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Future Activity
Premieres
Purity is to Will One Thing
This is my prayer, that your love will grow more and more with full knowledge and insight, so, that you may choose the best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messaiah return. Phil. 1: 9-10
The mis-conception of what purity is or is not stimulated this newest piece by Belleherst. A dance/drama visualizing in music and dance the statement:
Passion distilled in purity empowers to truly love
is further explored in a forum which follows the performance.This piece will tour widely this year, especially to youth groups.
The Regina Monologue
You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they shall reign on the earth . Rev. 5:10
Belleherst will premiere a novel musical drama which explores the mystery of our destiny in Christ., as His bride and ruling partner. An aged regent prepares in a ceremonial robing to address her kingdom for the last time. In the process she reflects on how her father raised her to be a Queen every day of her life in spite of her illigitimate and low-cast standing. The mystery slowly unfolds as she dresses. Watch for premiere announcements.!
Der ICH-BIN Geber
September 17th in Markt Schawben, Germany, Belleherst's children's musical, The I AM Giver will premiere in the German language played by Agnes von Bel ow and Bettina Kräuter. A children's workshop will follow the performance of this charming musical. This is a message on false labeling and true identity which every child should hear.
Journey to There
The first play Belleherst produced in Europe in the early 90's was an adaptation of Hannah Hurnnah's classic allegory, Hind's Feet on High Places. Kathleen adapted this intimate story based on the Song of Songs into a musical with environmental staging out into the audience. Gary Peinke (now teaching and directing in Konstanz, Germany- see web link for Gary's Spotlight Studio below) wrote the original score. The Purple Line Theatre of Kuldigas will produce this physical theatre -style musical this year. It is set to premiere summer 2013. We are all looking forward to the return of this inspiring show.
Midsummer Night's Dream for Young People
Belleherst's adaptation of Shakespeare's wonderful comedy on love offers the Polish school a real opportunity to bring forth issues with young people concerning what love is all about. The second year of the Polish Studio for Movement Theatre will produce this creative , physical theatre adaptation which has brought so many accolades to the Purple Line Theatre in Latvia when it premiered three years ago.
It will premiere in Poland in the summer of 2013.
Master classes
Riga, Latvia Sept. 14-18
Rhythm Techniques for Directors
In September, Kathleen will teach a second round of masterclasses in Riga, Latvia. The first of these will be for theatre directors on the secrets and significance of rhythm techniques on the stage. This will be a first time offering of this class and is eagerly anticipated
Breath in Motion
This will be the third masterclass on breath which Kathleen has conducted in Riga. Once introduced to the importance of breath to our health, movement, emotional healing and effective communication, there is a demand to go deeper into the teaching. She will teach both a new class and an advanced class.
Vocal Skills for the Stage and Pulpit
The Kuldigas Art Studio for Movement Theatre will hold a six day masterclass for vocal skills in November. Freeing vocal production, increasing voice dynamics, and a creative use of the voice for effective communication are subjects of great interest to those who don the stage or are placed behind a public pulpit. The art of the voice is quickly disappearing in our world of electronic gagetry. Belleherst feels strongly about resisting this trend and supporting teaching and experience which will open a world of facination for those who enter into the study of man's greatest instrument - the voice.
Workshops
50 Plus Workshop for Body Awareness
Kathleen will be teaching, once again , for Sztuk Misja as they sponsor the Gründwig EU workshop, 50 Plus , in June, 2013 in Krakov, Poland. This workshop will be open to men and women who are 50 years of age or over. Those who want to have a better knowledge of their bodies and to explore movement and creative expression are encouraged to attend.
Learning to be safe and increase strength and flexibility in the body during this part of life's journey is an opportunity not often offered, Belleherst is very excited to participate in this offering.
Links
Websites
Physical Theatre
Homepages
Youtube videos
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Belleherst Productions -
Candles in the Window
Kerzen im Fenster |
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Belleherst Productions:
See Me! Hear Me! |
Wacek Bylok- sponsor of Polish Studio for Movement Theatre and Katheen Ann Thompson - 21 years o f ministry together.
Cieszka, managing director of the Polish school and Kathleen
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Belleherst Productions...
crossing borders to communicate
Fall Newsletter - August 2012 |
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Dear Friends of Belleherst,
The last six months (since my February newsletter) have been a half year of bowing my head lower and lower in gratitude for the growing awareness that it is not I that lives, but Christ that lives in me. Life is not about me. I am about Life - His life. It is Him in me I am discovering in a very present way which I have never so fully experienced before. It is He that is leading me into paths I do not know. Like a blind man, I put my hand in His and trust His every leading. I will lead the blind by a road they do not know. By paths they have not known I will guide them. Isaiah 42:16
I have not had a vacant space of time, before this one, to write this letter. So, I take this short selah and reflect for both yours and my benefit on how Christ has filled those spaces with Himself and poured out the scandalous Grace of the cross on all who would dare to stand in the middle of its flowing path. Belleherst is about education, presentation and mentoring. Here is how the last six months looked.
In Truth, Kathleen Thompson
Artistic Director, Belleherst Productions
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Educational Events:
Masterclasses Workshops Schools |
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Masterclasses: Commedia dell'Arte
Breath in Action
In June, Kathleen conducted masterclasses in Commedia dell'Arte for theatre directors, professional actors and drama students at the Cultural College in Riga and the Cultural Center of Jelgava, Latvia. The classes were packed and the reception was truly heartening. The genre of Commedia dell'Arte is little known or correctly appreciated in Latvia, but there is a growing interest in the techniques. Some of this interest has been peaked at Festivals at which our school's theatre, The Purple Line Theatre, has presented productions using these powerful techniques. There are no more skillful actors than those in control of these techniques and no better way to approach difficult subjects of spiritual depth in a contemporary populous than with this genre.
The Breath in Action class attracted a wide variety of people; pastors, teachers, and performers of all ages. Breath is so foundational to our health, our emotional healing from trauma, our effective vocal communication and to our grace and power in movement. It is, by its nature, an intimate teaching requiring careful mentoring of participants who make a choice to TRUST you and themselves. It always ends up to be a spiritual experience and related to our Pneuma (an ancient Greek word for breath meaning spirit or soul). Workshops: EU Universal Communication & Mime Workshop - Krakov, Poland Drama Workshop - Zagreb, Croatia
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For the second year, Kathleen taught the Gründwig- sponsored workshop on Univeral Body Communication and Mime Techniques in Krakov, Poland. Eight countries were represented, giving a rich tapestry of cultural material to contrast the universality of body communication understood by all cultures in our world. Man is made in God's image and behaves in an amazingly common way, in spite of the multitude of specific cultural differences. Sztuk Misja, the covering organization which sponsors our Polish Christian School for Movement Theatre, organized and ran the workshop with applauded efficiency, grace and professionalism. It has been a chance for Christian youth in churches all over the EU to receive professional training in the area of communication.
April found Belleherst in Zagreb with wonderful ministry relationships which are 22 years old. These relationships are seasoned with years of love and the sharing of the same spiritual passions. We are all much older and some much slower than earlier, but the longings and passions to share the love and wonder of our Lord are as young and virginal as they were two decades ago. Kathleen taught a drama workshop for the creative team of a Pentecostal church in Zagreb. Helping young churches develop a creative ministry to communicate the Gospel is a priority with Belleherst and always a privilege. Young people have ideas and enthusiasm and are looking for those mentors who can lead them into the experiences which have imparted mature knowlege to those who have gone before.
Schools: Polish Studio for Movement Theatre Kuldiga Art Studio / Movement Theatre
 The Polish school had a spectacluar year which ended in July with the summer production, UPSIDE DOWN. This year's class was a big change for our school. Our reputation for highly professional training and a special learning environment has attracted many professional actors who are not believers. We embraced these students in the grace of Christ and established a 35 week prayer project for our students which involved 47 people from several countries. We had open discussions on faith and developed close relationships with these students. In our end-of-the-year summer show, a non-believer lobbied to play the Christ figure in the play. He was finally cast in that role and was wonderful! People on and off the stage commented on his moving performance. We were all deeply enriched by the addition of these students. We applauded Eveline, Raphael and Pamela who performed their final diplomas. CONGRATULATIONS!
2012 diplomas and awards: Eveline , Raphael, Pamela    
Our Latvian school in Kuldigas was a very talented class which provided us with a new cast of talent for the school's theatre, The Purple Line Theatre's, new production. One of our students went on to the Cultural College in Riga and another to the Latvian Academy of the Arts in Riga. The Latvian school is attracting older students who are finding the courage and determination to dare to go after what they know is deep in their hearts to do, but no one has ever given them a chance to learn and develop. It has been very fulfilling to mentor and encourage these students and watch them excel. The success of our training there has paved a way to conduct the masterclasses in Riga. We see God opening up doors of opportunity and realms of influence. Our hearts are very grateful.
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Productions :
Belleherst Ensemble Tours Belleherst Solo shows
Cooperation with A440 Choir
S treet Theatre Festivals Belleherst Plays |
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Belleherst Ensemble Tours
Kerzen im Fenster
The Belleherst Ensemble toured their classic drama on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Kerzen im Fenster to West Wales, to Austria where they were part of the Toleranz Woche and to Germany. In Wales it was on one of those  paths not known of before. This was an exciting experience to go to this wild and woolly country where the audience was invited by getting in a Land Rover and sloshing through the water filled rutted country roads to the local farms and small isolated communities. When the curtain went up on this performance, there was barely enough room to squeeze all the people into the performance space. The forum following this performance was the best forum Belleherst has ever presided over in the history of this play. How surprised we were to find such an eager, erudite community of people camouflaged in the rural lands of West Wales. We are anxious to return. God's ways are always mysterious and very exciting.
Spring Again
Spring Again was true to its name this spring as it sprung up to delighted audiences in France, Croatia and Poland. Spring Again is a musical mime which continues to be a message of hope and vision in our very insecure and often faithless world.
Every Little Moment
Every Little Moment is small mime about living every moment with the awareness of the presence of Jesus. Recognizing that our life is not really our life to live,
but it is our life in Christ which He lives through our yielded nature. As we change the perspective on how we look at our everyday life, we begin to have a new awareness, moment to moment, of Christ living his life in this world through us. Kathleen performed this in Zagreb before giving a teaching on the same subject to a charismatic Catholic group. It was followed by a very meaningful time of prayer.
Purity is to Will One Thing
Purity is to Will One Thing premiered this spring in Zagreb, Croatia at a Carmelite Evening in a Carmelite Pa  rish to a youth group. This is Belleherst newest solo show, a dance/drama  based on Soern Kierkegaard's work of the same title. What does it mean to be pure of soul and what role should passion play in our life in our pursuit of True Love? Is purity about something anaemic, impotent and boring or is it about passion and the power to truly love. This was the subject of the youth forum which we held immediately following the performance. A frank, vibrant and surprisingly intimate discussion brought together impressions,  questions and testimonies so relevant to young people living in a world of collapsing moral structures. The show went on to performances in Munich at Malachim and Poland. In Poland the evening finished with a candlelight discussion in Kathleen's room.
Belleherst Cooperation
Reading A440 Choir
Reading's A440 Choir produced a choral play, Where Is Fancy Bred in June in Wokingham, U.K.. It was Belleherst privilege to work three weeks on this production in the U.K. . Kathleen worked with movement for the choir, developed costumes and choreographed her own four dances in the play. Patricia Beall Gavigan, the choir's artistic director wrote and directed this lovely musical message with a Shakespearean theme and a spiritual tapestry of beautiful music. Belleherst is always enriched by collaboration with other artistic groups in projects which bond us together in common goals. Many new friends were added and the possibility to work together again is certainly there.
Street Theatre
Upside Down
Belleherst spread its influence and the reputation of the training offered at the newly formed
Polish Christian Studio for Movement Theatre by years of street theatre tours throughout Eastern Europe during the 1990s. Street theatre still remains a great outreach of evangelistic influence during the summer in Poland and Latvia. Each school produces a new street drama to bring the school year to a rousing finish. It's time for the students to apply what they learned and a  t  ime to witness of the Gospel. Upside Down was the the show in Poland. Its theme was the deception of people who are really living on a spiritual dump and think it is paradise. A flock of crows are feasting on the residents of this dump when the fire brigade comes to burn the dump down in order to get rid of the crows. The people on the dump are saved and the dump transformed from Paradise Lost to Paradise Found by a ragpicker who sacrifices himself to the crows in order to save the people from the fire brigade. We had stilts, fire swallowers, jumpers (special spring shoes) to add street-quality entertainment and a great cast of fine players. We prayed away the rain and did four performances with wonderful crowds who stayed to dance and ta
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Cast of Upside Down |
lk with us after the performance. One viewers comments were sent to us by email.
This kind of ART moves layers of imagination which I was not aware of in me. The message causes me to look at the reality around me with new eyes, congratulations! Henryk Kolender"   The King of the World In Latvia the summer show was for children. The King of the World was based on the nursery rhyme, Humpity Dumptity sat on a wall, Humptiy Dumptity had a great fall, All the King's men and All the King's horses couldn't put Humptity Dumptiy back together again. The King who didn't look like a king and ruled from the heart and not from might was pushed off the wall for impersonating a true king. And although, the loyal King's horses and men pulled the fallen King back up on the wall, He was not put back together again and couldn't rule.....his heart lay broken on the ground. No one could pick up the pieces of the King's heart....except the one who truly loved him, his bride. She finds his heart and puts it back together again and the King is revived. He brings her to hold his heart and to share his throne - to rule with him in love. Scores of wonderful and amazed children came with their parents. After the performance, we told them the story of Jesus and gave out gift boxes from Samaritan Purse and had a great time of dancing with them all. Belleherst Plays The Pieta When one has invested so many decades in creative work to bring the Gospel message and the understanding of Christ into the world, it is particularly rewarding to find that younger talented people are taking that effort and multiplying it and sending it out. Our school's managing director, Cieszka, is a wonderful talent who took my solo show, The Pieta, to a large evangelistic conference in Hungary this year. It was a huge venue and a very gratifying experience. It was particularly effective in exposing pastors and Christian workers to the powerful effectiveness of using drama to reveal spiritual truths. Many said they would never think of the Pieta in the same way again. They had seen something of deep revelation. The I AM Giver (Der ICH-BIN Geber) One of the most exciting events of this year has been the translation of Belleherst's children's musical, The I AM Giver. This wonderful musical with its message about being falsely labeled in our world by people and never exposed to our true identity, given us by God, is s o important for young children. It has now been translated into German and will be performed by Agnes von Below (part of Belleherst's Ensemble) and Bettina Kräuter. It premiers in the Munich area on Sept. 17th. The show is also on schedule for Latvia and Poland in 2013. This will mean that it will be available and played in four languages. Excited we are! |
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About you
Thank you for your continued interest and support in Belleherst vision . We keep on because you keep on. We love hearing from you and we love serving you. So, if we can aid your visions in any way, please contact us.
Every Blessing to you, Belleherst Productions |
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