The Lyric Lounge
LYRIC LOUNGE NOTTINGHAM
The Lyric Lounge 2010
Spoken words, lyrics, poems…and a pocket full of truths
The Lyric Lounge 2010 is a season of mini-festivals in Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Loughborough. The season celebrates spoken word in transformed spaces, with an aim to inspire new writers and performers through workshops, mentoring and showcases.
24th, 25th & 26th September
New Art Exchange
39 – 41 Gregory Boulevard
Nottingham NG7 6BE
Telephone +44 (0)115 924 8630
Join YARD Youth Theatre, your Lyric Lounge hosts, at New Art Exchange for a weekend of inspiring spoken word performances and stimulating workshops, on poetry and lyrics.
Drop in on a workshop, have a one-to-one poetry critique, participate in a live performance, practice your rhymes on the open mic, DJ and design your own album cover, enjoy delicious food, be entertained with music and poetry over ‘Lyrical Teatimes’ or catch a film to blow your mind.
Be sure to stay around for the festival finale on Sunday night when Tilt presents Nottingham Liming – where carnival meets spoken word in an infectious party atmosphere and where people can enjoy the best in music, poetry and spoken word self-expression.
To see the full Nottingham programme click here
Credit:
Lyric Lounge by Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze
The Lyric Lounge is an accessible, temporary spoken word venue presenting linked live events in museums, libraries, heritage properties, arts venues, theatres or found spaces, with an ambience to attract young people and a range of culturally diverse participants/audiences.
The aim of The Lyric Lounge is always to transform space and generate new interest in spoken word performance.
The concept for The Lyric Lounge was developed partly in response to the MLA Setting the Pace priority for Literature and Storytelling – “to inspire young people by celebrating London 2012 and welcoming the world with the written and spoken word.”
The intention has been for the project to generate a positive legacy of new works, new readers and new connections. It was inspired by the concept of The Poetry Lounge as pioneered by the South Bank Centre – a vibrant, exciting and accessible performance poetry “club” attracting young people, professional performers and diverse audiences. The title was adapted to The Lyric Lounge at the suggestion of young people.
The aim of the project from inception in 2008 was to establish The Lyric Lounge as temporary performance spaces initially in Leicester (at the Y Theatre) for the duration of the Special Olympics 2009, and thereafter, for a temporary period, in as many towns and cities in the East Midlands as possible over the duration of the Olympiad 2009 – 2012 (linking to the structure of sub regional platforms/Festivals as part of the Igniting Ambition project).
The Lyric Lounge 2010 will build on the successful pilot festival in Leicester 2009.
The focus for 2010 is on delivering three new Lyric Lounge projects in Nottingham, Derby, and Loughborough, and a legacy festival in Leicester.
In 2011 The Lyric Lounge will travel to Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Rutland.
In 2010/11 each ‘Lyric Lounge’ will run for two or three days and include professional spoken word performances, delivery of new commissions and presentations by people from across the community, particularly young people and/or people from excluded backgrounds. Different cities will have different priority groups for engagement. Participants will benefit from workshop opportunities, platform showcasing, contact with a wide range of different writers and spoken word artists and the opportunity to explore a new venue and new audiences.
Audiences will have a new opportunity to experience work in transformed settings.
The Lyric Lounge seeks to “generate a positive legacy of new works, new readers and new connections.”
A film of the inaugural Lyric lounge can be viewed here.
Key Partners & Stakeholders
Writing East Midlands is the lead organisation responsible for delivery of The Lyric Lounge projects and is the custodian of the brand and identity. WEM is the literature development agency for the region. It supports, promotes and champions writing from the region to create opportunities for established writers and to discover new writers of quality. WEM holds Partnership Agreements for delivery of The Lyric Lounge with MLA Renaissance East Midlands, Arts Council England, and Igniting Ambition.
MLA Renaissance East Midlands
Renaissance transforms England’s regional museums, making them world class and fit for the 21st Century. Renaissance is working with museums to enhance what they offer. It enables museums to maximise capital developments and provides other financial support so that they can attract more visitors, work more effectively with schools, community groups and lifelong learning, make the most of their collections and invest in their staff.
Arts Council England
Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives.
As the national development agency for the arts, ACE supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts.
Igniting Ambition
To help ignite ambition and celebrate the hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Igniting Ambition is a series of partnerships which create each year a different showcase festival, before culminating in 2012 in a unique, region-wide, festival of cultural events provisionally entitled The East Midlands Great Exhibition.
