It’s likely that our lovely little village has never seen the likes of musical experimentation that took place with Sophie Cooper & Delphine Dora and guests last Friday, 21st of April. And the response was overwhelmingly positive. The evening was described as surreal and magical. The improvisational format may be familiar for those in the contemporary music scene, but even attendees who felt the boundaries of their comfort zone pushed said they were glad they came. At the end of the night we felt excited about the kind of place – and community – that we are creating around Greywood Arts.
The show began upstairs, with a collaborative improvisation between Sohpie, Delphine, Cork based musicians Roslyn Steer and Declan Synnott, plus Wille Stewart & Natalia Beylis of Hunters Moon Festival fame. Musicians were on the periphery, while the audience was invited to sit in the centre. This flowed seamlessly into a set by Deccie and then another by Roslyn.
During the break, we shifted downstairs to the Library. Food and drink were served in the dining room, and at some point the dogs were let in. All five of them…(ours + guests.) Sophie & Delphine gathered words from the audience for Improv Charades, and created new instant hits like Girl, Horror and Biscuit, Flower. It was nice to have a bit of humour in the mix, though the on-the-spot compositions ranged from melancholy to cacophonous (in a good way!) Really, you’ll want to keep an ear out for when the album they recorded at Greywood Arts gets released.
Meanwhile, you can listen to a track Sophie & Delphine recorded at Greywood with guests Roslyn Steer, Elaine Howley & Helios Leon: Between the Reality
We are so grateful for the support we received and look forward to more nights like this in the future. Mark 1st of July on your calendars for our grand opening celebration.
As well as instrument playing, the duo have a strong interest in the human voice and possibilities of non-verbal communication, negotiating space between them and thinking about musical call and response. They see improvisation as a method of rejecting standard musical practices and the inclusion of electronic processes in their work creates a fresh way to present traditional brass instruments and accompaniment standards.
I’m a bit reluctant to leave Greywood and Ireland – but I hope to come back soon! What a lovely and productive time it has been. Killeagh is a small village; the Greywood residency house is right on the Main Street, so as I worked up in the third floor studio I could look out and see the Dissour River flow by next to the house; watch the weather (always changing! a bit cold for February, too, though cherry blossoms were out), passersby on the street, and churchgoers of St. John and Virgules Catholic Church just across the intersection. Great to wake up before sunrise, drink lots of tea, work through mornings and afternoons, cook meals in my own little kitchenette at night, or step out to The Thatch Pub next door for hearty dinners and a pint. I took walks up into the moss and ivy-coated oak and piney Glenbower Wood. My time there was very focused, very quiet time. Monastic. I had my new electric guitar, loop pedal, yoga mat, weights. I ran scales, vocals, yoga-d, ballet barred, hunted through journals from the last five years, created melodies for prose, wrote new verses, made dance phrases for song verses, extracted stories – and then linked some of what I had amassed into a sequence for the open house showing. There’s no shortage of song material. The question is if and how to use it all.
had an extra special guest, Peg Ahern, from whom we purchased the house. It was the first time we met her and it was very moving to watch her take in all the changes. She was delighted to see the house being cared for again.
(maybe wider and without tongue & grooves in 1767).
Are you interested in process? Digging deep? Honing your craft? Reimagining, reinventing, subverting, politicising, abstracting, nurturing? Do you value play, experimentation, and risk taking? 
Have you been wondering what’s going on in that big house in Killeagh? We invite the local community to stop by on Saturday 18th February from 2pm-4pm to see what Greywood Arts is all about.
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Clare is a lifelong dancer, choreographer, and performance experimenter, and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Dance at University of Vermont. She works closely with sound, silence, and words. New to songwriting, she will be investigating ways to re-cross-fertilize the roles of dancer and musician through creating a solo music-and-dance performance piece. Clare is exploring how the physicality of playing music translates into meaning and dance in the body, and vice versa. She’s interested in how old bluesmen and women did this, in how popular entertainers do it today, and in integrating more radical contemporary performance art approaches. There are notably few experimental choreographers working this way.
Clare’s plan is to get nitty-gritty in generating dance material while in residence at Greywood Arts. Then, she’ll be putting together this material and other ingredients: the songs, already developed, as well as several characters that she has worked with in past and present dances – Wet Blue, White Witch, and The Folksinger – who are likely to be presences in this show, each with different moods, colours, or dynamics of movement. Clare finds an Irish affinity in her song style, content, and several of her characters, a sort of “blues-folk-style.” There has been a strong flavour of both Irish and African-diasporas’ music/movement style as part of her creative expression. Clare has Irish roots, but has never been to Ireland. She told us she has “a strong intuition that tapping into that motherland juice will be helpful for this project.” We can’t wait to see what she does.
earned a lot about my own strengths and weaknesses this year. I’m learning how to plan further ahead, and am finding ways to stay on task when responsible for shaping my own time. I’m trying to live more in line with the Greywood Arts values. This blog helps keep our process transparent. We must take risks and there will be failures, so I’m trying to let go of fear. It’s enormous, in the back of my mind – what if the whole endeavour fails? In reality, it’s most likely to be learning what succeeds and honing it, and learning what doesn’t work and reshaping it. We will welcome feedback from our guests. And hopefully we will grow, organically, into something we likely can’t even imagine yet.
greywood arts 