Building on the Welsh concept of Cwtch — a loving hold — Golden Slumbers is a highly visual and physical outdoor show exploring the endless cycle of labour experienced by women through their lives and celebrating everyone’s right to a little rest and recuperation.
Golden Slumbers — Crew & Creative approach
The Golden Slumbers ensemble is Moving Memory’s biggest yet, weaving together the various strands of our performance making programme; the Core Company, our Creative Facilitators, Groovin Well members from across Kent, topped for the first time with a wonderful band, The Slumbers, led by our Music Maestro, Nina Clark.
The show was created using our co-creative approach which draws ideas, movement motifs and musical moments that bubble up from the life experiences and stories of our ensemble, resulting in a rich mix of the moving and the muck of life.
The Company:
- Creative Director: Sian Stevenson
- Musical Director: Nina Clark
- Costume and Props Designer: Liz White
The Slumbers (Band):
- Musical Director, Guitar, Voice: Nina Clark
- Harp, Violin, Voice: Alice Phelps
- Accordion, Trombone, Voice: Bob Karper
- Bass, Voice: Ben Somers
Core Company Performers: Wendy Asprey, Glyn Burnett, Ginette Casey, Meire Machado, Miranda Orton, Jayne Thompson
Creative Facilitator Team: Laura Jeffree, Luci Napleton, Mj Stevens
The Glories: Nikki Carter, Ruth Cox, Julie Harmsworth, Kevin LLoyd, Valerie Jones-Ellis, Emma Martin, Kathy Pearce, Jean Purland, Aidan Reid, Miriam Wood, Isabelle Woodward, Rachel Levy
Volunteer: Lindsay Van-de-Peer
Groovin Well Groups: Margate, Lordswood, Hertfordshire Beee Creative, Southborough, Canterbury
Stage Manager: Will Forrest
Set Maker: Peter Morton
Photographer: Matt Wilson
Videographer: Megan Wyrill
Musical Programme
Notes from the Musical Director:
The musical programme for Golden Slumbers, made in collaboration with the Core Company, features a selection of both classic and original songs. These pieces evoke themes of care, struggle, and hope, complementing the choreographic storytelling and enhancing the intense emotional resonance. The score features recurring drones, sung by The Glories and The Slumbers, conjuring a reflexive response of ‘rest and digest’ in our parasympathetic nervous systems.
Songs Included:
- “Hey Ho Nobody’s Home” (Thomas Ravenscroft)
- “Um Cha Cha” and “None” (Nina Clark)
- “Brahms Lullaby” (Music Johannes Brahms, Lyrics N. Clark)
- “Golden Slumbers” (A music mantra co-written with the Core Company)
- “Scarlett Ribbons” (Music Evelyn Danzig, Lyrics by Jack Segal)
Moving Memory is a ground-breaking dance-theatre company that puts the older body centre stage. We’ve been making striking visual performances for public spaces, festivals and theatres for over a decade. The work supports older people to have greater access to artistic and creative activities and challenges preconceptions of ageing.
With huge thanks for funding and support from:
Arts Council England, Ideas Test, POW Thanet, BEEE Creative, Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Applause and University of Kent School of Arts