Tag Archives: women

Her Hidden Histories Digital Archive

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As today marks International Women’s Day we thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you the wonderful digital archive that was created as part of our Her Hidden Histories project. The digital archive tells the story of our project through photos, videos and the voices of the young women who took part… follow the link and start exploring Her Hidden Histories

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This archive was developed by the young women who took part in our project, delivered in partnerhship with Digital Women’s Archive North (DWAN) with archive support from Heather Roberts. It was designed and built by Mike Ash.
Her Hidden Histories was made possible with public funding from Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and The Granada Foundation.

Turning Tides: First in the Fight – upcoming performance at Victoria Baths

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Turning Tides Flyer

We’re busy gearing up for ‘Turning Tides: First in the Fight’ – an innovative promenade performance devised by young women and inspired by true stories of women’s fight for the vote, over 100 years ago…

This performance is the latest phase in the ‘Her Hidden Histories’ project, which we have been running in partnership with small heritage venues across Manchester since the beginning of last year. Earlier phases saw young women from Wythenshawe devise and perform ‘In the Driving Seat’ at the Museum of Transport (June 2017), telling stories of the first women to work in the transport industry and young women from Gorton devise and perform ‘Top of the Bill’ at the Greater Manchester Police Museum (July 2017), looking at pioneering women in policing. Now both groups – from Newall Green High School and Cedar Mount Academy – are coming together to pool their knowledge, skills and ideas and turn their focus to the battle for women’s suffrage.

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In this phase of the project, the groups have visited and taken inspiration from the collections at the People’s History Museum, the Pankhurst Centre and the Working Class Movement Library. They have taken part in music workshops, being supported to write their own rousing and anthemic songs by singer-songwriter and long time enJOY arts collaborator Claire Mooney. They have also taken part in dance sessions where Ruth Jones and Trixi Bold have helped them to choreograph some wonderful movement sequences.

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The performances of ‘Turning Tides: First in the Fight’ will take place on Thursday 31st May at 7pm and Friday 1st June at 3pm and 7pm at Victoria Baths. Tickets are free but, as this is a promenade performance exploring the whole of this incredible historic building, audience numbers are limited so booking is essential.

‘Her Hidden Histories’ is funded by grants from Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and the Granada Foundation.

For more information please get in touch!

info@enjoy-arts.org.uk         @enJOY_arts

 

Her Hidden Histories visit the People’s History Museum

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Our Her Hidden Histories groups had a fantastic time visiting the People’s History Museum on Monday afternoon. Young women from Cedar Mount Academy and Newall Green High School came together for the first time in this phase of the project to gather inspiration for their upcoming performances at Victoria Baths in May. The performances will explore the role of everyday working women in the struggle for the vote and the groups came away buzzing with ideas!

Now we’re gearing up for more visits and creative workshops in the Easter Holidays: we’ll be heading to the Pankhurst Centre and the Working Class Movement Library as well as trying our hand at some music and dance. We can’t wait!

Her Hidden Histories – Centenary Celebration

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As today marks 100 years since the first UK women were granted the right to vote, it’s about time for an update on our Her Hidden Histories project!

Last summer saw two groups of young women, from Wythenshawe and Gorton, create some fantastic performances at both the Museum of Transport and the Greater Manchester Police Museum. ‘In the Driving Seat’ told stories of the first women to work on trams and buses, largely owing to the absence of men during the First World War. ‘Top of the Bill’ explored experiences of the first women in policing during a similar period, many of whom had also been on the other side of the law as suffragettes. Both performances enjoyed a rousing inter-generational musical finale, thanks to our fantastic Herizons group!

This year, we are bringing both groups of young women together to create another ambitious performance at the stunning Victoria Baths. ‘Turning Tides: First in the Fight’ will weave together the stories uncovered in the previous two performances and celebrate the role of everyday women in the struggle for suffrage. Exact times are yet to be confirmed but there will be 3 chances to catch this exciting new piece, with an evening performance on Thursday 31st May and both a matinee and evening performance on Friday 1st June.

Watch this space for more details!

Merry Christmas from enJOY arts!

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Tis the season to be jolly & joyous! And so, time for another festive round up of the year from enJOY HQ…

The year began with young people from our projects in Monsall and Wythenshawe making fantastic progress and completing their Arts Awards. In Wythenshawe, those working towards their Silver Arts Award hosted a very successful event for the junior youth group where they presented their own interactive drama piece on the theme of decision-making.

In March, our newly established Herizons Creative Women’s Group (comprised of Gaskell: The Musical! alumni, plus some fab new faces) were honoured to open the Manchester City Council International Women’s Day Event at the Town Hall, with a rousing rendition of ‘Let the Women Rise’. Also in the spring, we began working on our flagship young women’s creative heritage project, Her Hidden Histories, by running training workshops for volunteers at the Museum of Transport and Greater Manchester Police Museum. We worked with young women from Wythenshawe and Gorton to create special performances at each of these venues in June and July, inspired by true stories of the first women to work in both transport and policing. The performances, aptly named In the Driving Seat and Top of the Bill , were both very well-received and featured a musical cameo by Herizons in their finales.

The Herizons group were fresh from their own performance of Strong Manchester Women – a series of inspirational songs and sketches regaling the audience with tales of local women, from Peterloo’s Mary Fildes to Moss Side’s Louise Da Cocodia, and performed at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House in May.

We’ve continued to work in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House on education and outreach projects throughout the year and we supported young people from Cedar Mount Academy to create their own short film, going Through the Keyhole and delving into the goings on of the House when the Gaskell family lived here.

In September, Herizons performed at National Trust’s Lyme Hall, as part of the Live at Lyme festival of new performance works at this incredible historic venue. Their piece, Legends of Lyme, explored the untold stories of women from Lyme’s Regency Era -complete with harpsichord accompaniment by the wonderful Claire Mooney! Also in September we had a fantastic event to celebrate the hard work of the young women on our Her Hidden Histories project, bringing both groups together for the first time before they all work together on a big performance at Victoria Baths next year. The evening was full of fun and laughter as the young women watched films of each other’s performances, before posing for selfies together in a way that only teenage girls can.

The rest of the autumn was spent working towards Takeover Days at each of the Her Hidden Histories venues. Our Gorton group did a fantastic job taking over the Greater Manchester Police Museum as creative tour guides in November and the Wythenshawe group will be delivering theirs at the Museum of Transport in January.

 

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Lots of exciting things are afoot for 2018, with planned performances to celebrate the centenary of the first women getting the right to vote, 70 years of the NHS and the friendship of Elizabeth Gaskell & Charlotte Bronte to name a few – watch this space as our plans develop!

In the meantime, we’d like to say a massive thank you to our funders and partners this year, without whom none of our work would be possible: Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Claire Mooney, Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, Newall Green High School, Manchester Young Lives, Cedar Mount Academy, the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester Police Museum, Victoria Baths, TLM Centre, Waterside, Creative Industries Trafford, Trust New Art, National Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Granada Foundation, One Manchester, Comic Relief Communities Fund, Places for People and our wonderful advisory board.

Wishing you all a JOYful festive season and we’ll see you in 2018!

 

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Herizons go ‘Live at Lyme’!

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Legends of Lyme

Fancy something to look forward to as the nights draw in and the leaves begin to fall? How about a very special performance at National Trust’s Lyme by our Herizons Creative Women’s Group?

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Legends of Lyme is an innovative devised piece, exploring the untold stories of women from Lyme’s Regency Era through drama and music: Meet Sarah Glave, the mother to Lyme’s illegitmate heir; Ellen Turner, the young woman at the heart of an abduction scandal; Ellen Jane Legh, a motherless girl who finds solace in daydreaming, and Maud Lowther, an accomplished musician ahead of her time. The stories and secrets of all these women will unfold against the atmospheric backdrop of Lyme’s Saloon on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October, at 12pm and 3pm each day.

Legends of Lyme has been commissioned by Creative Industries Trafford, in partnership with the National Trust and Trust New Art, as part of ‘Live at Lyme’ – a series of new performance events taking place at Lyme throughout September.

Herizons are thrilled to be bringing their unique energy and creativity to such an inspiring venue and cannot wait to share these incredible women’s stories with you!

The performances are free to attend, though usual Lyme entry prices apply – please see their website for details.

About Herizons

Herizons is a community performance group of local women who meet every week for music and drama workshops at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. Some members of the group first came together to devise and perform Gaskell: The Musical! – a sell out sensation at Manchester Histories Festival 2016 – and we are pleased to have welcomed new members along the way. Other performances since then include Strong Manchester Women and a special musical opening to Manchester City Council’s International Women’s Day Awards at the Town Hall. Herizons sessions are delivered by enJOY arts and Claire Mooney, in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.

 

 

Walking the beat at Greater Manchester Police Museum

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We had a fantastic afternoon at the Greater Manchester Police Museum yesterday, for the next phase of our Her Hidden Histories young women’s project. Young women from Cedar Mount Academy had great fun exploring the museum, quizzing the volunteers and learning to march in formation! The group are currently working towards a performance at the museum, inspired by true stories of the first women to work in policing. We’ll be bringing their ideas to life in creative sessions over the next few weeks and, if today’s visit is anything to go by, it’s sure to be a lot of fun! Check back soon for more details on the performance.

Strong Manchester Women!

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The Herizons group excelled themselves in a rousing performance inspired by strong women from Manchester’s history at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House last night!

From Peterloo activist Mary Fildes, to modern day anti-racism campaigner Louise Da-Cocodia, they took their audience on a lively journey through time with sketches and songs.

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The group have been working on the performance in weekly sessions since the beginning of March and were delighted to be able to share the stories they’d uncovered to an enthusiastic audience:

‘Fabulous performance – entertaining and informative, well done… When’s the next one?!’

‘I hope you continue to inspire others and carry on being powerful!’

‘Loved it all – the final song was very uplifting, great!’

Herizons is a community performance group of local women who meet every week for music and drama workshops at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. Some members of the group first came together to devise and perform ‘Gaskell: The Musical!’ – a sell out sensation at Manchester Histories Festival 2016 – and we are pleased to have welcomed new members along the way. The group were recently honoured to perform at Manchester City Council’s International Women’s Day Awards at the Town Hall. This term, the Herizons group has been funded by the One Manchester Community Fund and sessions are delivered by enJOY arts and Claire Mooney, in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.

We’ll soon be able to share some exciting news about what Herizons’ next adventure will be – so watch this space!

 

Herizons open International Women’s Day at the Town Hall

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In celebration of International Women’s Day yesterday, our Herizons creative women’s group were delighted to open the event at Manchester Town Hall, singing the rousing Gaskell: The Musical! anthem, Let the Women Rise.

The event was hosted by Manchester City Council and featured a keynote speech from former international athlete Diane Modahl in addition to awards for significant achievements by women across the city. The whole Herizons team had a fantastic time celebrating the strong women of Manchester and beyond in such a prestigious venue and were particularly pleased that a number of people felt moved to sing along with us in the final chorus!

Thanks to funding from One Manchester Community Soup, the group have been meeting regularly since January to take part in music and drama workshops at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. Many of the group were original cast members of Gaskell: The Musical!, though we’ve been pleased to welcome some new members along the way and hope to keep expanding the group going forward.

Herizons meet every Wednesday afternoon and are currently working towards a performance inspired by women from Manchester’s history, which we look forward to sharing in May – more details to follow soon!

Merry Christmas from enJOY arts!

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and so ends another busy year for enJOY arts. 2016 certainly hasn’t been without its challenges for many, making creative community projects more relevant than ever and we’re determined to look forward to 2017 with hope and positivity. Looking back over this year, however, we’ve also found plenty to enJOY (scroll down to see our photo slideshow)!

In our first year as resident artists at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, we’ve delivered a number of exciting projects in partnership with them; from creative storytelling with older people as part of Dementia Awareness Week in May, to family activities inspired by Beatrix Potter during the summer holidays. We’ve also been working with the House to develop their education programme, delivering interactive drama workshops to both school and university groups. For Heritage Open Days in September, we enjoyed working with members of the local community to develop an exhibition of Living Memories of the House and neighbourhood.

By far our biggest partnership project this year was ‘Gaskell: The Musical!’, working with local women to devise and perform an original musical which premiered as part of Manchester Histories Festival in June. We had tremendous fun working with such a warm and lively group, many of whom had never performed before and really grew in confidence throughout the project. The initial performances were such as smash hit (selling out 3 shows) that we were asked to reprise the run in September, which we were delighted to be able to do. Harnessing the enthusiasm of the talented cast, and with the support of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and One Manchester, we’ve now been able to secure more funding to run a regular creative women’s group which we can’t wait to start in the New Year.

We’ve continued to develop other projects with women and girls throughout 2016. For International Women’s Day, we worked with young women from Wythenshawe and Salford to create a textiles exhibition celebrating women from Manchester’s history. This was displayed at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and there were squeals of delight from some members of the group when they first saw their own handiwork on show in such a beautiful historic venue! Some of the young women who worked on this display had also taken part in our ‘Tales of Manchester Life’ project in 2015 and we were thrilled when this project was recognised with a Community Histories Award in March. The girls loved attending a fancy event at Manchester Town Hall to receive this award and we were even more pleased to officially become a multi-award-winning organisation!

Since the summer, we’ve continued to run drama workshops with young women in Wythenshawe, some of whom are now working towards their Silver Arts Award. This project will culminate in an interactive performance and drama workshop led by the young women for their local junior youth group early next year. We’ve also had a great time delivering drama workshops with young women’s groups for our friends, The Proud Trust, at their LesBiCon and summer camp events.

Over the summer, we were very pleased to be able to return to MASH – a fantastic organisation for women which we first worked with as students back in 2011 – to deliver a series of drama workshops in their weekly drop-in. The women here really enjoyed the opportunity to play creatively with props and costumes and devised all sorts of imaginative scenes, from a botched bank robbery to a zombie apocalypse!

Aside from solely female-focused projects, we’ve continued to work with hard to reach young people across Greater Manchester and Salford, delivering the Bronze Arts Award with groups from Eccles to Monsall. It was lovely to be shortlisted by Manchester Young Lives as their Partner Organisation of the Year and we hope to develop more projects with them in 2017.

We’d like to thank all our partners, funders and friends for their valuable support and enthusiasm this year: Arts Council England, One Manchester, Places for People, John Grant Davies Trust, Comic Relief Local Communities Fund, Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, Wythy Tree Youth Bank, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House (projects funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic England), Claire Mooney, The Proud Trust, TLM Centre, MASH, Tandem Theatre, Art with Heart, Manchester Young Lives, Direct Access, Manchester Histories, Arc, Greater Manchester Police Museum, Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, Digital Women’s Archive North and Victoria Baths.

We’re very much looking forward to 2017, not least because we’ll then be able to announce our plans for an exciting new young women’s project we have in the pipeline…

But for now, may your days be merry and bright – and we hope your festive season is an enJOYable one!

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