Elizabeth Thompson

MUSICIAN ~ ARTIST ~ DANCER

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Elizabeth Thompson turned 7 today!

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MAD Namesake

Mechanical Art & Design Museum, 

Stratford Upon Avon, England

A fun afternoon was spent in Stratford Upon Avon, not only at the birthplace of our best known playwright, William Shakespeare, but at the MAD museum, situated just several buildings away, along the same road, on Henley Street.

The museum houses an impressive, entertaining collection of automata, kinetic art and extraordinary designs made by acclaimed artists from around the world.

Optically illusive Einstein

Many of the exhibits are mesmerising to see in action, and a few are distinctly creepy! This portrait of Albert Einstein, above, contrary to what it appears, is actually an inverted, ‘concave’ painted image, or a ‘counter-relief’. 

‘Doctor, - about those slimming pills you prescribed...’

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Meryton Mob Ball, Shrewsbury

An occasion worth roaring over..

Regency, routish jollity is spreading further afield, to Shropshire. 

Mr Sayer’s Players were asked to provide merry and mobtastic music on the evening of the 4th February 2017, for Meryton Mob, a Wolverhampton based Regency dance group. 

The venue was the Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, a most befitting setting for a Regency ball. 

..and the ballroom of the Lion Hotel is probably one of the prettiest rooms we have performed in, for a Regency evening dance.

The interior decor drew instant appeal. The mint colouring of the walls piped with white, icing-like embellishment, complimented by the damask rose drapery and warm tones of the wooden sprung floor, combined to create an elegant, inviting room for our entertainment. At the far end, the stage, positioned in front of tall, graceful bay windows, was a comfortable, spacious platform on which to set up camp for MSP.

chandelier and ceiling detail

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Meryton Mob Ball Gallery

From the top:

1. Mr Sayer’s Players

2. View along the ballroom

3. supper ‘round’ table

4. Ceiling and chandelier detail 

5. View down the set

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The Hobbit ~for MIND,  open allotment afternoon

Northumberland Road, Royal Leamington Spa

Dr. Jephson’s players took their most recent production on tour, presenting a clip of The Hobbit as part of the official opening of the allotment project supported by the mental health charity Mind. 

29th July 2016 

The Hobbit’s Dragon

..more dragons, musically talented, at least!

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Elizabeth Thompson turned 1 today!

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Dr Jephson’s Players, performing The Hobbit

‘The Play in the Park’ has become a tradition of the last ten years, by Dr Jephson’s Players, a group of local residents, who, with their shared interest in drama performance put on a show in the Jephson Gardens, Royal Leamington Spa. 

During this time I have been very fortunate to be asked to play the musical accompaniment and to provide suitable period tunes both at the start and finish of each performance. I consider it to be an all round enthusiastic endeavour, as it is created out of a sheer love to entertain, to express acting skills and to be involved in the multi-dimensional process of a drama production. 

An accomplished illustrator too!

I have an excellent fourth edition book of the The Hobbit. Below is the jacket design, by J.R.R.Tolkien.

and one of a series of charming scenes inside, all of which were illustrated by the author.

The Map of Middle Earth..

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Alvechurch French Dance

Saturday afternoon french-dance class, Alvechurch, nr. Redditch.

Traditional french dance encompasses a great variety of rhythms and formations, which reflect the variations of the style and focus cultivated within the country’s regions.

This feature explains much of its appeal: there are dances for a couple, for 2, 3 and 4 couples, for long sets, single snake lines and circles for the individual or pairs and more besides. 

Dances are not called as they are danced. Any one of its variations is usually learned beforehand, practiced to then synchronise with the corresponding rhythms of the music. Music is usually played live and, essentially is the main support driving the dance, as well as, perhaps, with the guiding collective movement provided by others dancers.

It’s interesting to consider the common characteristics within the french dance traditions. I see a focus on subtlety of footwork, small steps, phrases in footwork which are repeated over & over to form the dance. In fact many of the dances are about repeated shapes to form distinct patterns. 

A two couple bouree

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HYl6dxq5-U)

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Stonesfield Folk Dance Club

John Graham & friends performing on stage (with special guest recorder player!)

This long-standing folk group meets at Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, every Wednesday evening, 8 -10 pm. It is one of the few clubs that runs throughout the year, hosting dances over Christmas and throughout the Summer months. It also celebrates its own annual weekend festival in June. 

The group presents a range of calling and folk dance styles, accompanied by both live and recorded music.

For more information click the link post below..

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It’s worth tracking down!

Stonesfield is a very pretty rural village, mainly built of the local quarried stone, located in a quiet area in the north Oxfordshire countryside. It has a sizeable village hall with a large stage and good, comfortable sprung floor.

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The Spa Rout Ball, Royal Leamington Spa

The Assembly Room, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa.

Possibly my biggest gig to date, playing with Mr Sayers Players for the inaugural Spa Rout Ball, organised by the Rout Regency dancers of Eathorpe, Warwickshire, March 2016.

Over ninety attendees helped make the evening a joyous, successful occasion. The frocks flounced, the footwork was fanciful and the spa water flowed! 

MSP Stage presence!

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The Spa Rout

The young Queen Victoria's visit overshadows memory of earlier royal visitors. This late Georgian Spa town has entertained both extremes of society: Prinny (The Prince Regent) in 1809 en route to...

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Cathedral Contra Dance

A night out in the city of Coventry:

This year’s IVFDF (Inter-Varsity-Folk-Dance-Festival) was hosted by Warwick University, the venues for which were located in and around the centre of Coventry. I was delighted to discover that an evening contra dance was taking place in the magnificent interior of the modern Coventry Cathedral.

From one end of the cathedral..

to the other..

A vibrant scene. 

Contra Dance. Caller: Rhodri Davies, Band: The Night Before.

I felt quite moved to be a part of such a thrilling event, at my local cathedral. I feel to have an affinity with the cathedral itself as the architecture shares many similarities with that of Oakley Wood Crematorium, my childhood home and spiritual woodland playground. The crematorium was designed by an associate within the architectural firm of Sir Basil Spence, the same firm who were responsible for the rebuilding of the cathedral after its destruction in the Coventry Blitz, during World War Two. 

Oakley Wood Crematorium

Sketch of Coventry Cathedral: new build alongside old ruin.

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Cathedral Contra Dance

A night out in the city of Coventry..

The monumental tapestry Christ in Glory, inside Coventry Cathedral

Good Friday Orchestra Practice.

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A catalogue of themes concerning aspects of the recorder worldwide.

A lovely looking recorder website to hopefully inspire me to create my own some day!

Take a minute to have a browse..

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Maggots & More, Acocks Green, Birmingham.

Maggots and More is a folk dance group that gathers at Acocks Green Methodist Church Hall, Birmingham. It was formed and is run by Frances Richardson, a very knowledgeable dancer and experienced caller from the West Midlands.

I first went along to the club 18 months ago and found it instantly likeable in a number of ways. The group meets every third Sunday afternoon of the month, for me a quiet and suitable time in the week to be pleasantly engaged with folk activity! The hall space, although modest in scale is proportioned to accommodate the numbers of the group nicely. Its location is not far away, its facilities are good and the acoustics of the room complement both recorded and live music. The warm welcome and friendliness of the group had also left a good impression upon me.  

I was therefore encouraged to contact Frances to see if she would be willing to have a solo recorder player providing the music for part of a Sunday afternoon programme. I explained to her that I was seeking opportunities to play solo or as a duo, so that I could develop my technical abilities and all-round communication skills and confidence as a musician, for dancing.

Consequently I have had the opportunity to play on a number of occasions since. Here I am playing at our January session, which, encouragingly, had a healthy number of dancers in attendance. Taking the helm in Frances’s absence was Barbara Kinsman, an equally well known, extremely knowledgeable Playford dancer and caller whom I had the privilege to collaborate with in helping her prepare her dance programme for that afternoon.

Barbara chose an interesting set of tunes: Dull Sir John, Early One Morning, Monica’s Delight, Neat Mr John, Hillingdon Heath, The Round and Mr Ganiford’s Delight, as well as a few impromptu choices! Much of the music could be found in the two volumes ‘Barnes collections of English Country Dance tunes’. The material was a pleasure to practice, a joyful mix of both familiar and new tunes. On the day, clear and direct communication exchanged between caller and musician. Just how we like it! I loved the experience and I look forward to hopefully playing again..

I took my own mic and speaker along with me to create an emphasised effect. This enhanced the voice of the recorder just enough, with the room’s own acoustics blending favourably with the amplified sound.