Marianne Halavage

Hi folks,
 
A love story…

Some people have said to me that Pulse is really a love story – about falling in love with Scotland, her culture and traditions. It is – although that sounds a bit rose tinted and heritagy, but I do love this place in all its gnarly warm-heartedness.  
 
With that in my mind, I’m looking forward to kicking off this Scottish tour of Pulse (co-devised and directed by Kath Burlinson), driving around, seeing the different landscapes, getting a feel for the pulse of each area, meeting people in different communities, hearing their stories and sharing mine.
 
The Pulse programme will have a good bit of information about what’s going on in Scotland if you want to get involved: step dancing classes, courses, festivals and more about the amazing new initiative, the People’s Parish… thank you to TRACS for donating money for a nice programme! 

The tour starts in Luing on 10th March, thanks to Norrie Bissell and Brigid, who are organising it and were integral in getting the gorgeous Atlantic Island Centre up and running.
 
Then it’s across the country to Eden Court in Inverness on 16th March. My mum was brought up in Kincraig. That’s where her mother, Marjorie Anderson, got the job as the primary teacher after returning to Scotland, a new widow, from her missionary life in China. 1940. My mum died of cancer in 1999 and whenever I travel up the A9, I stop off at Kincraig and visit her at their graves. Then, at Dunkeld, I might pop in and visit Hamish and Finn Moore if they’re up there making pipes. Looking forward  to seeing some pals en route and meeting new ones.
 
Please pass on the word to friends in other places –  they might catch the show where they live. Tickets are on sale now, in case you needed a nudge… Dates, venues and booking links here.
 
As the character of Margaret Bennett says in the show: “Fall in love with Scotland, Mairi. You can take your time…” Will you join me?

This is just an excerpt from my February 2017 newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here.

Press release

TOUR LOCATIONS INCLUDE INVERNESS, BANCHORY, NEWTON DEE, NEW DEER, TULLYNESSLE, TARLAND, EDINBURGH, TOBERMORY, GREENOCK, NEW GALLOWAY & DUMFRIES

“consummate, visionary musicianship… a performer of vivid, distinctive virtuosity”
Mary Brennan, The Herald
 
Musician Mairi Campbell is touring her critically acclaimed one-woman theatre show Mairi Campbell: Pulse around Scotland from March.
 
The tour, which sees Campbell play everywhere from Inverness to Dumfries, follows her show’s month-long successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2016. Critics and audiences alike gave the show fantastic feedback.
 
Campbell kicks off her tour at the Atlantic Islands Centre in Luing on 10th March, followed by Eden Court Theatre in Inverness on 16th March, and The Barn in Banchory on 17th March. She has strong connections with many of the places she will be visiting, and is excited to be visiting others for the first time.
 
She said: “I know the story of Pulse resonates far and wide, so that’s why I’m so happy to be touring to all kind of venues, such as the Atlantic Islands Centre in Luing, a beautiful venue with extraordinary views from the stage out to the sea.
 
“Then there’s Benderloch in Argyll, where my grandfather Duncan Campbell was from. I’m also looking forward to visiting some places for the first time such as New Deer and Tullynessle in Aberdeenshire. My great-grandfather John Anderson came from Rhynie up there.
 
“I hope folk will venture out to give us a good reception and support not just me but the wider arts scene in Scotland.”
 
Campbell will also play one show in her hometown of Edinburgh at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 30th March.
 
Co-devised and directed by Kath Burlinson, Pulse is Campbell’s story of her musical homecoming, a journey of the heart and quest to find her pulse. Apprenticed into the professional orchestral world, her frustration hits boiling point and she breaks away from the stifling autocracy. Pulse charts her passionate and, sometimes, painful journey of discovery to love and danger in Mexico, step-dancing in Cape Breton, and beyond.  With the help of mentors and guides, Campbell charts a path back to her pulse through Scotland’s indigenous music and ‘comes home’.
 
The show resonates strongly with these times, in Scotland, socially, culturally and politically. We too are finding our feet, our inner strength and our pulse.
 
 
ENDS
 
 
***
 
Pulse tour dates
 
Here’s the full list of Pulse tour dates, with tickets on sale now.
 
LUING: 10 MARCH
Atlantic Islands Centre Luing
01852 314096 / info@atlanticislandscentre.com
INVERNESS: 16 MARCH
Eden Court Theatre 7.30pm
01463 239841
Tickets
 
BANCHORY: 17 MARCH
The Barn 7.30pm
01330 825431
Tickets
 
NEWTON DEE: 19 MARCH
The Phoenix Arts Centre, 7.30pm
01224 868701
Tickets
 
NEW DEER: 22 MARCH
New Deer Public Hall
01771 644217
Tickets
 
TULLYNESSLE: 23 MARCH
Tullynessle & Forbes Hall
019755 63154
Tickets
 
TARLAND: 24 MARCH
MacRobert Memorial Hall
Tickets

EDINBURGH: 30 MARCH
Storytelling Centre 7.30pm
0131 556 9579
Tickets
 
TOBERMORY: 14 APRIL
Mull Theatre, 8.00pm
01688 302211
Tickets
 
GREENOCK: 6 MAY
Beacon Arts Centre 8.00pm
01475 723723
Tickets

NEW GALLOWAY: 2 JUNE
Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival
The CatStrand theatre. 7.30pm

DUMFRIES: 3 JUNE
The Theatre Royal 7.30pm
01387 253383 / www.dgartsfestival.org.uk
 
For a full list of Mairi’s upcoming gigs visit: https://mairicampbell.scot/gigs/

Here’s the full press release to download

A creative practice for these times

April 7 – 9 2017 | Edinburgh

Join Interplay leaders Mairi Campbell, Meg MacLeod, Sophia van Ruth, Annegret Zander and Bernhard Staudt for a gentle immersion in InterPlay, a system that offers easy entry into five core ways of expression: movement, voice, language, stillness and social connection.

You’ll discover a tool kit that supports teaching, performing, community building, health and well-being. This method also enriches personal artistic practice.

InterPlay is something that any body can do. It’s active creative, life-changing fun!

Step by step, we’ll offer simple activities and tools to facilitate play, release and connection, helping individuals and communities tap into their resources and resilience.

The workshops will be facilitated by the European InterPlay leaders’ collective: Mairi Campbell, Meg MacLeod, Sophia van Ruth, Annegret Zander and Bernhard Staudt. 

I find the river inside of me with InterPlay”    Jenn Lauzon, owner, Lazoom Comedy Tours

I made a breakthrough tonight that I didn’t think I could make. I’m not afraid anymore! CL

InterPlay was created by Cynthia Winton Henry and Phil Porter. To find out more go to www.interplay.org

Interplay helps me notice more in life, the little things, the good in it. I love the way it’s odd but not and gets me to where I wouldn’t normally go. It gives me ballast and wings. Mairi

When: April 7 – 9th 2017

Where: Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh, EH21 6UU.  Website: http://www.qmu.ac.uk/the_university/Default.htm

How much: £90 – £140 sliding scale, dependent on personal finances.

Interplay was created by Cynthia Winton Henry and Phil Porter. To find out more go to: www.interplay.org

Online booking for full payment only (book here). For further information and alternative payment methods email Mairi on mairi@mairicampbell.scot

This course, for songwriters with some experience, will guide you on a quest to find new inspiration and lead you out of your usual songwriting pathways, armed with all the tools you’ll need for the journey. We’ll use exercises to distil big ideas into more original observations, helping you kickstart your creativity and hone your own voice.

Mairi Campbell’s teaching is fun, simple and profound. Her voice work seeks to integrate and support the unique qualities of each participant, allowing for fuller, more confident expression in voice.

Mairi Campbell is an adventurous and grounded Scottish musician with a solid craft in viola and voice. Her recent one-woman show went down a storm, receiving 5-star reviews at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“Her voice can stop the clock… bare and unabashed honesty” The Scotsman

Cera Impala can turn a song inside out and upside down. She is a queen of song form, with a music career that spans 20 years of gigging, writing and socialising. She sings with the Bevvy Sisters, Scotland’s top female vocal trio and tours across the globe with her own band. Mixing equal measures of sweetness and sass, grit and glamour, heartbreak and hilarity
– cut with a dash of potent Scottish spirit.

www.ceraimpala.com

Carnie cottage, on the Island of Lismore, is Mairi’s family home. There is a cottage where we eat and a studio where we do the work. There’ll be plenty of opportunity to explore the island, connect with the ancient history and vibe of the place, and write a song a day!

The participants will be all staying at the new bunkhouse situated in the neighbour’s croft behind Carnie Cottage. Ferries to the island leave from Oban (car ferry) and Port Appin (passenger ferry only). We are situated in the centre of the island.

Limited to 10 participants

Dates: Monday 18th September – Saturday 25th September 2017
Cost: £350, includes 6 days tuition, accommodation and meals
Where: Carnie Cottage, Isle of Lismore, Argyll, Scotland

Book your place on the retreat here. Spaces will go quickly. For questions or further information please email: mairi@mairicampbell.scot