A ‘Giant’ spectacular

THE WORLD’S leading street theatre company is creating an event in Liverpool which will be the BIGGEST of its kind in the UK in 2012.

A Little Girl Giant will take to the city streets in a breathtaking street spectacular produced specifically for Liverpool by renowned marionette experts Royal De Luxe (RDL).

Since 2009, the company has attracted audiences of around 9.6million people to stunning events in Nantes, Berlin, Santiago, Antwerp and Guadalajara.

Liverpool City Council is currently working with RDL, pulling together plans for an extravaganza to welcome the giant, who has only been seen once before in the UK when she wowed 1.5million people in London at the Sultan’s Elephant event in 2006.

Talks have been taking place since 2006, when Artistic Director and founder of RDL, Jean-Luc Courcoult, visited Liverpool and was inspired by an emotional letter he saw in the Merseyside Maritime Museum written by a young girl whose father was a passenger on the tragic maiden voyage of the Titanic.

As a result, Liverpool’s ‘Sea Odyssey’ was born.

From Friday, 20 April 2012 to Sunday, 22 April 2012 a visually stunning, free event involving the Little Girl Giant will take over the city, telling a story inspired by the Titanic. Key city spaces will become focal points in a moving story of love, family and communication.

This is the most complex event the city has ever staged and will involve hundreds of people in its planning and execution and is set to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city. It will be one of the highlights of next year’s events in Liverpool to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Leader of Liverpool City Council, Councillor Joe Anderson, said:- "This will be a magical piece of theatre, the likes of which many people will never have seen before. To work with such a world renowned company as Royal De Luxe is a real coup for Liverpool and it’s wonderful we can mark this important anniversary with an unforgettable event. The Titanic will always resonate with Liverpool, particularly as the name of the city was emblazoned on its stern and many of its crew were from the Merseyside area. As it set out on its maiden voyage, it was the greatest vessel in the world, reflecting the city’s position as leading world port. “The tragic sinking of the ship affected people across the globe, and it’s fitting that the city where the ship was registered is remembering the vessel in such a special way."

Funding is yet to be finalised, but there is commitment in place for support from the European Regional Development Fund and the Arts Council England. Culture Liverpool and Liverpool Vision are also in negotiations with partners and sponsors from the private sector to help bring the event to the city. Sea Odyssey is the final event which will use European legacy funding from the city’s capital of culture year in 2008.

Jean-Luc Courcoult has specifically created the story for the city. He said:- "Liverpool, for me, stands out as an island in its own right, within a larger island. Passions for football, the revolutionary music and poetry of the Beatles, and the legendary story of the Titanic, give the city a strong, emblematic identity, and the people a compelling warmth which pulls me to them."

This collaboration is the latest involving Liverpool city council and exceptional artists. In 2008 La Machine took over the city by bringing La Princesse (a 50 foot spider) to the streets, and in July this year, 3D experts The Macula from the Czech Republic transformed the Liver Building by projecting incredible images on to it, marking its centenary.

Director of Culture Liverpool, Claire McColgan, said:- "One of the major successes of our European Capital of Culture year was filling the programme with moments of sheer magic, bringing together thousands of visitors and residents, sparking the imagination and getting people talking about art and culture. As a city, we put on exceptional free events and no matter what walk of life you’re from, you can experience something which transports you to another world – this is what great art achieves. The success of Reflection on the Waterfront in July proved there is still a massive appetite for these boundary-pushing events, and as events don’t come much bigger than the Sea Odyssey we know it will once again thrust Liverpool into the cultural spotlight. This is a human story of love told in giant form and it won’t just engage the city, but will capture the imagination of the nation. And I’m sure, just as with The Sultan’s Elephant, people will talk about it for years to come."

Liverpool is one of five Titanic cities holding events in 2012. The other cities are Belfast, Southampton, Cherbourg and Cobh (Co. Cork). Visit:- www.titaniccities.org.uk for more information.

Sea Odyssey forms part of the newly launched Liverpool Plan which is aimed at changing perceptions of the city and working with partners to promote Liverpool in a positive way.

Walk to School Week - a fun, free way to wellbeing

DID you know that Merseytravel’s TravelWise campaign are inviting parents and children to join ‘Walk to School Week’ over 3 October to 7 October 2011, supporting Merseyside’s 2020 Decade of Health and Wellbeing?

Walking is an easy way to stay healthy and feel good, both physically and mentally. This year, each day ‘Walk to School Week’ follows one of the 5 Health and Wellbeing themes - Connect, Give, Keep Learning, Take Notice and Be Active.

Kathy Davies, Learning Mentor at Windsor Primary School, Toxteth, one of the 200 schools taking part across Merseyside, said:- "Our children are keen to get involved; we are going to follow the five themes which should be lots of fun. To Connect the children will see how many friends they can walk to school with, for Give and Be Active they are thinking of whacky ways to get to school, from roller-skating to walking backwards and each child who takes part will get a free breakfast at our Breakfast Club. For Take Notice and Keep Learning the children will complete a journey diary making a note of what they saw or learnt on their journey to school. Both parents and children can enjoy the walk to school together, getting some exercise and making new friends with other parents and children along the way!"

Merseytravel Chief Executive, Neil Scales said:- "A 20-minute walk to school burns around 100 calories and helps pupils start the day energised and alert, which can help improve a child’s concentration through their school day. Walking to school can also help develop a child’s road sense – as well as helping relieve road congestion and saving money for parents."

So, why not get involved, be Travel Wise and join over 70,000 children and their parents walking to school here in Merseyside as part of the 'Walk to School Merseyside' campaign.

How can you and your child take part?

If you don't usually walk, it couldn't be easier to give it a go. Perhaps you can walk just one way, or one day during the week.

If you live too far away from school, or you need the car for work, parking a five minute walk away will reduce school gate congestion. You'll still be getting the health benefits of walking and you'll help develop your child's road sense.

BAFTA winning Art Attack creator Neil Buchanan set to make live appearance in home town

NEIL Buchanan, who is the creator, artist, producer and presenter behind the 2 times BAFTA award-winning TV sensation, Art Attack, is back in the city with his first ever collection of published fine art. Entitled Neil Buchanan’s Hope Street, the 12 strong series of limited edition prints is a nostalgic and evocative collection of art inspired by Neil’s childhood memories growing up in Liverpool in the early 1960s.

The popular artist, who attracted an audience of 6 million viewers in the UK each week on Art Attack, is taking a much anticipated step back into the limelight after his rumoured death on the internet for the official launch on Friday, 7 October 2011, in Rennies Gallery, at 61 to 63 Bold Street, Liverpool, from 6pm to 8pm where the new collection will be unveiled and displayed in the countdown to Christmas.

Neil has also created a charity painting called A Little Hope with ten per cent of the sales of the limited edition canvases, being donated to help the work of the Alder Hey Imagine Appeal in Liverpool. The popular TV artist will make a visit to Alder Hey on Friday, 7 October 2011, between 2pm to 3pm to present the hospital with A Little HOPE stretched canvas and tour the inspiring ‘Arts for Health’ programme at one of the biggest and busiest children’s hospital in Europe.

Following a sinister rumour that ‘buried’ the artist after his reported ‘battle with colon cancer’, the talented, self-taught artist moved from Art Attack to his art attic at home to record and reflect the simpler days of his childhood in the early 60s, long before computers banished us to cyberspace and traffic clogged up our streets. And so the seed of an idea was sown for a new, yet strangely familiar, adventure playground and Neil’s ‘second coming’ with the launch of Neil Buchanan’s Hope Street.

Neil Buchanan says:- "I want to take you on a special journey. This voyage doesn’t involve a long car ride or train trip, because my Hope Street is not a place, it’s a state of mind... and it’s a nice place to be. When I went out to play, I walked down my very own Hope Street everyday with the gift that only children truly possess in abundant measure - imagination."

Hope Street gives a respectful nod to the rich narrative and humour achieved by Norman Rockwell and Jack Vettriano, whom Neil describes as his key art influences. Celebrated American portraiture artist, Jessica Rockwell, and cousin of the legendary Norman Rockwell, said:- "Entering the universe of Neil Buchanan's Hope Street is a tranquil space filled with the imagination of children. Neil Buchanan reminds us of possibilities real and true. We see past our troubles and fears and know that we can be creators of a better world, each in our own way."

Hope Street is proof (if it were needed) that ‘The Art Attack Man’s’ talents stretch far beyond the boundaries of drawing cartoons, papier maché model making and his awesome ‘Big Art’ creations on Art Attack. Neil Buchanan said:- "I had 6 million young art critics every week on Art Attack and it was their opinions I cared about most. Normal people don’t have art hanging on their walls, they have pictures! The greatest honour will be if people like my Hope Street paintings enough to hang them on their walls. That will be the biggest approval rating for me!"

The lively Liverpudlian will sign copies of his souvenir Hope Street brochure during his visit to Rennies Gallery, which charts Neil Buchanan’s extraordinary life, and there is also a rare opportunity to view a selection of original paintings during Neil’s visit to the gallery, together with the signed limited edition prints.

Neil said:- "I’m a sucker for nostalgia and I hope the paintings of my Hope Street will bring memories of your own childhood flooding back. As a performer, I want my pictures to perform for you and take you on a journey down your own Hope Street – to a place where you were free to dream and be whatever and whoever you wanted to be."

Each of the 12 signed limited edition prints has an exclusive edition size of only 295 worldwide, making Hope Street, a highly collectable series and each one comes with a certificate of authenticity.   Neil Buchanan’s Hope Street will be launched nationwide on Friday, 7 October 2011, and Neil has personally chosen to be back in his home town of Liverpool to coincide with the nationwide launch. Rennies Gallery is located in Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4EZ and Neil will be in the gallery on Friday, 7 October 2011, from 6pm to 8pm. The Hope Street Collection, will be on display in the countdown to Christmas, or whilst stocks last.

BOOK SHOP JOB OFFER

WANTED 18+ sales assistant. Must be willing in a book shop in Formby.  For more information please call:- 01704 830130 and ask for Tony for more information!