Keisha Thompson's Afrofuturistic Man on the Moon

Trinity’s new season of Theatre and Dance is all about celebrating change and features a strong cast of female led  performances - launching with Keisha Thompson’s Afro futuristic journey of displacement and family relationships, Man on the Moon (March 23) and Ella Mesma’s emotionally charged fusion of hip hop and latin dance, Ladylike (24 March).

Thompson’s Man on the Moon is a bruk down journey, through space and time, fuelled by love and fear. Using poetry, looped sounds and story-telling, Keisha’s intimate performance explores the Black British experience of mental health and how that can impact the family dynamic. While Ella’s Ladylike fuses Afro Cuban, Breaking, Rocking and Contemporary dance theatre to fight & undress preconceptions of what it is to be ‘Ladylike’.

Uchenna Dance’s The Head Wrap Dairies (13 April) is “ an amazing piece that I know that a lot of people have been dying to see” says Natasha Benjamin who runs the award winning weekly urban dance group Hype at Trinity.

“I think Head Wrap Diaries really embraces the struggle that the Afro Caribbean community is going through at the moment, especially young girls and women, for many years of growing up not knowing when or where the natural form of their hair will be accepted, so I think seeing this piece will be an eye opener to those that may not be aware or may not understand the struggle of this issue.”

Natasha, sits on Trinity’s programming forum – who share their thoughts on possible shows for our in-house programme. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, so asking communities to help us shape our programme means the work we bring here is relevant to our audiences.

IGNiTE Launches with Man on the Moon, March 23. 7.30pm at The Trinity Centre. For tickets and more, head to IGNiTE's what's on.

About IGNiTE

Trinity's in house programme of world-class, innovative theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. IGNiTE is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Student writes lyrics during a youth music session

“The Trinity Centre has a proven track record of helping young people channel their energy into music, young people who may have struggled to find their way in school and have a raw musical talent but no way of developing this. We’re delighted to be partnering with Basement Studios and ACE for this important youth music project.” Emma Harvey, Trinity’s Centre Director

We are really excited to announce that we have join forces with Basement Studio at The Station and ACE at Docklands Youth Centre to provide life-changing music-making experiences for young people in Bristol.

Funded by Youth Music, Making Tracks is a two year collaborative partnership that offers young people from the inner city communities of Easton, Lawrence Hill and Ashley and Central Bristol to take their first steps into their music making journey. Young people can take part in music-making sessions, workshops and showcase events and will have access to 1-2-1 support and performance opportunities - to take the next steps in their own music-making journey.

Young people will have the chance to take part in a range of activities: tailored 121 and small group music making sessions mentoring, peer learning and joint-project activity showcase events and performances live-learning Q&As with artists & industry professionals.

Are you an aspiring musician wanting to get involved ? Would you like to refer a young person? Find out more here or email davet@3ca.org.uk.

My name is Imoleayo and I live in Bristol. Before I started the Youth Music sessions at Trinity I wasn't doing very much, I was doing okay at school and doing some music sessions in a group - but not really learning very much.

I came here to get guidance and help so that by the time I get back to school I wouldn’t be lost. I would know what I’m doing, so yeah, Trinity really helped out.

My Mum found out about Trinity by searching online and we though that Trinity's courses would suit me the best, they are local and the people seemed really nice.

When I first came I was really shy, so my Mum came along and I just forgot she was there. I got totally involved in the session and it was like heaven. My confidence has grown and now I am like; ‘okay, if I can do it through music then I must be able to do it through just speaking to someone or meeting new people’.

Since being at Trinity I joined the BFI Film Academy and made a documentary! I've also been on Ujima, the communtiy radio based in Bristol, have gained work experience with a few companies and I am studying for my A Levels.

Photo credits @ Khali Ackford

From tapestry to pews, to the ornate floor and ceiling tiles - woodcarving, clay, textiles and stained glass all highly featured both inside and outside the Holy Trinity Church (now the Trinity Centre) when it opened in 1832. Whilst many of these features are no longer with us, you can still see the remains of the artisan crafted features if you look up in the Fyfe Hall or, walk past the beautiful stained glass windows. As part of our Heart & Soul project, we want to give residents the opportunity to find out more about the heritage of Trinity, through learning the traditional crafts and skills used in building the centre.

“Loved it! Best way to spend a Saturday hands-down. Learning new skills, meeting new people – fab!!”

Our first block of workshops started on Saturday 10 Feb, delivered by stained glass artist Liz Barton, ceramicist Joanna Espiner, textile artist Ruth Ramsey and woodcarver Daniel Bendel. They will be working with participants, across two blocks of workshops, to create collaborative artwork to display across Trinity.

In these initial workshops participants explored Trinity’s features, looking at how the crafts were originally used across the building. Using this as inspiration, participants spent the morning designing their artwork and the afternoon learning the basics of the traditional crafts.

Missed out on these workshops? Our second block of workshops starts in April, sign up here! Please note we have limited spaces and that you will need to complete all sessions (this are not taster workshops).

While you are here, we have a big favour to ask, we need your help.

The Trinity Centre is at risk, and you can help to safeguard it’s future.

I joined one of Trinity's Youth Music courses when I was 17, I was having a really hard time, I'd been kicked out and was on probation. When my probation officer suggested the course to me I didn't even know they existed.

I separated myself from the bad people around me and I had something to focus on - it was a place to come where you don’t feel judged. It's really welcoming and it was nice to have people that believe in you.

So I joined up to the sessions and the tutors helped me put together a CD. To build up my confidence I worked with a lady who worked at Trinity at the time, she helped me with performance - standing on stage singing, things like that. It was just a big self confidence booster for me and gave me the determination to actually do something. I then went off to Access to Music and got my diploma in Music and it was an upward spiral from there on really.

Now I am studying part-time at university whilst also working at a residential young person's care provision with young people aged 8-18.

I am a 21 year old singer songwriter from Thornbury. I enjoy music and skateboarding.  A friend recommended Trinity's music session to me and I’ve really benefited from attending. It’s really good to be in a creative environment working with other musicians and collaborating with them. Coming in to Trinity means I was able to record my album.

It’s a comfortable environment. I’m comfortable with it. It helped me to be more productive and get work done. The staff at Trinity are professional but can have a laugh too, they also know when to knuckle down, which is good for me. I have definitely got more confident since I started. It’s been a boost to my confidence working with other people in a legitimate studio environment. It’s always interesting and enjoyable here at Trinity. There are always great opportunities going on.

Since attending the 121 sessions at Trinity I have gone on to attend a course a the renowned music school BIMM. Last year I performed at Trinity's AGM and played a professional gig at the Fleece in Bristol.

As you may know (by the sheer amount of scaffolding) we recently secured funding from Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England, All Churches Trust and 14 other funders, to undertake essential works to the The Trinity Centre, a Grade II* listed building. Alongside the essential building works we are also launching the  heritage project ‘Heart & Soul: Celebrating major life events at Trinity Bristol’. Alongside activities we will be collecting images, archive footage and stories from people who have had big life events here.

From the christenings, when the building was a church, to a first birthday party, there are hundreds of stories out there from all the communities who live around and use Trinity.

Local artisans specialising in clay, woodcarving, stained glass and textiles will deliver a series of workshops in the traditional craft skills used in the initial 1800’s building of the centre.Everyone is welcome to take part but older people, members of Bristol's BME communities and residents of BS5 & BS2 are particularly welcomed.

We will also be welcoming national speakers to a series of accessible evening talks, devised in partnership with Bristol's Architecture Centre & the University of the West of England (UWE). Looking at the challenges and achievements of reusing historic buildings speakers include Tim Ronalds, who brings a unique perspective on transforming some of the Britain's most iconic buildings, like Wiltons Music Hall, The Hackney Empire & Jackson's Lane.

We have a programme of activities to suit a range of ages, including a podcast project in partnership with local schools, history quests for children and families and a series of guided heritage walks. For the young at heart we have two memory dances – a morning of dancing and delicious cakes. Hosted by Dr Edson Burton, participants we will be encouraged to share their stories and memories of Trinity. As with all our heritage projects we will be collecting stories from residents, community members and all those who have a story to share about celebration at Trinity. In October the stories, images and archive material will be exhibited at Trinity at our end of project celebration event.

There are also volunteer roles for those who wish to gain skills or have an interest in heritage, as well as a part-time Project Assistant Internship (24 week, entry-level career development)to help us deliver this programme.

You can find out more about the activities here, by picking up a brochure from Trinity or various venues, cafes, and community spaces across Bristol or you can download a copy of the brochure here.

Lullabies workshop at Easton Community Centre. Photo @ Alexa Ledecky

Roxana is a multi-award winning Iranian/British multi-disciplinary artist working with music, storytelling, film and live performance in a participatory context for over 20 years. Core to Roxana’s work is a desire to connect with the human stories that unite us, using a multi art approach to tackle issues of racism, discrimination and belonging.

In 2018 Roxana joined the Trinity team developing her project, Lullabies, during her IGNiTE residency. Lullabies, was inspired by Roxana signing traditional Iranian lullabies to her children at night. Here she began to imagine how many others might be singing songs in different languages to their children and the stories behind them.

During her pilot project Roxana worked with local communities and schools to collect lullabies from families. She recorded interviews and songs from communities across Bristol, including Somali, Kurdish, Irish, Israeli, Iranian, Hungarian, German and Afro-Cuban songs.

In 2020 the project was selected to be part of Here and Now, a national project celebrating of 25 years of National Lottery Funding and showcasing everyday culture.

With the support of Trinity Roxana is continuing to develop Lullabies and in 2021 and will deliver online Zoom workshops. There is an open call for the public to submit their Lullabies and there are a series of adaptive podcasts with BBC R+D.

Be part of our archive celebrating the history of Trinity and the communities of Old Market

As part of our Heart and Soul: Trinity in the Community project we will be collecting stories, pictures and memorabilia documenting Trinity as a space of unique celebration & commemoration. We would love to hear from people who have memories of special occasions at Trinity - from christenings to weddings to civil partnerships to wakes to parties - from when Trinity was church, and now as a community arts venue. Your stories and pictures will form part of our end of project exhibition and online archive.

Want to get involved? Have a great story to share? Then contact Dr Edson Burton for more details: edson@3ca.org.uk with the subject header: Heart and Soul: Trinity in the Community

About the project

Heart and Soul: Trinity in the Community is a celebration of big life events at Trinity. Throughout 2018 there will workshops, talks and heritage activities for all ages. The project runs along side our most recent capital works and has been made possible with the help of these funders .

You can find out more about Heart and Soul: Trinity in the Community here, including how to get involved and how to contribute archive material here.

Come and join the heritage team for a cup of tea and a chat about how to get involved in volunteering for our 2018 Heart and Soul heritage project.

Roles include archiving, stewarding and marketing support. In a volunteer role you will be fully supported by the team, so come down, meet new people and learn something new!

Sessions are on Tuesday 16th Jan, either 1pm-3pm or  7pm-9pm, no sign up required.

Find out more about the event here

Dr Edson Burton sharing the tales of Old Market's rich history in June 2018 @Khali Ackford

'Medieval market' bustling High Street' ' home to the city's most prestigious cinema, churches, and music halls, ' 'a red light district' 'Bristol's gay quarter' now described as up and coming before .

Trinity invites you to join us for a series of Heritage Walks of the Old Market area with historian & writer Dr Edson Burton. They will explore first hand the physical and social historical changes that are making the area increasingly popular.

Revival:

1. an improvement in the condition, strength, or fortunes of someone or something

2. an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again

Through this series of guided walks, Dr Edson Burton reveals the ebb and flow of Trinity and Old Market's history. They take place on the following dates and times:

Thu 24th May, 6pm-8pm

Tue 12th June, 6pm-8pm

Tue 31st July, 2pm-4pm

Sun 16th Sep, 12pm-2pm (part of Bristol Doors Open Day)

Spaces are limited, so book your free place in advance, following the ticket links on each of the events

Head over the the Heart & Soul project page to find out about our other events and activities.

Ella Mesma

"I am super happy to be coming back to my Bristol Roots. It will be a very special project for me to be working in my home town and getting to know the community."  Ella Mesma

During her 2017 IGNiTE Artist residency, Ella Mesma used Latin, HipHop and Contemporary dance theatre to explore what it is to be a 'citizen of the world' and challenge notions of belonging, home, identity and coming of age as other through her project Foreign Bodies.

Ella discovered dance at Cotham school in Bristol, then trained at Laban and The Place, graduating with a postgraduate diploma in 2011. She also has a Politics and Sociology degree from Leeds University.

In 2013, she was selected as a future Dance Leader for the ABLE leadership program and in 2015, awarded a Bench fellowship for emerging female choreographers. She has trained internationally in Cuba, Brazil and USA including The Graham school- New York, La Ena- Havana, Deborah Colker- Rio De Janeiro and Funceb- Salvador da Bahia.

Credits include Russell Maliphant Company, Southpaw Company, Professional cast of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Wendy Houston, poet Warsan Shire, Adidas, and apprentice for Upswing Circus. She established Latin company Element Arts in Leeds in 2005 and has produced Roots of Rumba (an annual Latin Dance Theatre Festival) since 2013.

Sara Dos Santos

Following a successful career as a performer Sara Dos Santos commenced choreographing in 2011. Her thought provoking and emotionally charged work incorporates a variation of urban contemporary styles and raises awareness to social and political affairs.

Sara was awarded The Neriah Kumah Legacy GiG supported by One Dance UK, enabling her to travel to Brazil on a International exchange project to work alongside four astonishing dance companies and organisations across the country.

Over the course of the IGNiTE 2017 residency Sara worked to research and develop a new piece entitled Journies - A site specific piece incorporating an array of cross-generational artists working together to investigate, create and discuss submerged topics influencing our ever changing society.

Visit the artist's website to find out more.

Caroline Williams

Caroline Williams is an artist working in multi-disciplinary participatory performance. Her work focuses on current political issues. Using personal stories, she works to find the best way to powerfully communicate the heart of those stories.

At the core of her work is a passion to give an artistic platform to people who wouldn't necessarily think of themselves as artists. She is the lead artist of International Activities Club a company focusing on cross-cultural participatory performance.

Caroline used her time at Trinity to dive head first into creating experiments around the notion of ethnic segregation in Bristol and exploring what happens on a personal level and to communities through naming segregation before trying to break it apart through devising new patterns of communication and exchange.

2017 dance workshops hosted at Trinity by Latisha Cesar with Peniel Guerrier

"Historically Trinity has been a refuge for the outcast and has been known to stretch the boundaries of social acceptability. I feel it is only fitting that I explore my shame with a community that has never been mainstream but has always been accepting"

Latisha Cesar

Latisha Cesar is dancer and dance teacher that has studied, taught, and performed in the US, UK, Brazil. A native New Yorker, she studied dance at Lehman College at City University New York.

During Latisha's 2017 residency the artist developed Barye - a project that offered an introduction of Haitian culture to communities based in and around Trinity.

The programme included workshops and a sharing of traditional Haitian drumming and dance. The project also explored the themes of taboo, shame and the barriers that come with being other.

Visit the artist's website for more info

Uninvited Guests

Uninvited Guests are a Bristol-based company led by Paul Clarke, Richard Dufty and Jessica Hoffmann who took part in our 2017 IGNiTE Summer residencies programme.

"We intend to engage local participants in the process of creating and contributing to the project and we would like to conduct workshops with key community groups to develop the overarching narrative, to create the piece and to test its participative elements." Uninvited Guests

They create entertaining and provocative performance that combines high-tech with low tech, the visceral with the virtual and work in various contexts, focusing mainly on theatre and producing installation and audio walks.

Their work blurs the line between theatre and social festivities, with audiences joining in events that are celebratory and critical of the current times and they have toured nationally and internationally.

As part of their residency they worked on developing a new small-scale touring participative theatre piece (To Those Born Later, working title) about the legacy we leave our families, communities and society.

During this R&D phase they focused on creating the piece with the involvement of Trinity’s groups and that was stage as a public sharing for audiences in February 2018.

Art in Motion

“This opportunity will give us time and space to explore our common interest in the impact environments have on society and in imagining possible futures”. Helen Grant, Back in 5 Minutes Squad

Art in Motion and Back in 5 Minutes Squad - two very different artists groups based at Spike Island Studios in Bristol - worked together for the first time to produce an epic, evolving installation during their 2017 IGNiTE Summer residency.

Back in 5 Minutes Squad make immersive installations that imagine possible futures, taking a toungue-in-cheek look at the post-apocalyptic, the nihilistic, the existential and the revolutionary through the lens of popular culture.

Art in Motion is a not-for-prophit participatory arts organisation established in Bristol in 2013. The purpose of AIM is to provide opportunities for artists with learning disabilities to engage with contemporary multidisciplinary arts to explore ideas and concepts with a specific focus on heritage the built environment and a sense of place.

I am French but was born in Switzerland. I am mixed race. I currently in Staple Hill, Bristol. I was born with schizophrenia. I love music especially writing and recording positive rap lyrics. I am currently unemployed.

I was referred across to Trinity by one of my college tutors at Access to Music. I had managed to get through the first year of the course and achieved a pass but it was clear I would really struggle with the amount of assignments and paperwork involved in the second year so they linked me in with Trinity as an alternative. I can now focus on my music without stressing about paperwork which is a really good for me.

The benefit’s of being on a music course at Trinity  are that I can work on my lyrics, music, beats and prepare my album without any pressure. I can take my time. I’m really struggling with my illness at the moment and have been experimenting with different dosages of medication. Sometimes I come in and am too drowsy to properly concentrate on my work. Dave and Al are always really supportive and assure me that I can use the session in whatever way best suits me at the time. It’s good to know they understand. That makes a lot of difference. I enjoy working on a 1:1 basis this means I can get more positive things done in a short space of time.

It is nice to look back.

Last year we very excitedly launched our in- house Theatre and Dance and programme - IGNiTE. Our aim - to curate  an exciting programme of work that would resonate with everyone who uses and lives around Trinity.

Thanks to funding from Arts Council, an amazing team,  our programming forum (who have helped steer the programme throughout the year) and every artist, audience member and participant our first step into the world of programming world class theatre and dance , supporting artists to crete new work and ensuring our community benefits from artistic excellence .... has been great.

So while we sit back and make plans for our next programme we thought we'd share some of the best moments and successes.

1.Vicki Igbokwe talking to us about the power of dance

2.  Cardboard Citizens challenging us all in the Forum Theatre section of Cathy.

3. Selling nearly half of all our ticket at concessions rate

4. Meaning that our audiences are reflective of Bristol's inclusive and diverse communities

5. Rider Shafique blowing us away with his solo performance of I-Dentity

6. 1500+ people watching, taking part, dancing, asking questions and celebrating with us

7.  Afreena Islam's honest performance to a room full of our regular centre users

8. Supporting six artists and companies with community & participation at the core of their practice to develop work and deliver workshops at Trinity

9. All the people who stayed for the Q+A's and took part in sometimes difficult but always provoking conversations

Read more about IGNiTE here

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Paradise City

Over ten days IGNiTE summer residents Back in 5 Minutes Squad and Art in Motion will be creating an evolving installation up in our Fyfle Hall.

This is super exciting as Spike Island Residents  - Back in 5 Minutes Squad and emerging not-for-profit participatory arts organisation Art in Motion (AIM) will be collaborating for the first time for this project.

Evolving over the ten days of the residency these two diverse groups will collaborate to portray their vision of an ideal, egalitarian future in which humans of all types and abilities coexist peacefully and purposefully together - the fabric of this future city will reflect the diverse and idiosyncratic interests of all the artists involved.

From Monday 19 the artists invite you to visit during this exciting process and Paradise City will be open to everyone for a celebration event from 5-7pm in the Graffiti Room at Trinity on Thursday 29 June.

Paradise City is supported by Arts Council England via Grants for the Arts and by Trinity Community Arts.