Episode 4: Performing Capers - The Body's creative responses to Paper Moon
In this week’s podcast, our Creative Learning Dance Artist, Sarah Greene, and Dance Trainee, Alex McCrossan, talks to members of Shaper/Caper's Youth Advisory Council called The Body.
The Body have, once again, been creating their own works of art inspired by Shaper/Caper’s productions and project. For this episode, The Body members have created work inspired by our interactive show for under 5’s, Paper Moon. The works they are talking about can be found on our website.
You can listen to the podcast below. Check out the two films below which are discussed in the podcast by their creators.
Creative Responses
Stop Motion Film by Sarah Greene and Will Hodson:
Poem by Alex McCrossan:
“Dairy” To Be Different
A lonely, dusty, barren old land
With holes and craters and dips
I wish I could leave, I wish I could stand
I worry my consciousness slips
The stars and planets and asteroids race
Around the orbiting moons
A kaleidoscope of colours at pace
Expanding like floating balloons
A juxtaposition of the beauty and bright
With a treacherous fear of unknown
The absence of sound, the magic of light
Am I lonesome? Or am I alone?
Wait... is that her? To save me from this moon?
Through space she makes her way through
Oh Poppy! With Peppy! Come to rescue me soon
She must have heard me moo
Poem by Alice Hyman:
“Dear Shaper Caper
With your moon made of paper,
Away in a rocket,
To save bed time for later.
I want to blast away to the moon with everyone else,
But my heart is beating
And my heavy lungs are tight,
The others are so noisy
And it’s all so bright.
Now we made it to the moon, oh the excitement to be here
I try to smile but I am so full of fear.
Everyone is jumping, someone picks me up
But I am not flying, it’s all just too much
So please, Just first, explain to me the game,
It won’t ruin my fantasy, it just makes it sane
Give me an exit, an easy way out
And I’ll likely join in and scream and even shout
To me I am not different, the world is just weird
I am not crazy, or silly to be scared.
Now I am older and with a voice that is heard,
.... but having said that the above is quite absurd”
Inspiration for course work at Scottish School of Contemporary Dance by Lesley Howard
Simon the Starfish’s Adventure
I am currently working on a collaboration piece as part of my HND course at SSCD. I was inspired by Shaper/Caper’s ‘Day to Play’ and their most recent and current piece ‘Paper Moon’, an interactive piece aimed for under 5’s. These pieces encouraged me to work with a collaborator, Elsie Woolnough, who is an applied theatre artist and actor.
Together we have created a piece that is interactive for children, ages 305, 7-11 or can be easily adapted for those with additional needs. We focused on incorporating sensory, drama and dance.
Our piece follows the story of Simon the Starfish’s Adventure to find his way home. He crossing the busy city of Dundee, the Egyptian Dessert, passes through the jungle before diving underwater where he is faced with the dangerous Jellyfish maze.
The process has been fun and creative. Watching a preview of Shaper/Caper’s Paper Moon gave me more confidence to make everything over the top and hearing Tommy talk about the piece gave me a better understanding of how children may react to it
Note: Lesley used this inspiration to inform her work as part of her course work at Scottish School of Contemporary Dance at D&A College.
