This blog. . . . .

Dear followers,
this is my last post for this blog. But to you, it is the first post you will read! If you would like to read this post in chronological order, keep scrolling until you find the very last post, right at the bottom! If however, you want to read by month, at the right hand side of this page, you will find relevant posts according to the month they were posted.
This blog is all about my placements in the two years I have been doing my degree, Performance Practise and Events Management.
These blogs tell my experiences from all the different people and places I have worked with. Some have been hard work and frustrating, but all have been a lot of fun! Come and take a read!

Keep Smiling
Ruby Foxglove x x x x

Burlesque- the last show!!

Dear followers!

This is a very sad post . . . . . this will be the last blog entry (apart from the evaluation!), as this last burlesque show, is the last of my WBL placements. . . .ahhhhh!!!

Not that I haven't had so much fun, from festivals, to nude modelling, stewarding and burly shows- what a great combination!

Anyway, onwards with my very last burlesque show . . .

After the very sad news in December about the cancelled shows, Kinky and Quirky were determined to come back in the new year with a bang! That and the fact that the 'Laugh Out Loud Comedy Festival' organisers (nationwide festival) asked K&Q to hold their burlesque show with comedy in mind, made this show probably one of the best that Exeter has seen!

We had the performers in the shape of: Lamb Chop Magoo, http://lambchopmagoo.blogspot.com/, the lovely Soup de Jour, and Warren Speed, maker of 'Zombie Women of Satan, and boylesque performer.

When Laura and I arrived at Havana, we were not surprised to see that it wasn't clean, but we were disturbed to learn that it had been like that for over a month. . .ew! To cut a long story short, there were many harsh words said been people, while Laura and I got on to clean the entire premises. I didn't really mind doing that of course, (I like my cleaning), but I could see how K&Q were disappointed in Havana, for letting their placement students take the hard work, when they were the ones who should have had the place at least clean before we arrived.

There was an awful lot of work to be done before this show however. Not only had we to clean the place, floor, tables, backstage, but we also had to get the tables moved and sort out where all the audiences were going to go. There was a large amount of couples this month as well, 30 couples in fact, so we had to get some people to stand, as we didn't have the room.

This is the amount of people we had to try and fit into the venue, with limited tables and chairs! The paper down the right hand side is all the couples!

We didn't get a break this show, as there was just too much to get sorted, we were still setting up at half 7 when the first of the audience started to trickle in.

The performers all came nice and early so they could either rehearse or just settle themselves down. We did a set list, but it was quite easy this month, as there either wasn't any props, or the performers brought them on themselves. It all seemed to be a crazy rush just before the show although!

I did go and do front of house at the beginning as well, the guys on the door needed some help getting the audience to their seats. I was given lots of compliments doing that as well, some of the audience members had never had a person to direct them to their seats before. I think it gives a good feeling to the start of the evening however. We also did have a little crisis when the FOH ran out of change for the tickets. I went and asked around the bar, but they were not very helpful, so I used my initiative and asked the set-up-shop at the venue.

The show itself went without a hitch, all the performers were well received and it was a shame to end the evening. The work seems to be getting easier and smoother the more I do it. There is always that fleeting dread feeling just before a performance however: have they got all their props, is their music about to play, have I put their props in the right place? Things like that, but usually the performers are really lovely and don't mind if sometimes you get it wrong!

Below are some photos of the last every Burlesque Show for me!! (sob sob!)

The venue, before Laura and I got our hands on it!!

And after. . . .cleaner and ready to be danced on!

The party in full swing!

Laura and I celebrating our last show . . .can't believe we got away with wearing this for our placements!

Evaluation: I have had so much fun doing this placement, and it is a shame that it has come to an end, so, without further ado, here is my evaluation for this WBL placement. . .

As ever, I will be keeping to the criteria, which is as follows. . .

1. Your feelings throughout each placement: I have to say, I have enjoyed every minute of this placement. Some parts have been hard, like coming to terms with certain ways of doing things, the business side of putting on shows (never been that good with numbers!) and keeping up to date with tickets numbers etc, those things were different, as I had never done them before. The backstage section of the sows were different for me as well, I'm always used to either FOH, stewarding, or actually on the stage. But to be back stage lesion, meeting the performers, doing a set list, making sure everyone knows what they should be doing, I really enjoyed this. I make make some mistakes in the beginning, but I suppose that's only natural, and the performers didn't seem to be too bothered by that anyway.
2. Whether a specific process worked or not, and why. There are certain things that Laura and I witnessed that we didn't agree with, or decided that we were not going to copy them. This is not talking about Kinky and Quirky at all. I will not mention names. . . Because Kinky and Quirky had been in business before, they knew how to set up for a performance, all the paperwork that goes with, the advertising, marketing, time plans etc etc. After the show on Saturday, K&Q have actually employed two cleaners to help them with cleaning the venue before the show, as some other third parties cannot be relied on. This is a process that is going to work far better than previously.
3. The affect work experience has had on your career plans. I think, when I leave my degree, I would be more inclined now to get a job backstage, or stewarding or FOH. Although saying that, I've never really been the one to want to go on stage anyway, I really don't think I have a strength there. I do enjoy being backstage, making sure everything is how it should be, making the performers life a little easier, although whether there's a career in that, I don't know.

With this, I will also be reviewing my A&O. Which are as follows . . .. . .

1. To gain confidence in myself and my abilities to perform tasks. I believe I have gain some sort of confidence, definitely with meeting performers, and being able to perform my tasks and make sure they are correct, and right. With notes to the 'confidence in myself', I don't think that is going to come anytime soon. So, on the whole, this Aim has been met.
2. To understand how to put on a Burlesque show, from complete start to finish. If I were to put on a Burlesque show now, or even any other type of show, I think I would still have to have some help, it's a major thing to pull off, and there is a lot of hard work involved. Sometimes I really don't feel as though we have helped K&Q at all over the past few months, because sometimes it felt as though the work we were doing was somehow trivial, even though they said otherwise. I do feel certain I have the gist of how to put on a show however.
3. To gain knowledge of performers out there, whose material is not considered 'mainstream'. This has probably been the best part of this placement, I have been able to meet loads of performers, and talk to them on a one to one basis, which is fantastic. I have been able to talk to them about their work, and why they do what they do, how they got into it etc. This aim has definitely been met.

One of my last ever blogs, is that of a complete evaluation about my all my placements (there have been quite a few!), so keep checking back to find out if this assignment was everything I wanted it to be!

Keep smiling

Ruby Foxglove xxx

Burlesque- the new year!!

Dear followers,
I do hope you are all still with us, after a very happy Christmas, also hoping you didn't eat till bloating point, I did, a couple of times!
So, it's the start of a new year, and a fresh look into the wonderful world of Kinky and Quirky. After the disappointment of the three cancelled shows last month for Christmas, Laura and I were rearing to go for the next big show in January. Although, this also came with a bit of disappointment as well. The show in January would be the very last for our placement with Kinky and Quirky, so we had to make it go out with a bang!

The two meetings we had before the show were very much the same as all our other meetings- we went through emails and pay pal accounts to see the number of tickets being sold in the two weeks before hand.
We then used this information to type up a list of all the people who had contacted us, who had paid, who had not, how many etc etc. Laura and I are used to doing this now, so there wasn't any confusion on how many people were going to attend!!
We no longer have to laminate tickets anymore either (ah!), Kinky and Quirky have come up with an ingenious way of getting tickets free of charge for every show!
To be honest, there wasn't a lot of preparation to be done before this January show. . little did we know, the fun was going to happen just before the show . .
Come back very soon to find out exactly what!!
Keep smiling
Ruby Foxglove xxx

Burlseque Meeting- 1st December 09

Dear followers!

We have some bad news . . . the three shows of Burlesque that Laura and I were meant to be helping with . . .have been cancelled!
There were meant to be three shows, 4Th Dec, 11Th Dec, and the 18Th Dec, with some great performers, magicians, and singers. Unfortunately, there were some problems with the venue Havana, and the numbers of people who had booked, so, Kinky and Quirky have decided to cancel all three shows.
I agree with them though, they feel it would be better to end with the fantastic November show, then go ahead and have three shows with fantastic performers, but not even a full venue.

BUT . . . .they will be back in January with more shows, more performers and lots of people willing to come along.

As far as this placement is concerned, it will still go on, there is still lots of work to do even after all the shows are over- invoices etc, and Laura and I will carry on with the shows in the new year.

My blog might go a bit quiet for the time being . . but come back after Christmas to carry on!

Ruby Foxglove xx

Burlseque!- November show!! 27th Nov 09

Dear followers,

here's the very latest news from the sexy world of Burlesque!

This week was our November show, and I was hoping (just a little) that it wouldn't be as hectic as last month. Not to say last month wasn't fun, it's just that your more likely to make mistakes when your stressed, well, I am anyway!

This month, we has some really fantastic performers lined-up, Khandi Khisses, Fleur Blanche was unfortunately ill and couldn't make, but Soup Du Jour was there as a respectable placement! We also had Equador the Wizard, who won the nest new male of Burlesque (boylesque!) at the London Burlesque Festival- this guy is brilliant- check him out! http://www.equadorthewizard.com/

Because we didn't completely sell-out, as we had done at Halloween, Laura and I didn't have to get to the venue until 4pm, as there wasn't too much work to be done before the show.

We set up chairs and tables, like last month, with place cards on each table, with the number of people on that table and what name they were booked under. This is then cross-referenced on the FOH list.

We then sorted out raffle tickets, normal tickets, and waited for the performers to arrive!

When the show got started, Laura and I went about doing a set list, to give to the various people involved- Kinky and Quirky, the DJ, and ourselves. We had by then met all the performers, and the mood back-stage was very calm. This was great for me, as I could do the tasks I needed to do, but not under pressure!


This month was almost smooth sailing, there were hardly any props to be brought onto the stage, and those we did have, we were told how to take them on as there were certain ways to take them on to be displayed.
The evening actually flew-by pretty quickly, and by half 11, it was all over for the performers!



Evaluation:
As I keep doing these shows, they are certainly getting easier, in respect to myself, as I get to understand what comes first, and how to do the tasks better and quicker. For a placement in a degree, this is probably the best voluntary placement I could ever had wished for!

Keep coming back!

Ruby Foxglove xxx

Burlesque Meeting- 24th Novembe 2009

Dear followers!

I hope you're all keeping up to date, as the work is building, and the excitement of 4 shows in as many weeks is just around the corner! The November show is this Friday . .eek!
This week, at the meeting, Sarah, Laura and I went over the last minute documents that were needed for this week's coming show.

• Set List- this is essential for the running of the show. It reads the performers, their act name, any music they are using, and what props they will be having on stage or with them. This tell us (Kinky , Quirky, Laura, the DJ and myself), the running order of the whole show and what we need to get ready before each act.

• F.O.H List- this is the front of house list. It reads everyone (audience) who has booked tickets through either email/facebook/phone etc. It also notes who has payed and who hasn't, how many people on a table, whether they are eating at the show or not, it might be their birthday or another celebration. This list is then given around to the appropriate people on the evening of the show.




• Table Plan- this is mainly before the show actually starts. This is where Sarah and Mark Bell, Laura and myself sort out all the tables in Havana. Normally, the larger tables are situated at the back, and tables for 3/4 people are nearer the stage. The table plan is how we are going to set out the audience, always keeping in mind the view of the audience to the stage, and remembering that the audience and waiters etc will have to move in-between the tables as well.


• Table Cards- these are placed on the table with the names of the audience's who are sitting there. We do not put these in the table until we have set out all the tables.

As well as getting these documents together- we also went over the ticket sales, if there were any last minute booking and numbers. We also made sure we had all the tickets ready, the raffle tickets, and talked about advertising using networking websites.

Above: Photo showing table cards and the front of house list. Below: Laura printing and adding to documents. Myself holding some table cards!

Evaluation: Every meeting that I have with Kinky and Quirky is definitely a learning curve, in ways of learning how to organise an event, the paperwork one has to do behind it and the help that you need from contacts to make it go off well.

Do come back from very soon, the November show is only days away- I'm sure I will have lots to up-date you on!!

Keep smiling

Ruby Foxglove x x x

Stewarding for Baka Beyond - 21st Nov 09

Dear followers!

Last week I was given the opportunity to steward at a gig for the group 'Baka Beyond', in Totnes at the KEVICCS Ariel Center. Because I had already alot of stewarding over the summer for Oxfam, and I knew it would be nothing like my experience there- I still volunteered to do this, as I had never seen Baka Beond, this would be a new band for me.

Who are Baka Beyond??
"Musicians from 6 countries in the Celtic fringes of Europe and the West coast of Africa join together to play the most original live world fusion sound around. The spirit of the music lives in the rhythm. All Baka Beyond's rhythms are played by human beings not machines !" (www.bakabeyond.net)



"Baka Beyond were originally inspired by Martin Cradick & Su Hart's visits to the Baka Forest People in Cameroon. While there they played music with and recorded the Baka resulting in two albums, Heart of the Forest - field recordings of the traditional Baka music - & Spirit of the Forest - a mix of music written with & inspired by the Baka." (www.bakabeyond.net)

What did I have to do?
There were 7 stewards in total, some of them had seen the group before, others, like me, had not. The gig was held in the theatre, and we were positioned at certain points around the theatre. We alternated every 30 mins or so, to give us a new job to do- either tearing tickets for the audience coming in, or directing the audience to the various places, or just keeping an eye.
It was a very enjoyable night!

Here I am looking lurverly in my stewarding shirt!
Below are some photos of Baka Beond on stage.

Keep coming back, I have my burlesque show at the end of this week!!

Keep smiling
Ruby Foxglove xx