we could negotiate another screening.”

She continued: “Normally alternative content is only shown once in any given cinema. Although it took a little bit of work to negotiate a deal to book another show, we knew the demand was there and the programmers managed to secure another screening in the end.”

The cast includes an incredible line-up of dancers including Nina Kaptsova, Artem Ovcharenko, Denis Savin, and Pavel Dmitrichenko. The choreography is by the legendary Yuri Grigorovich who, after being accepted into the Leningrad Ballet School in 1946, went on to become a soloist at St Petersburg’s Kirov Ballet, where he stayed until 1962. He joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 1964, and was artistic director until 1995. His most famous works are The Nutcracker, Spartacus, and Ivan the Terrible.

The score for The Nutcracker is by Tchaikovsky, and it first opened in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It was Tchaikovsky’s last ballet. Composed in the space of a year, its score today is one of the most popular of all ballet scores. For The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky again joined forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty.

This version, choreographed for the Bolshoi by Grigorovich, is full of romanticism and philosophical reflections on ideal love. It is one of the great classics of the 20th century and, alongside Spartacus and Ivan the Terrible, is one of Grigorovich’s most famous works.

It is Christmas Eve in the home of Mr and Mrs Stahlbaum and their children, Marie and Fritz. Family and friends have gathered for the night’s festivities. Presents are distributed to the children. Marie’s godfather, Drosselmeyer, gives her a strange toy: a wooden nutcracker, carved in the shape of a little man. At midnight, after the celebrations are over, all the toys magically come to life. The nutcracker grows to life-size and takes command of the tin solders, flying to the rescue of Marie, who is threatened by the Mouse King and his mouse army.

Tickets for this event go on sale this Friday, 14th December, at 2.00pm via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org

The Curse of Weisdale Mill

a story retold in words and pictures

Just in time for Christmas is the arrival on the shelves of a brilliant story, told in words and pictures, by twelve Shetland bairns. The Curse of Weisdale Mill is a contemporary telling of the legends that surround the murky history of the Weisdale Mill, home to Bonhoga Gallery.

On a deathly dark night in November this year Shetland Arts ran a spooky story-telling and creative workshop, led by teacher Ria Moncrieff and visiting artist and writer Sally Kindberg. The twelve children who took part, ranging in age from seven to fourteen years old, were told the original history of the mill and documented accounts of the fates that befell some of the workers there. After discussion and spooky snacks (jelly ‘brains’ and chocolate fingers) the budding artists and writers began the retelling of the story using their own vivid imaginations to bring the story alive.

Ria then took each piece of writing and tied it all together with additional facts from the historical accounts she researched in the Shetland Museum and Archives. Shetland Arts then combined these words and the pictures from the night and have turned it into a spectacular little storybook, for anyone with an interest in the dark side…

Jane Matthews of Shetland Arts said, ‘it’s a brilliant book and a perfect last minute gift for Christmas. I am so proud of the talent and effort that each of the twelve children put into the retelling of the story and their illustrations are quite phenomenal.’

The book will be available at Bonhoga Gallery from next Tuesday, while each of the bairns involved will receive a complimentary copy in the post. Angela Smith, Duty Manager at Bonhoga, announced that the flurry of literary excitement will coincide with a pre-Christmas sale in the shop, a perfect chance to pick up last minute gifts and decorations before the gallery, shop and café close for the festive break on Sunday 23rd December.

First Singers & Songwriters night in Mareel on Sunday

The first Singers and Songwriters night in Mareel will take place this Sunday, 16th December, in the Café Bar at 7pm. Previously these events took place in Islesburgh Community Centre and were very popular with music fans from across the Isles. The night will start with performances by duo Lisa Johnson and Natalie Moffat, followed by the floor being opened up to interested performers for an open mic session, and the evening will close with a set from Brian Nicholson.

Sheila Henderson (local singer/songwriter) was involved in getting these monthly Singers and Songwriter nights established and said “we took a break over the summer period, and it has taken a little while to get back underway, but we hope we’ll now have Singers and Songwriters nights on a monthly basis. Islesburgh provided with us with an excellent space to get started, but Mareel seems the logical place to be. The Café/Bar provides an intimate setting for new and more established singers & songwriters to perform and it will be an excellent way to round off the weekend.”

Lisa Johnson and Natalie Moffat have seen the benefit these Singers and Songwriters nights can bring. Both, very nervously, attended some of the events last winter and used the Open Mic sessions as a means of building their confidence in performing in front of an audience. They also established contacts through the Singers and Songwriters night with other musicians, including Jordan Ogg, who accompanied them when they took part in Shetland’s Got Talent last May. They narrowly missed out on the winner’s spot, but are growing in confidence with each performance and finding themselves in demand. Lisa and Natalie’s vocal styles are quite different, but their voices blend together beautifully, covering a range of different musical styles.

At the other end of the spectrum comes, Brian Nicholson. Brian could be described as an essential cog in the Shetland Music scene, having played his part in a wide range of local bands over the years, including No Sweat, Hom Bru and the Sheila Henderson Band and also receiving plaudits over recent years for his part in the highly successful duo that is, Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson. Brian is best known for his guitar playing, and it would perhaps be easier to list who Brian hasn’t played with, but he has recently stepped out of the comfort of being part of the band and released his first solo album Fae Da Crossroads.

The new 16-track album contains a diverse range of songs and tunes. There is everything from the dialect songs of Bobby Tulloch to a cover version of Richard Thompson’s Tear Stained Letter interspersed with Brian’s own compositions. Brian will be playing a selection of the album tracks on the evening and will no doubt have a copy or two of his new album to hand if people are looking for a stocking filler.

Sheila added: “It would be great to see as many people as possible at this first night in Mareel. The Open Mic section of the night is there for songwriters to try out new material or for singers just to share their vocal talents and we have a couple of great acts lined up to play. You don’t have to be a singer or a songwriter to come along either! An appreciative audience is also an essential element in making the Singers and Songwriters night a success.”

The singer-songwriter and open mic night is open to all and begins at 7pm in the Mareel Café Bar this Sunday (16th December).

Hansel for Mareel project to launch 23 December

hansel (n) a gift to commemorate an inaugural occasion, the launching of a new boat, birth of a child, a new home, new enterprise. The Shetland Dictionary, John J. Graham.

Mareel has generated strong opinion from the community since its inception nearly 20 years ago. During the construction phase of the building, Shetland Arts invited the public to record their feelings towards the building, positive, negative, neutral, or otherwise, in the form of a ‘hansel’ or ‘gift.’ The only requirements were that it should contain nothing illegal or organic, and must fit into a 3 inch screw-top jar. These jars were then buried within the walls of the building where they will remain forever. Three hansels were chosen to be displayed as a visual marker of the project. These are in the south wall of the Café Bar.

The Hansel for Mareel project will be officially launched on Sunday, 23rd December, at 4pm in the Café Bar. All are welcome to attend alongside those who contributed to the project to hear a short presentation and to be some of the first to see a brand new leaflet containing photos of the hansels with a map of Mareel showing where they are in the building. Christmas themed refreshments will also be available to all attending.

Shetland Arts’ Director, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “Mareel has been a project that has stimulated unprecedented debate amongst the Shetland community. Mareel is now a venue which has, in just a few months, been used by tens of thousands of people from all corners of Shetland. The decision to build Mareel in 2008 came just at the point in which fears were growing about the levels of funds Shetland Islands Council had to invest in large scale projects. The Council’s investment in Mareel stands at just under half the costs for the build; that investment continues to be one which attracts lively debate.

“Hansel for Mareel captures a small part of the story that led to the Mareel construction, caught in individual responses to Mareel and gathered from the Shetland community throughout the construction. The hansels were buried into the very fabric of the building locking away personal opinions in the form of gifts into Mareel forever.

He continued: “I feel it is important to acknowledge the broad range of responses Mareel has stimulated. It feels right for the building to be the home to the rigorous debate that has taken place, and for Mareel’s walls, ceilings and floors to hold that story in the form of what Mareel represents to individuals in the Shetland community.”

All are welcome to attend the launch in the Mareel Café Bar at 4pm on Sunday 23rd December.

Source: Shetland Arts