Howl! Performances have been going well with the show bedding in nicely. We have some more dates coming up before summer comes to an end. If you haven't seen it yet then come along.

Mae perfformiadau wedi bod yn mynd yn dda, a dwi'n mwynhau gwneud y sioe. Mae gennym fwy o ddyddiadau yn ddod i fyny cyn i'r haf ddod i ben. Os nad ydach i weld eto, dewch draw.

Eisteddfod Genedlaithol Cymru 10 & 11 Aug/Awst https://eisteddfod.wales/programme

Awen Trust, Bryngarw Country Park 30 Aug/Awst https://www.bryngarwcountrypark.co.uk/whats-on/

Span Arts, Scolton Park 31 Aug/Awst https://span-arts.org.uk/whats-on/

Commissioned by Wales Outdoor Arts Consortium.

I'm super excited to finally announce (long overdue!) that I have been commissioned to make a show in Wales this year.
Howl! is a magical tale of a wild were-wolf woman. A narrative aerial theatre show performed in Welsh.Written by me, Directed by Gwen Thompson. Original musical score by Daniel Rhys Lawrence with Welsh support and costume design by Kate Jones.
Commissioned by Wales Outdoor Arts Consortium.
Rehearsed in my Mum's field.
We have loads of performance dates throughout Wales this summer, posts coming soon!

Rwy'n hynod gyffrous i gyhoeddi o'r diwedd fy mod wedi cael fynghomisiynu i wneud sioe yng Nghymru eleni. Mae Howl! yn stori hudolus am blaidd-ddynes wyllt. Sioe theatr awyrol naratif yn cael ei pherfformio yn Gymraeg. Ysgifennwyd gennyf fi, cyfarwyddwyd gan Gwen Thompson. Sgor gerddoral wreiddiolgan Daniel Rhys Lawrence, gyda chefnogaeth Gymreig a chynllun gwisgoedd gan Kate Jones. Comosiynwyd gan Gonsortiwm Celfyddydau Awyr Agored Cymru. Wedi Ymarfer yng cae fy Mam. Mae gennym ni lwyth a ddyddiadau perfformio dros Cymru yr haf yma.

It was lovely to spend more time performing in Wales this summer, and to be working again with some of the team from Dadeni at the Eisteddfod (see previous post). Greenman is a lovely festival in a beautiful location close to the Brecon Beacons. The festival has a laid-back vibe and is great for families, which isn't to say that it doesn't also feature some really great music and of course, circus, theatre and dance.

The Back of Beyond stage is an outdoor stage that features a rolling programme of performances and an evening show organised by producer Zoe Munn, who is hugely supportive of Welsh talent, and features performances made by recipients of the Four Nations Bursary, which supports new outdoor work. This year I joined fellow Dadeni performer Ellis Grover in a double bill of circus. Ellis performed his chair and bottle balancing act, which really has to be seen to be believed, and I performed "Phoenix Rising" my bird aerial act- a exploration of bird-like movement on a rope to a sound track of birdsong.

It was really fun performing there and joining the other acts, and of course the bonus of perofrming at a festival is that you get to enjoy the rest of the festival! Roll on Greenman 2023.

The what? I hear you ask, The Eisteddfod, something, being Welsh, I thought everyone knew about. Apprently not, many of my friends had never heard of the Eisteddfod, well, it is Wales' largest cultural festival and I learned this year that it is also the largest touring festival in Europe. It is 2 weeks of competitions, presentations and performances in singing, dancing, poetry, theatre, spoken word, music and much much more, alongside the compeitions there are bands, stalls, networking events, workshops and this year, for the first time, a large scale, outdoor contemporary circus show.

The show was dreamed up by the directors of The Eisteddfod, along with circus producer Zoe Munn and made in collaboration with Gorilla Circus. With a cast of 3 Welsh and 3 non Welsh artists the show was set to a specially commissioned poem by Wales' Childrens Poet Laureate, Casi Wyn. Casi performed the first part of the poem live from on top of an upturned car at 10m high, whilst myself and felow artist Kelsy Bell descended on ropes from inside the car to gasps from the crowd.

The show continued with an excellent hair hanging solo by Poppy Plowman, Counterweighted Trapeze and Hoop by Ophelia Atkinson and Daisy Williams, and me on rope. Then came the undisputed highpoint of the show, a high wire walk by Ellis Grover, the crowd holding their breath as he made his way across. The grand finale saw all the performers spinning on a carousel and big jets of flame!

The show was a great success, and as a Welsh performer, a real honour to be a part of something new at our largest cultural festival. Diolch yn Fawr!

It was so lovely to do my first performance in my new locality earlier this year, at the Highland Bagpipe Championships. I also felt like I'd definitley been accepted by Scotland! For you non-Scots there is a longstanding tradition of Bagpipe bands in Scotland and there are gatherings where bands compete. The bands consist of a number of bagpipers and drummers and they create and amazing sound and spectacle.

I was there with Moray Flying Circus to provide some light relief from the competitions by doing walkabout, aerial shows and circus workshops.

The day dawned fair and we had a great time on the walkabout sets with those who had already competed and their supporters in a relaxed and generally buoyant mood. The shows went well, with Ruaraidh starting with a dance trapeze solo, followed by my rope act and then Emma and Rachael doing doubles hoop. Our second show coincided with a break in the competitions so we persuaded a couple of young pipers to play along with our show.

All in all a lovely day!