Stirred, Shaken and Swept Away at South East Regional Finals
You could hear the dust shake at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton where the South East regional final took place last night. MC Kenny Baraka had the crowd with him, saying: Shake the … And the crowd responded by making a noise that actually sounded like dust being stirred up, shaken, swept away. I...
South East Gets Down to Shake the Dust!
So it was up to the South East to host their Regional Final at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. Many people came out in droves to support the young people as they got up on stage and spoke their own written words for all to see. They had worked so hard over many months to...
Interview with Poetry Coach Chris Bennett
Chris Bennett is one of the poetry coaches in the South East. Together with Paul Cree he coaches a team of young people at the Forest Education Centre in Hampshire. When and how did you start writing and performing poetry? I’d written poetry since I was a kid, then, in 1989 I’d been...
Tina Sederholm: Old Skool
It’s an old story, but poetry didn’t mean much to me at school. I loved English Literature, but poetry was just something you had to write an essay about. Weirdly though, I did write poetry for myself. I found an old green notebook the other day. The cover fell off because it had become so...
Southampton Session with Chris Redmond and Graham Smith
Poet Coach, Chris Redmond and Shadow artist Graham Smith tell us about their latest session for Shake the Dust. Catch their teams performance at the South East regional Final, @ Nuffield Theatre, Monday 25 June | 6:30pm “I knew, when the outline of the workshop was explained to us on the first development day, that when...
Eastenders Inspired Truce Poems
The Samuel Cody Specialist Sports College team is well on their way to the final. At the first workshop not a single word was written down and I was a bit worried about how to turn play into poetry, but with a little help from East Enders everything is possible. Last week the students...
Shadows in the Light
One thing that is unique about Shake the Dust is that up and coming poets get a chance to work with more experienced poetry workshop facilitators. My coach Mike Parker has gradually given me more and more responsibility, and as a result my confidence has grown both as a poet and a person. I hooked...
Magical Moments
The second Shake the Dust development day for Poet Coaches and Shadows took place yesterday at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. It was great to catch up with each other and share our experiences so far. Jacob Sam-La Rose, the artistic director of the project, is a firm believer of trying all the exercises yourself...
“I don’t know how to write a poem.”
We hear from Graham Smith, shadow to Chris Redmond in the South East. We’re in the middle of our three workshop sessions with around twenty kids, looking for eight to continue to the regional finals at The Nuffield, Southampton. So what is this part of the project all about? Is it about giving the spotlight...
“fish and chips” and “nachos with dips”
After only three sessions, the Shake the Dust team from South East already act like professionals. At the assembly, just before breaking up for the Easter holidays, the budding slammers performed a poem in front of the whole school. Going to a sports college means the students are well familiar with the Olympic and Paralympic values...
First Workshop and “the silence at the word “poetry” is kind of deafening”
We hear about Graham Smith’s first workshop session on Shake the Dust South East. Graham is working with poet coach Chris Redmond as a shadow. The librarian is away, and the English teacher is looking harassed and is not sure who can cover her classes so she can be present during the workshops. So our...
Hello from the South East Digital Champion
Every day is a battle with language. There are endless ways of expressing what you feel and think, but most of the time we just speak, not even aware of what words we use. My name is Louise Halvardsson (“Lou Ice” on stage); I was born in Sweden but have lived in Brighton on and...
