Mar 25 2015: Help Gary Clarke bring a new musical voice to Coal!
NATIONALLY acclaimed and award winning Barnsley choreographer and performer Gary Clarke has launched a major funding campaign to help bring his most important work to a whole new audience.
First created as an experimental pilot piece six years ago, Coal is a celebration of the spirit of the Dearne Valley mining communities where Gary grew up.
Now, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Miners’ Strike that saw the crushing of those communities, Gary is preparing to take a whole new version of Coal out on tour.
Gary’s ambition is to bring the original Coal back on a larger and more ambitious scale, performed by seven high quality dancers and a cast of five women from every community where the piece is performed.
And at the centre of this new Coal will be live a live brass quintet – the authentic sound of the real heart of mining!
In addition, Gary will also be interviewing and working with ex-miners from former mining communities, The NUM and individuals from Women Against Pit Closures to help create the content of the show.
To help bring the ambitious project to the stage, however, Gary is seeking the support of Crowdfunding, giving the public their chance to make a contribution as the show prepares for its first showing in 2015 for supporters, investors and UK venues at Cast in Doncaster, prior to premiering and touring in 2016.
Already supporting the project in 2015 are The Civic Barnsley, Cast (Doncaster), DanceXchange (West Midlands), Yorkshire Dance, Nottingham Playhouse with Dance4 (East Midlands), The Place (London) and Dance City (North East).
These commissioners are investing £24,000 in cash, plus in-kind support worth £28,000 in the form of rehearsal space and production time.
All the venues have also committed to presenting Coal as part of the UK 2016 tour.
For the making in 2015, an Arts Council Grant for Arts award is also pending mid April.
In addition to this important support, though, Crowdfunding will raise a further £2,000 towards the funding of the project.
Donations will help directly in the development of the production’s evocative brass score, under the supervision of Coal’s Musical Director, Steven Roberts, the conductor, vocal coach and adjudicator whose passion for music and performance is reflected in a profile that sees him working both across the UK and internationally.
For the July preview at Cast in Doncaster he will be working alongside five musicians from Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band, one the most famous names in the Brass Band World.
Established in 1884 in the Yorkshire mining village of South Elmsall, the band has won almost every major title including European Champions, British Open Champions, Yorkshire Champions, Granada Band of the Year, BBC Best of Brass and many more and they are currently ranked one of the top 10 bands in the world.
“This new, reinvigorated and challenging production will take Coal to a whole new level and providing a moving and heartfelt tribute to the communities that lost everything in the strike,” said Gary
“That is the world I grew up in and I still live in and it is a world that has supported me on my journey.
“With this new production of Coal I want to give something back to that community!”
Barnsley author Mel Dyke is one of the many people in the South Yorkshire arts community already supporting Coal.
She said: “Gary Clarke's Coal is a direct result of his childhood in Grimethorpe.
“I applaud his loyalty to that community, respect his creative talents and love his ingenuity in combining modern choreography with traditional Brass Band music.
“I can't wait to see and hear the new production of Coal!”
To find out how you could support Coal visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/1130395807/gary-clarkes-dance-production-coal-live-brass-band
