Welcome to our newsletter
Now that restrictions are easing, we are starting to go out to meet friends and rehearse together once again.
This month, we have been exploring nature. We took some ambassadors involved in the Brainwaves project to Dulwich Gallery to see an exhibition of photography inspired by plants and flowers. Take a look at the video below and see if it inspires you to photograph or draw something inspired by nature!
We have been also rehearsing the opera ‘Weather the Storm’ in outside venues, with our Ambassadors from Reading. This will take place on 30th July – the link to book tickets is below. We will be inviting everyone to a screening of ‘Weather the Storm’ in the autumn for World Stroke Day.
‘Weather the Storm’ Opera
We are delighted to invite you to the performance of ‘Weather the Storm’, an opera which tells the story of stroke recovery. This will be followed by a Q&A with the cast hosted by Professor Nick Ward. The opera is taking place on the evening of 30th July at Garsington Opera, High Wycombe. Tickets are available to book here: https://booking.garsingtonopera.org/5003/5005
This performance is a collaboration between Rosetta Life and Garsington Opera Learning and Participation Team, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and Royal Berkshire NHS Trust. It was composed by Orlando Gough, with stage direction by Karen Gillingham. The libretto was written by Lucinda Jarrett and Chris Rawlence, and devised from workshops held on neuro rehabilitation wards and with stroke communities in London, Bristol, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. It also features a cast of the Reading Ambassadors.
We will be screening the production in the autumn for those who are unable to attend the performance – keep an eye on future newsletters for full details.
Performance Masterclass
On Tuesday 6th July, a performance masterclass was delivered by Elizabeth Mansfield to Ambassadors from London, Bristol and Reading. Elizabeth took us through a brief history of performance before setting group tasks to create a short presentation.
Masterclasses are open to all ambassadors – watch this space for announcements of masterclasses for the autumn/winter period.
Focus group – Bournemouth University
A group of ambassadors joined Bournemouth University researchers to feedback on the design of a flyer/poster for clinicians, to encourage referrals and to promote the offer from the Ambassadors to support stroke patients.
CHW21 Conference
Lucinda, Melanie and three ambassadors delivered a workshop at the Culture, Health and Wellbeing International Conference 2021. Participants from all over the world attended the online workshop, during which we shared films from the Odysseys projects and the ambassadors discussed their favourite projects so far.
More details on the conference can be found here: https://www.chw21.org.uk/
Brainwaves – Gallery Visit
In search of spirals in nature for the Brainwaves project, a small group of ambassadors visited the exhibition Unearthed at the Dulwich Picture gallery. This photography exhibition features over 100 images of plants and nature. You can watch a film following what they discovered below:
Can you take your own photographs of nature? We will feature them in the next newsletter – please email them to kirsten@bevs.org
Your space to share art work and poetry.
Send your work to Jennie for the next newsletter jennierosettalife@gmail.com
Sonia, Reading Group
White Poppy from the Garden
Fiona, Reading group
My Garden is Red
A ferocious spiralling tornado
took my blood-filled brain
to the calm eye of the storm.
I lay in a coma.
My body was fragile, so fragile.
Any more and I would have been game over.
Loved ones fell into an emotional spiral around me.
I have no memory of it.
My brain was occupied with survival.
I found strength and woke up.
And then I faced a spiral of recovery.
I felt angry and confused,
And in denial.
But it was the only spiral available at first.
Eventually I took a tentative step
onto the recovery spiral.
A spiral so steep.
And I felt so alone.
I couldn’t make sense of it.
I spiralled away.
And then back.
I didn’t want to be in this spiral.
I wanted to be in the ‘normal’ circle of life.
Exhausted with spiralling through difficult emotions,
I eventually made a decision to embrace.
My insight slowly, so slowly,
Works out I am on a different path.
My own journey to Ithaka.
I embrace rehab goals
And appreciate the path towards
purpose and meaning
of this life and my injury.
This spiral is a marathon
But with no clear finishing line.
This path is my Ithaka.
Maybe, just maybe,
My injury has redirected my life path
And closer aligned it to a meaningful purpose.
I place this trust in my spiral.
And try to believe.
Joe, London Group
Spirals
The Brainwaves group have been rehearsing, recording and sharing their art work. We will screen the film we are creating in September, and will be inviting everyone to join the sharing event. Check out some of the art that the group has created below!
Weather the Storm
This month, we rehearsed in the beautiful gardens of the Museum of English Rural Life.
You can explore the museum’s collection online here: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/online-exhibitions/
Weather the Storm
30th July
18:30
Garsinginton Opera
Wormsley Estate, Stokenchurch, High Wycombe
The final fully-staged version of our opera, delivered in partnership with Garsington Opera
https://booking.garsingtonopera.org/5003/5005