Ryedale Community Opera seek singers and dancers for new piece, 7 Ages (From Gazette & Herald)

Ryedale Community Opera seek singers and dancers for new piece, 7 Ages

2:19pm Friday 11th May 2012 in What's on

THE team behind the Ryedale Community Opera each year since 2000 is embarking on a new challenge this summer and is seeking singers and dancers.

“We’re going to try to stage an entire new piece, 7 Ages by Tim Brooks, in just two days, at the Milton Rooms,” says director Em Whitfield Brooks. “It’s an oratorio, so singers will sing from up in the gallery and around the stage, and it’s also a dance piece, so dancers will be central to it all.

“Even if you have never danced before, come along and give it a go. We’re looking for a real range of abilities. Beginners are most welcome. All performers will be accompanied by most of the Kirkbymoorside Friday Rehearsal Orchestra, so there could be more than 100 people involved. It’s going to be amazing.”

Talented teenage choreographer Jolley Gosnold will be working alongside Em and designer Lyn Wait to make the show a spectacle. Jolley, 17, trained at Kirkham Henry School of Performing Arts in Malton, followed by the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, and is now on a sixth-form dance and drama scholarship at Gordonstoun School.

“Jolley has performed in many of our projects since he was really young, and the last few years his choreography has brought an extra dimension to our shows,” says Em.

“I’m convinced he’s going to go far in his career.”

Tim Brooks’s 7 Ages is based on Jaques’s Seven Ages Of Man speech in Shakespeare’s sylvan comedy As You Like It and will be performed at the Milton Rooms, Malton, as part of the 2012 Ryedale Festival on Sunday, July 22 at 4pm and 6pm.

“If you want to dance, you need to sign up by giving me a call, and then arrive at the Milton Rooms at 10am on July 21 to prepare for the Sunday performances,” says Em.

“If you want to sing, there will be three rehearsals in Kirkbymoorside on June 23 and July 8 and 15, leading up to the final weekend, and then, like the dancers, it’ll be the whole of that July weekend where we bring orchestra, singers and dancers together.

“We need to hear from singers as soon as possible, so Tim can be sure who he is writing for.”

To sign up for this performance challenge, please phone Em and Tim on 01751 431231.