Valoris has one more scheduled stop which is Camper Calling Festival this weekend in Warwickshire. Here’s Lil’ Tim’s experience of Valoris and the Expansions.  Let me introduce myself, I’m Lil’ Tim, I play the king. My experiences with Valoris so far has been an adventure, or should I say versatile Valoris. What I mean by that is she’s a 1972 VW Campervan turned into a moving, travelling pop-up theatre performances that can travel anywhere in time and space. We have been touring various festivals, areas of the U.K and occasional schools on the timeline, performing and giving them a taste ..read more

Princess Lozza informs us of all the details in working with Valoris: As part of the rehearsal process we had to integrate how we were going to include Valoris our VW Camper Van into our performances. Firstly we had to organise how we were going to fit 5 performers plus lino, cushions, tripods, speakers, and a generator all inside. We found all the nooks and cranies to pile high all our equipment balancing Lil Tim ontop. In our first week of rehearsals we received a workshop from Mark at MarkMarkProductions and he gave us advice on outdoor productions and what helps generate an audience. He sa ..read more

James TheRobot shares his experience of week one of Valoris and the Expansions rehearsals. It was only the beginning… Yorkshire Dance offered us a two week residency with sharing. Darren and the team were welcoming and supportive and it was a massive help. The first week’s exploration included Lizi Patch and Mark Tillotoson masterclasses focussing on theatre and clowning skills such as improv, characters, fixed point, hierarchy, and generating and establishing games. The second week was focussed on choreography, creating material and consolidating the world of the piece. Working with Lizi and ..read more

Fly Cai shares his enjoyable and funny experience of Valoris and the Expansions so far: We all have a different part to play in the performance from the King to the Fool and each performance has travelled to a different location around the UK. We have been ending with workshops where everyone teaches the audience and public in their character, this has been entertaining for the members involved in the workshops. My architype is the hero so I’m the strongman of the group. I pass everything around when setting up the equipment in the performance because I am the strongest of all the characters ..read more

There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes for our latest project, Valoris and the Expansions. One person in particular created the designs for our posters and our costumes. She even has an exhibition that has just begun and will continue all the way through to September which you can check out. Here’s a bit of info into how Ali Hunte’s process works: I usually start with research. In this case I was given themes, an overall vibe and what the fabric was going to be used for. I looked broadly at Hip Hop and explored it as much as I could. I’m primarily a fine art printmaker, so my next s ..read more

This Sunday was BGirl RascElle’s shining debut in Valoris and the Expansions. Performing at the notorious Hotbed Theatre Festival in her hometown, we brought the five Expansions and the baby blue VW van to Cambridge Junction. Here’s what she thought about one particular process in the rehearsal period at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds: To kickstart the rehearsal process we were taken out of our comfort zones to explore the power of acting. Working alongside theatre professionals, Mark and Lizi we were invited to meet a variety of archetypes. Once we’d become acquainted and familiarised ourselves wit ..read more

Valoris and the Expansions has been brewing as an idea in many different forms for as many years.  We have trialled outdoor shows, street shows and busking as youth development activities but have never had the opportunity for our own professional training in these very specific areas.  Thanks to support from Babylon Arts, Safer Kirklees and Arts Council England we were able to work with experts Mark Mark Productions and Lizi Patch during our residencies at Yorkshire Dance and Leeds Grand to explore some of the nuances of street theatre.   We are barely one month into the p ..read more

People didn’t believe it could be done – garlic bread. Bread with garlic. A ‘taste sensation, the future’ as Peter Kay famously said of the side dish. In 2014 the thunderbolt of fun that is Lil’Tim won the UK Bboy Championships world finals, and just like your first bite of garlic bread, the bboy scene got a glimpse of the future, with moves and an energy that were unbelievable, unsurpassable. Lil’Tim has spent a lot of time nurturing new generations with his infectious positivity, and through the SIN Cru company classes, he has been able to refocus some of that good sheeet back into his own p ..read more

Mechanikool is a first rate popper. He has been doing his thing for years, travelling the globe learning from, sharing with, and influencing dancers of all generations. Several moons ago Mechanikool made the trek to the Bridge with the sole plan to clean up at Urban SINfonie and take home the money. He returned last year to work with Fly No Filter on new work FINEST and has been a pretty permanent fixture ever since. Here are his thoughts on company class so far; As this is the first time I have invested in artist development I remained open minded about what I expected to learn/experience on ..read more

Lauren Stewart aka Lozza aka Princess turned up to a SIN Cru audition in 2018 and landed herself the lead role of Roni in the Glorious Tour and subsequent performance exhibition only when its feathers are grown. Since then she has become an integral part of the company with a keen desire for learning and self-development. After waking from a dream about birthing a cat, Princess shares her thoughts on company class… Each week I enjoy discussions we have on Hip Hop culture and find through these I learn more about the art form and how each person in company class feels on a topic. One week we we ..read more