Three workshops: Leeds Civic Hall and Swarthmore

 

On Monday morning Diane and I took three sets of tamboo bamboo to the Civic in order to do a workshop for the Girls Can conference at Leeds Civic Hall. I started our workshop with a stamping clapping exercise, and then Diane did her whizzy thing with tamboo bamboo sticks. This is actually a bit tricky even if you are only trying to keep a hold of the one rhythm that you have been given, and with or without a verbal phrase to remember the rhythm by.

 

 

 

Leaving Diane to it in Glorious Building No 1, I skipped up to the bus stop by the Merrion Centre, took the 56 home, jumped into the blue van that I prepared earlier, down to the Swarthmore Centre, Glorious Building Number 2, set of pans up to top floor [students did that, phew!]. Workshop with Natalie S's class, met Gosh, practised my Polish on her, did some tunes, left the pans there, went home, passed out.

 

 

Next morning back to Swarthmore, more tunes, took photos of those who wanted to be in them [the act natural bit didn't happen!], bumped into my old friend, Martin C. left the class to continue the lesson without me and shot off to last school of the day, watched Pippa's lovely steelband play a concert, took some photos [no permission to show yet], then back to collect pans which students had already brought down. Sting helped me load the van, parked nervously at the front, but together this took no time at all.

 

Went home, passed out. Holidays anyone?

 

 

 

Manchester Grammar School meets steel pans

Now then Debs,

It is my turn to go to Manchester. Robert and the crew have been over here and checked out  all the Leeds pan schools they need, have ordered a set of pans from Grafton, and will hire a few from us in Leeds while they wait. Which won’t be too long. 

We are also selling them a set of our surplus basses and cellos, relics from the days before the new builds' builders misunderstood the information: “and we have to house a set of steel pans in the new school building.” 

Two sets of basses came from when the college of Music bought a 20 piece set in about 1990, expecting, but not getting great things. Ten years later they were sold to the Music Service. I found a primary school to use one set, but when Melvin and I went to pick up said pans, we found they had been abandoned, and had spent summer outside a portastore cabin in the carpark, and were now full of water and gently rusting on top. They must have been mistaken for old oildrums! How could that have happened?

So over the Pennines again on Tuesday with the gently rusting basses and the rest. And I put Robert, Ruth, Gary, Otto, Jonathon and David through their paces. Forgot to photograph them in action so here's Ruth and Robert posing after they'd all left.