Ogmius
Organisational Growth through Mobility of Individuals and Understanding through Sharing
(Or: the Celtic God of eloquence and persuasiveness)
Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche from Roubaix in France, Mind The Gap from Bradford in United Kingdom and Moomsteatern from Malmö in Sweden are all leaders in the field of working with learning disabled artists. Artistically led and committed to meeting the challenges of producing and touring theatre made by learning disabled and non-disabled theatre makers, the aim is to bring artists with learning-disabilities together to learn from and with each other. All while spreading knowledge to inspire more theatres to work with inclusive arts.
Between the years 2014 and 2017 these three European theatres joined together in a co-operative partnership to carry out the collaboration project Crossing The Line, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme. When the project finished it was clear to all that they were at the beginning of something, not the end. Since 2018 the same three organisations have continued their journey by collaborating in the project Ogmius, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Ogmius aims to mobilise and document the material that emerges in collaboration between these theatres, and to make it useful for other organisations.
Outputs in the Ogmius project:
Below you will find links to the material created during the Ogmius project.
Skill based residencies for artists
Each of the three organisations have organized a residency each for small groups of actors to focus on different aspects of their skills. The first residency at Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche focused on contemporary dance and body improvisation. The second residency at Mind the Gap focused on telling stories with music and the use of vocal, musically instruments and digital technology to create music. The third residency was hosted online by Moomsteatern and focused on text work. One actor from each country collaborated in creating a short radio drama by mixing the three languages and meeting online to perform it live together.
>> Documentary film about the movement & body Residency at Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche.
>> Documentary film about the music Residency at Mind the Gap.
>> Documentary film about the Textlab Residency at Moomsteatern.
Good practice guide
As the residencies have been carried out the organisations have investigated methods for self evaluation for the actors with learning disabilities, in order to build on experience and vocational learning. These methods have been collected in a Good practice guide, created by Lauren Hall, PhD researcher at York St John University.
>> Download a pdf of the Good Practice Guide in English.
>> Download a pdf of the Good Practice Guide in French (Guide de bonnes pratiques).
>> Download a pdf of the Good Practice Guide in Swedish (Guide till god praxis).
The Creative Doodle Book
The Creative Doodle Book project is a collaboration between Matthew Reason of York St John University, Mind the Gap Theatre Company and Vicky Ackroyd of Totally Inclusive People. Together they have been working with groups across Britain to deliver an innovative model for digital community arts during physical distancing. The Creative Doodle Book was also used and developed during the residencies in Ogmius, as a way of artist's self evaluation and creative development.
>> Find out more about the Creative Doodle Book on mind-the-gap.org.uk
Supporting staff shadowing
An important aspect of making the profession accessible to artists with learning-disabilities is to create methods of supporting them. Each of the three organisations have developed different ways of supporting the artists in their work. Within the project a knowledge exchange has been made by the staff dedicated to support, by shadowing each others’ work.
>> Short film about the support work at Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche.
>> Short film about the support work at Mind the Gap.
>> Short film about the support work at Moomsteatern.
Open Educational Resource
All the activities in the Ogmius project have been followed and documented by project dramaturg Jonathan Meth. This documentation is offered in an Open Educational Resource in 9 Chapters. It is focused on learning disabled theatre makers and support workers / éducateurs spécialisés: aimed at the theatre companies who work with them and anyone interested in this work. This contains around 250 pages of documentation featuring useful training materials, participants' self-reflections, and input from industry specialists from across the Ogmius project.
Activities:
Below you find a timeline with all the activities carried out in the Ogmius project. This will link you to pages were you can find information about the activities. The timeline also include some of the activities carried out within the Crossing the Line project and the Trasna Na Líne project, that the partners in Ogmius has attended.
Ogmius: In Full Flight – an online event
Written by Crossing the Line / June 18, 2021
Aimed at performance venues, artists, theatre companies and arts professionals from around the world, the three partners created a jam packed day of free practical workshops, seminars and talks about their experiences during the Ogmius project. The online event was held on June 18 2021, and called In Full Flight. > Click here to watch…
Ogmius: Skill based residency: Textlab, week three
Written by Crossing the Line / June 4, 2021
The third and last Textlab week in June seemed to run more smoothly than the previous, as the team had gotten more used to the form of working through Zoom. > Watch a film documenting the process of Textlab by clicking here. > Watch a selection of scenes from the work made during Textlab. During an…
Ogmius: Skill based residency: Textlab, week two
Written by Crossing the Line / April 23, 2021
In April Harald Leander, the three artists and the support staff working on Textlab met up again over Zoom. They continued to work on the play together. Rehearsing and filming, scene by scene. > Watch a film documenting the process of Textlab by clicking here. > Watch a selection of scenes from the work made during…
Ogmius: Skill based residency: Textlab, week one
Written by Crossing the Line / February 5, 2021
Each actor got the whole script in their own language, but each script also contained the translations into the other two languages, making it easier for the actors to follow what the others were saying. The script was delivered to the actors in January, just a couple of weeks before the first Textlab week. Each…
Ogmius: Skill based residency: Textlab, preparations
Written by Crossing the Line / December 7, 2020
The last skill based residency for artists during the Ogmius project was hosted by Moomsteatern and went under the name Textlab. The idea of Textlab grew out of the residency at Moomsteatern during the Crossing the Line project in 2015. Artists from all three countries had been given a scene from a play, written in their…
Ogmius: Moomsteatern hosted supporting staff shadowing (second week)
Written by Crossing the Line / March 13, 2020
In March 2020 staff members from Mind the Gap and L’Oiseau Mouche visited Moomsteatern in Malmö, Sweden, for the last job shadowing visit. During the course of the OGMIUS project all partners will get a chance to host a job shadowing visit enabling other staff to observe their work and practice, in order to share…
Ogmius: Mind the Gap hosted supporting staff shadowing
Written by Crossing the Line / February 7, 2020
In February 2020 staff members from Moomsteatern and L’Oiseau Mouche visited Mind the Gap in Bradford, UK, for the third job shadowing visit. During the course of the OGMIUS project all partners will get a chance to host a job shadowing visit enabling other staff to observe their work and practice, in order to share…
Trasna Na Líne: Seminar in Malmö: Academy – and for what?
Written by Crossing the Line / January 29, 2020
On January 29 2020 a seminar was held at Moomsteatern in Malmö introducing the following: Academy – and for what? We gathered three of the theatres from Trasna Na Líne/Crossing the Line, to talk about how they have chosen to recruit and educate their actors. What challenges do they face and what are their future…
Ogmius: Moomsteatern hosted supporting staff shadowing (first week)
Written by Crossing the Line / January 10, 2020
In January 2020 staff members from Mind the Gap and L’Oiseau Mouche visited Moomsteatern in Malmö, Sweden, for the second job shadowing visit. During the course of the OGMIUS project all partners will get a chance to host a job shadowing visit enabling other staff to observe their work and practice, in order to share…
Ogmius: Let’s Get Changed! event in London
Written by Crossing the Line / November 28, 2019
Let’s Get Changed aimed to provoke thought and inspire action to make radical changes to diversity and inclusion in theatre settings. Action that would bring about significant change in individuals and organisations. Taking place at at the Albany Theatre, Deptford in November 2019, Let’s Get Changed was instigated, managed and hosted by Mind the Gap…
Trasna Na Líne: Visible / Invisible panel in Warsaw
Written by Crossing the Line / November 14, 2019
“Visible / Invisible” panel On November 13, 2019, we participated in the “Visible / Invisible” panel which took place at the POLIN Museum in Warsaw. The panels discussed the situation of artists with disabilities in various contexts. Are the realities and strategies of social inclusion in art in Eastern and Western Europe very different? What…
Trasna Na Líne: Workshop in Warsaw
Written by Crossing the Line / November 13, 2019
International manifesto – workshops in Warsaw – November 12-13th 2019 Our joint work was scheduled for two workshop days. The subject of the meeting was inspired by the performance of Teatr 21: “Revolution That Never Was”, which we expanded to include an international context. We wanted to take advantage of the potential of the presence…
Ogmius: Skill based residency in Bradford
Written by Crossing the Line / November 8, 2019
The second residency of the OGMIUS project was hosted by Mind the Gap in Bradford, England, for a week in November 2019. The residency focused on: Telling stories with music Collaboration and devise, work as a team The use of vocal, Foley and found sounds, musically instruments and digital technology to create music Work towards…
Ogmius: L’Oiseau-Mouche hosted supporting staff shadowing
Written by Crossing the Line / February 28, 2019
In February 25 – March 1 2019 staff members from Mind the Gap and Moomsteatern visited L’Oiseau Mouche in Roubaix France for the first of three job shadowing visits. Charli Ward, director of Mind the Gap Academy, as reflected on the experience. This succeeded the first artists’ vocational training residency in December 2018. During the course…
Ogmius: Skill based residency in Roubaix
Written by Crossing the Line / December 12, 2018
The first residency of the OGMIUS project was held in December 3-14 2018. L’Oiseau-Mouche invited two artists to lead the workshop: Michel Schweizer and Pascal Queneau. Together they designed a two-weeks programme: the first week focused on Michel’s approach to contemporary dance and theatre; the second week led by Pascal Queneau and focused on body improvisation….
Evaluation report of the Crossing the Line project
Written by Crossing the Line / May 31, 2017
Click this link to download a pdf-document with a presentation of the evaluation report for the Crossing the Line project. The document contains a summary of the project, with an overview of main Activities, Project Objectives and Outputs, Impact, Conclusions and Recommendations.
Crossing the line Festival 2017
Written by Crossing The Line / January 30, 2017
In January 2017 in Roubaix (France), Crossing the Line Festival brought together three European theatre companies, leaders in making professional theatre with learning disabled artists. The Festival ran over three days and involved live performances presented by each partner, practical workshops and discussion events. Visitors came from all over Europe and every event in the festival…
Crossing the Line project: Residency at l’Oiseau-Mouche
Written by Crossing the Line / January 25, 2016
Artists Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche workshop took place from January 18th to Thursday 21st 2016. The company wanted the partners to explore three fields of work: – Contemporary dance with Sarah Nouveau who explored during one day the themes and exercises she used in C.O.R.P.uS., l’Oiseau-Mouche’s latest dance performance; – Contemporary theatre with Julie Chaubard who offered…
Crossing the Line project: Residency at Moomsteatern
Written by Crossing The Line / December 14, 2015
Organisations Working with script During the first day in Malmö we discussed text and script adaption, together with learning methods in relation to the script. Moomsteatern’s artistic director Per Törnqvist talked about his chain of thoughts while working with a script for Moomsteatern’s ensemble. Invited to the conversation were also the directors Pelle Öhlund and…
Crossing the Line project: Residency at Mind the Gap
Written by Crossing The Line / March 23, 2015
Artists In March 2015 Mind the Gap held the first of the three international residencies at their home MTG Studios in Bradford, England. This was the first opportunity for artists from each company to meet each other, socialise and take part in workshops together. It was a big learning experience for everyone involved, particularly working…