Author: David Slater
Letters to Londrina
Everyone’s individual letters and mementos are gently folded into a nest of coloured tissue paper tied with a skein of red wool. All week we have been playing with words. How do we express our dreams? What secrets do we share? How do we parcel up packets of ourselves for transportation to Brazil? We wrap… Continue reading Letters to Londrina
EngAge and Entelechy in rehearsal 5437 miles apart!
Entelechy’s Table
Friday morning. Traces of the conversation hover over the silence of the empty room. On the paper tablecloth amongst the discarded coffee cups, scattered peanuts and wilting stalks of mint someone has scribbled Tony Kushner’s line: ‘Respect the ecology of your own delusions’. A few weeks ago we bought a table for the Entelechy office:… Continue reading Entelechy’s Table
The Boyfriend: Episode Two
Following the amazing Episode One from California here at long last is Episode Two -the next instalment of the sorry saga of love and intrigue. Everyone in London is looking forward to meeting up on Skype and working together on the final transatlantic chapter. Hope this finds all of you atBurbank well. Love and best… Continue reading The Boyfriend: Episode Two
“Your name is what?” Institutional abuse: same old story
We were once told by a senior care manager in a moment of exasperation that the company did not exist in the ‘real’ world. This week once again we have images of institutional abuse on our TV screens, this time from Winterbourne View the ‘hospital’ for people who have learning disabilities just outside Bristol. Don’t… Continue reading “Your name is what?” Institutional abuse: same old story
Blackbirds and The Bubble
From a distance, in the early evening sunlight you could mistake it for some kind of tribal ritual, this huge circle of people standing under plane trees near a semi derelict church. We are in Southwark Park, Rotherhithe, south of the Thames. This is the London of Dickens, of Oliver Twist. It’s where the Pilgrim… Continue reading Blackbirds and The Bubble
Flocking and a day trip to the sea
Out of curiosity I list from memory everyone who I connect with Entelechy. If we were going out for a day trip to the sea who would we attempt to cram on the coaches? I guess it’s going back to the flocking starlings only its people and not birds we are talking about here: arts… Continue reading Flocking and a day trip to the sea
‘Outreach’ and hope revisited
At the Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange in Maryland last month the company made it very clear that they do not work with the concept of outreach. Members of the main performing company led all of the workshops that I attended in senior centers in Maryland. I love the clarity of the vision. There is art… Continue reading ‘Outreach’ and hope revisited
Cocktails and Kindergartens
South London. The Stephen Laurence Centre. A seminar on intergenerational practice organized by our neighbours Age Exchange. I had been asked to run two breakout workshops sharing something of my American experience. Each of the sessions lasted forty minutes. Felt like I needed forty days. Way back in the 1980’s the older women from our… Continue reading Cocktails and Kindergartens
Creativity, Arts and Older People 