Creative Learning Blog, November
Looking for inspiration at Calanais Standing Stones
It never ceases to amaze me how inspiring the youth of our community are with their creative talents. I always feel extremely proud and privileged to be working as part of a team facilitating the arts on our island.
A hectic few weeks throughout October and into the start of November
October 26th hosted our Dynamic Dragon Day. This included several hundred dragons, two authors, thirty children and lots of glue. It was a drop-in storytelling and craft day with style. All set up to support the annual Tobermory Book Festival. A few days later our junior youth theatre performed, to great acclaim and a full house, their version of Romeo and Juliet. They had been devising and rehearsing this for a couple of months and to see their confidence grow through the entire process has been a joy.
The power of dance
I am now on a working jolly to Stornoway. During Covid, dance teachers around the islands collaborated on a project to look at resilience of island populations, through movement. The first part of the project was held at Mull Theatre with many in the community taking part. On a very mild isle of Lewis day, I am now leading the workshop at An Lanntair with a community-based group of all ages. The whole project has grown and is being funded and supported by Mental Health Awareness.
In 2025 the two groups will hopefully be brought together, and their ideas will be as one. It has been a trip of laughter as Sarah Darling is with us to record the movement and Karen Ray is involved in sharing management processes. Great networking among island arts. The weekend has been non-stop as we are heading back on Saturday to host a children’s dance workshop at Mull Theatre!
Roll on the Christmas fun
On the first of December we have our Kid’s Crafty Christmas at An Tobar which includes a guest with a white beard in a funny red suit, who could that be?
Creative Learning Blog, October
It’s been a whirlwind of activity here in the Creative Learning Department! Alongside our weekly workshops and classes, we’ve packed in an incredible line-up of fun and engaging events.
Our Dance for Wellness group at Glen Iosal kicked off their week with a lively dance session to Ghostbusters—just one of many films we’ve grooved to this term! Each session is full of energy and creativity, starting with some fantastic moves and always ending in lots of laughter.
The Saturday morning Art workshops for kids have been as popular as ever, with Tash leading a range of exciting crafts to build and showcase artistic skills. This month, our young artists are diving into ‘Dynamic Dragons’ to get ready for our upcoming Dynamic Dragon Drop-in Day.
We’re thrilled to be part of the Tobermory Book Festival again this year, delivering a special Kids’ Fringe! Besides drama, crafts, and, of course, dragons, we’ll have two authors joining us to captivate the young audience with their storytelling magic.
In other exciting news, rehearsals are in full swing for our junior youth theatre’s own take on Shakespeare: Juliet and Romeo Squared. This unique spin on the classic love story is shaping up to be a must-see!
It has also been a pleasure to have Scott Thompson, a former youth theatre member, assisting us over the past few weeks. Scott is now pursuing a career in acting with an exciting film release set for 2025—we’re lucky to have his talent and experience with us for a bit!
Scott Thomson blog