Song Circle
- 5 Mar 2015
Dr Kirsty Martin writes about the creative partnership to develop a narrative, song-based production by people with disabilities…
Blue Roo Theatre Company works in conjunction with HAND (Centacare) to provide opportunities for people with disabilities to be actively involved in the performing arts. Blue Roo’s Creative Director, Clark Crystal, wanted to enhance the personal and professional abilities of individual artists. “The members came to me and I said ‘what do you want to do next’? And they said ‘more songs’. So I went straight to the top and called Opera Queensland. Now, they’re learning to sing!” (Clark Crystal, Blue Roo, 2014).
The creative partnership between Blue Roo and Opera Queensland’s Open Stage in 2013 resulted in ‘Song Circle’, a narrative style, song-based production. Funded by Arts Queensland and Centacare Disability Services Queensland, Song Circle was performed over three days at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in 2014.
“The show is all about independence. Their stories are worth putting on stage with Opera Queensland.” (Clark Crystal, Blue Roo, 2014).
Blue Roo and Opera Queensland’s Open Stage are both organisations that foster inclusivity and community engagement in the creative arts. The team at Open Stage wanted to concentrate on enhancing the skills and singing capabilities of this unique community. They hoped that working in this new collaborative project would provide an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to diverse communities.
One aim of the Song Circle project was to create an artistic partnership between the two organisations based on mutual understanding, appreciation and respect between the two companies.
While the ensemble’s musical skills were naturally varied, all members benefited from learning to sing with professional singers. For most this was the first time they had formal singing lessons. The involvement in this production led a few members to join choirs outside of Blue Roo.
There was a clear increase in the members’ capacity to learn new skills and an improvement in their ability to concentrate. The duration of rehearsal sessions was occasionally expanded and members were able to accept and respond to the situation.
Complementing the heightened sense of capacity to learn and focus was an increase individual self-discipline and of the ensemble as a whole. This shift was evident not only in the way that members engaged more intently during rehearsals but also in the way they communicated with their family and wider community. This new level of professionalism, capacity for learning and self-control was noted by staff and volunteers at HAND, the Blue Roo team and also by Open Stage members.
“They are walking so much taller. I see them breathing better. I have had so many of the families come and say this to me. Family members have looked and thought, ‘oh they have really come out of their shell, they have a lot more confidence, they are a person to discuss things with you know, they’ve got a lot to talk about now’.” (Karen Martin, HAND, 2014)
The new collaboration between Blue Roo and Open Stage makes a strong statement about inclusive arts in Queensland and Australia. This is the first time that the local theatre company has partnered with a professional singing organisation. Likewise this is the first time Opera Queensland has worked with an inclusive community theatre group. The unique characteristic of the partnership challenges pre-existing social perceptions about community engagement especially in the arts. The positive impact of the partnership breaks down barriers between ‘inclusive’ and ‘mainstream’ arts.
“It was beautiful. It came alive. I enjoyed the jokes. It was different and it spoke about us.” (Artist, Blue Roo, 2014)
Read the Song Circle Case Study.
Dr Kirsty Martin is an international qualitative researcher. She holds a doctorate in Anthropology and has taught and lectured at several universities throughout Australia on a range of pertinent social issues. Kirsty has been an active member of two Australian Research Council projects in Queensland. She has also published papers across a range of disciplines and worked as a consultant to write a publication for UNESCO based on community multi media centres in Nepal. She has presented research findings in Australia, Nepal, Indonesia and India. Kirsty’s international cross disciplinary research roles have seen her work with a range of partners and local and international organisations in Java, Indonesia, with community groups in Nepal, India, Northern Ireland and New York. Her evaluation of the Song Circle project complements her previous monitoring and evaluation roles in South Asia and her work on a Queensland evaluation project sponsored by the United Nations.
Image: Song Circle by Jan Brutton