Rough Mix

Rough Mix is Magnetic North’s multi-disciplinary creative development programme

Curated by Artistic Director Nicholas Bone, the 2012/13 programme was in two parts:

• RM1 — Creative Retreat (October 2012)
• RM2 — Creative Lab (March 2013)

RM1 is a 5 day residential retreat open to established artists from any discipline.  It took place at Lyth Arts Centre in Caithness and was built around facilitated discussion and individual time for reflection.

RM2 is a two-week practical opportunity for artists to work together, try out new ideas and introduce them to an audience. It brings together a small group of practitioners from different disciplines and gives them time to start developing new projects in a supportive and collaborative atmosphere. The practitioners work together with a group of performers over a two week period before making a work in progress showing at the end. RM2 is open to both established and emerging artists.

The two parts are discrete and although artists can take part in both, this is not necessary.. We believe that this programme offers unique opportunities for artists with an interest in live performance from all disciplines.        

Participating artists in RM2 2013 were:

Christine Devaney, Miguel Rojo, Linda McLean, Janie Nicoll, Kate Temple, Bill Thompson and emerging artist Sarah Bradley.

It took place at Tramway in March as part of the Rip It Up season and ended with a work-in-progress sharing of the work developed.

RM2 2013 is a Creative Scotland Creative Futures project supported by Tramway
        

Rough Mix 2012

Rough Mix 2012 took place at Dance Base, Edinburgh in March.  Supported by Creative Scotland, the Craignish Trust and Dance Base, the residency brought together an exciting array of talent together to explore, share and develop. 

The artists who took part were: 

• Lynda Radley playwright
• Daniel Padden composer
• Kate Robertson visual artist
• Ian Spink choreographer/director
• Sheila MacDougall movement teacher
• Ros Steen voice teacher

They were joined by emerging artists Kim Moore and James Wardrop.  

Read the Rough Mix 2012 blog here.

Rough Mix 2012 was a Creative Scotland Creative Futures project.

If you are a practitioner and would be interested in finding out more about future Rough Mix programmes, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . There are opportunities for both established and emerging artists.

Previous programmes:

Rough Mix 2010

Rough Mix 2010 ran at Dance Base in Edinburgh, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Scottish Arts Council. The artists who took part were:

• Ruth Barker — visual artist
• Nicholas Bone — director
• Catriona MacInnes — film-maker
• Linda McLean — playwright
• Ian Spink — choreographer/director

Who were joined by emerging theatre artist Harry Wilson and performers Catherine Gillard, Veronica Leer, Kirstin Murray, Michael Sherin and David Walshe.

Rough Mix 2006:

The first Rough Mix ran in December 2006 at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance in Edinburgh with a core group of:

• Nicholas Bone – Director
• Clare Duffy – Playwright
• David Fennessy – Composer
• Ronan O’Donnell – Playwright
• Sans façon (Tristan Surtees & Charles Blanc) — Visual Artists
• Marisa Zanotti — Choreographer & Filmmaker

They were joined by playwright Debbie Jones, choreographer Rosalind Masson and performers Ewan Donald, Pauline Lockhart, Nico Major, Kirstin Murray and Keith Macpherson.

Each practitioner brought an idea for a project that they were interested in developing. Over a period of two weeks they worked with one another and a group of performers in the beautiful surroundings of Dance Base.

The projects developed were:

• Walden (Nicholas Bone) – an exploration of approaches to dramatising Thoreau’s book about the two years he spent living in the woods. Walden was developed into a full production which was first produced in 2008 and then toured in 2009.
• You Had To Be There (Clare Duffy) – used the local area (Grassmarket) as a starting point for the development of a series of vignettes in different styles. The project was developed further as Local Reality Expo and was presented at CCA, Glasgow in May 2008.
• A Study In Three Parts (David Fennessy) – a moment of interruption explored with an actor, a drum kit and feedback. The idea was developed further into Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside) which was premiered by Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt in May 2007
• Carrot (Ronan O’Donnell) – inspired by the story of Jeannie, a child kept in complete isolation for several years by her parents.
• Untitled (Sans façon) – an “unseen” performance within the Dance Base building. The ideas explored developed into Odd Sympathies, a collaboration with composer John Metcalfe presented as part of Artes Mundi in Cardiff in May 2008.
• Edges (Marisa Zanotti) – projected video, 2 chairs, 4 performers and a series of instructions.

During the course of the two weeks we kept a Rough Mix blog which is still available to read.