During the 10 days I became fully initiated with the Festival going on’s & boy am I excited! To see you most of the groups who have never worked together come together so slick was inspiring! I feel very privileged to have been able to watch this transformation. Your creativity & enthusiasm excites me! It’s such an amazing place to work & the last few months have been awesome! I’m more excited then a kid at Christmas!

What did I learn you ask? I learnt that your limitations are endless & to never underestimate anyone. I learnt that three stimuli can create 11 very different unique & amazing stories. I learnt that Doug is a genius. I learnt focus exercises. Ensemble building exercises & that you can turn your garage into an awesome theatre studio!

Here’s a little reminder of some of the things we did during our time together
“Walking around in neutral”
No expression, arms relaxed by your side & head and eyes up. Walking around in neutral is a great way to kick off your sessions. After reaching neutral this is a great place to start to build your character. Really get to know your character, delve deep into the inner beings of it. Focus on how they would walk, talk and act. Concentrating on where there ‘arrows’ are & what there facial expressions would be. You can then move onto how they would talk, what noises they would make and how they would interact with something new.

‘This is a gift’
This is a focus exercise. ‘When you give a gift you don’t just toss it into the air & hope it lands on someone.’ You give it with poise & purpose. Standing in a circle, take it turns to throw the ball/s to a different person. Remembering to use your eyes, body language & focus to ensure the person you’re throwing it to know its coming. By introducing two or three balls it test your abilities to focus on numerous things. This can also be done while “walking around in neutral”

All in all it was an amazing experience & I had heaps of fun meeting & getting to know you all! I loved it! This just gets me so excited for September! I thank you all for letting me into your classrooms, your homes & your spaces! Please don’t stress about contacting me or any of the managers if you have any questions or queries!

Hope alls well! Thanks again!!

Emily!

Emily Noonan here, I’m the 2012 Young Artist in Residence for the Fairfax Festival!

During this weekend just gone (24th-27th) I attended the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

1,121 kilometres, 12 hours driving, three motels & 5 shows later & I’m all Fringed out!

From the vast lands of Birchip to the raging, but friendly metropolis of Adelaide it was a surprisingly fun & adventurous four days. Taking off early Friday morning we tackled the hills, stayed in a hotel where the doors didn’t lock & the shower didn’t work sure made for an interesting start.

The first night consisted of the fabulous Claire, myself, a slopped stage & a mind blowing beat boxer.

So I just thought I would give you a rundown of the shows I saw & what I thought.

Our first show was LevelLess. LevelLess gave their audience an out the world experience that could only be experienced in a stage on a slope. With slippery shoes, bright distracting lights and weird music that seemed to be from Star Trek is was in the wise words of Miss Claire Glenn ‘simply an experience.’ If I was to ask the producers of LevelLess one question it would be how they made the stage & if they could teach me because I believe anyone deserves a medal if they can get through an hour of Michael Jackson like moon dancing & not give there actors any splinters!

After meeting & greeting some lovely older gentleman & some very ‘interestingly’ dressed garden helpers on the slopes of the ‘Garden of Unearthly Delights’ we headed off to a little tent to meet my new found hero ‘Thom Thumb.’ If ever you see this name around anywhere, drop what you’re doing & go. Thom Thumb’s pure talent & very good looks made for an amazing show. Thom Thumb pushed the limits of his voice’s ability and produced some sounds that I personally have only ever heard come out of a machine. Aimed with some very funny videos & a live feed of his magic fingers &mixing pads Thom Thumb is one show I would give my last cent to go see again.

The next morning I dragged my very reluctant mother to three shows.

After a visit to the very picturesque Glenelg beach and a quick game of mini golf we set off to watch Kaput which turned out to be a highly entertaining one man show which included enough cringe worthy moments to fill a whole season of ‘Home & Away.’ His ability to make the fact that all he did was rip a hole in paper & then attempt to sticky it back together into a hilarious stunt routine was second to none the best I’ve seen. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was somewhat of a newbie to the physical theatre/stunt acting side of things or his ability but it had me cackling from start to end.

Our next stop was to ‘Barry Morgan’s World of Organs.’ Well what can I say Barry Morgan, his organ & enough cheesy facial expressions that would put a used car salesman from the 1970’s to shame. Famously known for his ‘One Finger Method’ Barry Morgan entertained the crowd with his’ organ playing ability & his cheesy commercials. I would highly recommend this show for all types of people from family to singles.

Our last best defiantly not least show was ‘Sammy J & Randy in the Inheritance!’ Who knew a very cute 20 something man & a purple puppet and his very talented puppeteer could be so darn funny? In what could only be deemed an odd relationship Sammy J & Randy entertain the crowd with a rendition about the census that is sure to hit top 40 in the coming days! With witty remarks, some creepy ghosts & a quest that ends in a very daring sword fight which gives Randy some’ better legs to stand on.’ Sammy J & Randy in the Inheritance is a daring but highly funny play that gives a good giggle to anyone watching while also implying a few morals and some audience participation.

All in all it was a highly enjoyable weekend which I hope is one of many more to come!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Cheers, Noons

P.S Who else is keen for ‘Stonefield’ & the YESFest! Brownie points go to Adrian!

Looking back on when I was a Fairfax Festival participant, the in-school developments were always one of my favourite times because they always got the creative fires burning within me and the group. So you can imagine that I was very excited about getting to lead them this time around with our Principal Tutor, Petra Kalive!

It was absolutely inspiring to see what you had all been working on and to re-visit some familiar Fairfax faces and meet all the excited new ones! I’m feeling even more pumped for the Festival and I know that the Gala is going to be a spectacular night! I can’t wait to see how far you’ve come in the next round of in-school developments with Claire, that are only a few weeks away!

As you all know, my position within the Fairfax Festival is the Young Artist in Residence (or YAR as we like to call it – it helps if you use a pirate accent) and it really has been an fantastic year and amazing to think that this is my work. You also know that we’re currently searching for our 2012 YAR so if you’ve previously been involved in the Festival, finished school last year or are finishing this year and want a career in the arts……then we want you!! There’s still a few days left to apply so grab the details out of the info packs that I left you with or email Adrian on acorbett@swanhill.vic.gov.au!

Have you heard of the Mamas & Papas? If you haven’t then stop what you’re doing and Youtube them now!…..You’ll find out why in my next
blog which isn’t too far away!

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Caitlyn.

This will be my third year participating in the Fairfax Festival.

Over the past two years the Fairfax Festival has played an important role in my schooling life. I have given up numerous amounts of lunchtimes, become the leader of my school’s drama club (who enter Fairfax each year), and organised fundraising in order for our groups to attend.

The reason I attend the festival each year is because I always learn so many new skills and have so much fun, making new friends and meeting people in the acting industry more experienced than myself.

I often include my experience with the festival on resumes and scholarship applications, as I am very proud of the work I put into the festival. I believe that I have learnt a lot of life skills from it, such as communication skills, confidence building and team work.

My chosen career is acting and performing arts, over the past two years I have developed my acting skills greatly, with big help from the festival.

The workshops in the festival are new and exciting and I know how much other students love them!

As an example two years ago, the year I first participated in the Fairfax Festival, my school’s drama club struggled to find enough students to make up a group. A mere 14 students represented our drama club that year.  Last year our drama club was able to enter two groups into the festival, each group made up of over 10 students, and this year we had a whopping 50 students interested in attending the festival.   The growing number of students in our drama club shows the fascination, love and commitment that students have for the festival.

The festival, and the huge amount of interest from students, has helped our school become more aware of the performing arts and also, our community.

 I thank the Fairfax family and all those who help run the festival, for creating this awareness for the performing arts, and helping me build my acting skills, and life skills.

This year, being the festival’s 15th year of running, it is going to be bigger and better than ever! I am very excited to be a part of the festival once again, and can’t wait to make even more new friends and further my knowledge about the performing arts industry that I love so much!

I’m sure you will enjoy your experience at the festival just as much as I have.

Can’t wait to meet you all!

Feather Fellows

With only 4 months until Festival week hits off things are gearing into full swing here at Fairfax HQ! Adrian has kindly returned from his off-shore adventures and so we’ve all been busy getting back into routine and down to the fiddly business of bringing you a brilliant festival!

I’m also very pleased to tell you about the Dig Deep Sound Project, which the Festival will be running for the very first time in 2011! I recently went on a trip down to Melbourne to meet with our lovely Festival Director Claire and some very cool guys, one of which will be facilitating the project, from The Arts Centre about bringing Dig Deep to the Festival and they are just as excited as we are!

In a nutshell, Dig Deep is a hip-hop and urban music project that focuses on expression and communication through the use of rhythm and music. The Arts Centre will bring their very own high tech ‘sound hub’ to Swan Hill along with Artists and studio specialists to collaborate with the Dig Deep group and produce some amazing work! The group will run on the first two nights of the festival and then perform on the Thursday, so stay tuned for that folks!

Whilst I was in Melbourne town I also met with this years principle tutor Petra Kaliv! I’ve been lucky enough to have had the chance to do a few workshops with Petra last year and can tell you that she’s very inspiring and amazing! It’s not too long until you will get to find that out yourself when Petra and I come and do your workshops!

I look forward to seeing you all soon!!

Caitlyn xx

Joining the Arts Centre and the Hugh Williamson Foundation in their generous support, these institutions recognise the place the Fairfax Festival holds within the lives of young people disadvantaged by location, learning or linguistic disabilities and/or socio-economic factors.

“The Fairfax Festival promotes the sharing of ideas, tolerance and understanding of diverse cultures and backgrounds, but most importantly the young people who participate in the Festival learn and develop skill in the performing arts.  They are given the chance to tell their own stories while making new friends and simply having fun.” said Hannes Berger, Program Manager for Outreach & Access Education, Families & Young People at the Arts Centre.

First established in 1996, the Fairfax Festival began when the then Performing Arts Director for Swan Hill Rural City Council John Fowler, invited George Fairfax to direct and host an evening with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra to be held on the banks of the Murray River. George accepted the invitation but, sadly, became ill and died before the event could be presented.

With the aim of remembering George in some significant way, John approached George’s wife, Vicki Fairfax, with the idea of establishing a regional schools’ theatre festival in the same general area where George had spent his childhood. Vicki not only agreed to have the festival named in George’s memory, but also accepted the invitation to become its patron.

The first George Fairfax Memorial Regional Youth Theatre Festival was held in November 1997.

In 2009, the festival was remodelled into a three day, non-competitive event comprising of workshops and rehearsals with leading professional artists and a gala performance event on the final evening.

“The Fairfax Festival is a time for young people from all over Victoria who are disadvantaged by their regional or remote location or socio-economic situation to come together and show each other the creativity and ingenuity that they are capable of achieving,” Fairfax Director Claire Glenn said.

Ms Glenn, who is now in her fourth year of involvement with the festival added that it was rewarding to give young people from regional and remote regions of Victoria opportunities that were not readily available to them, and having been both manager and director of the festival, has seen it go from strength to strength.

“This festival provides its young participants with the opportunity to showcase their talent while learning from the best in the business and the Fairfax Festival is proud to boast a “Who’s Who” of Australian performing artists as our tutors.”

In 2011, the Fairfax Festival can confirm the participation of guest artists Don Bridges, Kaarin Fairfax, Penelope Bartlau, Beth Child, Douglas Bair and Dan West. The festival also continues its proud association with The Arts Centre who will provide this year’s principal tutor, Petra Kaliv.

Along with the Festival Director, the Festival Committee is also proud to announce the first ever Fairfax Family Young Artist in Residence. This is an opportunity for an ex-participant of the festival, who, having completed Year 12 in 2009 or 2010 aims to pursue a career in the Arts.

Caitlyn Barclay is excited to be awarded the first recipient of this residency and will receive $3000 to help support her career development, plus the opportunity to work with professional artists throughout 2011.

“The opportunity to give something back to the festival that first kindled my love of the Arts is an amazing gift especially as it’s the 15^th year,” Ms Barclay said.

While Adrian has been tripping about through Egypt and Israel, Sharyn and I have been hard at work to make sure that 2011′s Fairfax Festival is the best yet!

Did you know that we now have 12 groups registered!! It’s very exciting – especially because eight of those groups are new to the Festival.  We have now confirmed our guest artists and I will be meeting with them on June 24 to discuss all of the workshops that we will be offering at this year’s Festival – but here’s the inside tip… there will definitely be circus… there might be some puppetry…. there might even be some sound design on some state of the art equipment… What I can tell you is that these workshops are going to be incredibly awesome and will be run by some of the biggest names in the business including Don Bridges, Kaarin Fairfax, Beth Child, Dan West, Penelope Bartlau, Douglas Bair and Petra Kaliv.  Petra will be making her way around to all the schools in August.

We are now awaiting announcements of funding applications we submitted earlier in the year.  Remember to keep all of your fingers and toes crossed for us! The more funding we receive, the more we can include over the four days!!

Claire Glenn

Artistic Director

Group Registration form 2012

Hi Fairfaxers!

Who’s excited for Fairfax?? I know I am! For those of you that don’t know, I’m very excited to inform you that I am the Young Artist is Resident for the 2011 festival, which means that I will be working alongside the Fairfax team to bring you a festival that’s bigger and better then ever! Especially since it’s the 15th year!

It’s been about a month since I officially became the Fairfax Festivals first ever Young Artist in Residence or YAR for short as we like to call it (preferably with a pirate accent), and I’ve been learning a lot about what goes on behind the scenes of putting the festival together and let me be the one to tell you that the amount that goes into it is incredible, I definitely have a new found respect for Claire and Adrian.

Since becoming the YAR I’ve been on an information road show to Portland, been working on grant and sponsorship applications, written a media release, called newspapers around the country and even done a radio interview with a local station!

You also need to get on Facebook and become a fan of our new page; not only will it keep you in the know on what’s been happening with the festival, but will let you know what awesome things are coming up!

So until next time, go on a creative tangent and keep working on your pieces!

Caitlyn.

The Fairfax Festival is pleased to announce the appointment of the first ever Young Artist in Residence – Caitlyn Barclay.

This is an opportunity extended to an ex-participant of the festival, who having completed Year 12 in 2009 or 2010, aims to pursue a career in the Arts.

Ms. Caitlyn Barclay is excited to be awarded all the opportunities afforded by this residency, including $3,000 to help support her career development, plus the opportunity to work with professional artists of international renown.

“The opportunity to give something back to the festival that first kindled my love of the Arts is an amazing gift especially as it’s the 15^th year,” Ms Barclay said.