J A M I N A R O U N D p r e s e n t s :
Summer Residential for musical exploration and inspiration.

10th - 14th August 2022

In the awe-inspiring setting of Cranborne Ancient Technology Centre, surrounded by the beautiful Dorset countryside, Jaminaround offers this unique music and creative practice residential course. A stimulating program of workshops, talks and opportunities for collaboration, curated with the intention to refresh, to inspire and to promote holistic creative wellness.

Overview
The course is for 30 open-minded creative practitioners who feel they would benefit from exploring different aspects of their musicality and wellbeing in a supportive and stimulating environment, guided by highly experienced professionals. The course will cover; using your voice, improvisation, storytelling, the language of rhythm, keeping time with your body, the process of turning inspiration into creation, mindfulness practice, yoga and more. Days will be balanced between led workshops, group discussions as well as some downtime. There will also be an opportunity to work towards a collaborative group performance each evening.

Course Objectives

Replenish your creative practice and help manage your ongoing work/life balance.
Explore different processes and expand your creative thinking.
Learn new methods and techniques to develop yourself, receiving inspiration for producing new bodies of work.
Strengthen collaborative skills through group tasks and performance.
Engage in active discussions and analysis about project ideas and about the life of a creative practitioner.
Work closely with other artists and benefit from the exchange of ideas, experiences and backgrounds.

The Team

Letty Mitchell

Movement artist, yoga and mindfulness teacher and art enthusiast. Letty’s work focuses on mindfulness, mental health awareness, the ancient wisdom of yoga, anatomy, the phenomena of Qi, creativity, the links to neuroscience, as well as the concept of reality. Letty will lead a yoga/mindfulness session each morning and work with any participants interested in exploring aspects of creative movement.

Dave Smith

Dave is a rhythm specialist, having plied his trade on drums and percussion with all manner of great musicians globally. Particular specialisms include Senegalese/Gambian Sabar drumming. Check out his band Fofoulah and his recent work with Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters for reference. Throughout the past year Dave has been developing workshops to share his broad knowledge and his particular philosophy of musicianship. He will be leading a session focussed on the language of rhythm and on keeping time with your whole body.

Jan Blake

Jan will be telling a daily story and generally overseeing the narrative of the event throughout. One of the leading UK-based storytellers, Jan Blake has been performing worldwide for over twenty-five years. Specialising in stories from Africa, the Caribbean, and Arabia, she has a well-earned reputation for dynamic and generous storytelling. As well as performing at all the major storytelling festivals both nationally and internationally, she works regularly with the British Council, leads storytelling workshops for emerging storytellers, and gives masterclasses for teachers, brands, and businesses.

More workshop leaders to be added. Watch this space.

Read testimonies from last year's participants here

The Ancient Technology Centre

The ATC site consists six full-sized reconstructions of ancient buildings. Each building represents a different time period and was built by hand with ancient building techniques. The concept of the ATC was the inspiration of Jake Keen who, over 30 years ago, designed and led the building of the centre’s first Iron Age roundhouse. It was built with local school children who harvested local materials from nearby woodlands and reed beds. This founding principle of allowing participants to get 'hands on' has guided the ethos of all activities at the centre to this day.

The main workshops on the course will all take place in the central Earthouse building. The Earthouse was created as a purpose built performance space, loosely based on archeological remains of a building of this size found on the Isle Of Man. Its breath-taking size, beautiful hand-constructed design, awesome acoustics and the intimacy and energetic inclusiveness of it’s circular layout make this building so much more than just an empty vessel for activities. It is the iconic centrepiece of all Jaminaround events and has the power to put performers and audience in a heightened state of creative receptiveness.

Next to The Earthouse is the stunning Viking Longhouse building - again, all built by hand with authentic tools and techniques - which will serve as the catering and hospitality hub. Other indoor spaces will be available for private practice and collaboration time. Some musical instruments and sound equipment will also be made available, but it is expected that you bring your own instruments if possible/appropriate.

Lodging
Accommodation will be in tents on site. It is expected that you bring your own tent and bedding, or for a fee we can arrange for tents/bedding to be hired. The site has (modern!) toilets and hot showers. Alternatively, if camping isn’t your thing, there are a few local B&B accommodation options within walking distance. For further details of off site options click here.

Catering
All meals are included in the price of the event. There will be three meals each day freshly prepared by our in-house chef Barnaby Sutton. The popularity of his food rivals that of the music at Jaminaround events!
Breakfast will be simple help-yourself buffet set-up with porridge, bread, jams, butter, cheese, yoghurt, fruit, tea, coffee etc. Lunch will be a more substantial affair with a main dish and salad buffet. The evening meal will be hot, substantial and very tasty! Vegetarian/Vegan diets will be well catered for. Carnivorous options also available depending on demand. Please make us aware of any important dietary requirements or allergies on your application form.

Schedule

Participants arrive from Wednesday afternoon onwards. The first evening will be a relaxing meet and greet.

Daily Schedule (Thursday, Friday, Saturday):

Each day will begin with a guided meditation/yoga session. Following this, a daily story and gathering moment with Jan. Then the main delivered workshop, followed by lunch. Afternoons will include unstructured time for participants to use as they wish; either to practice and absorb the concepts of the workshop and/or prepare something for an evening performance. This time can also be used just to rest or to explore the village and surrounding woods. Guided walks and optional additional activities will also be organised for the afternoons. This will be followed by a coming together again to share ideas and reflections with the group.

On Friday and Saturday nights, the ATC site will be open to the public from 7:30pm - 9:30pm for an evening event consisting of; a discussion, a performance from one of our lead practitioners, a story from Jan and an open slot for participants, to feature collaborative work from the day.

The residential event finishes after breakfast on Sunday with a final gathering and reflection.

Olly Keen

Your host for the course. With a background in music making and education, as well as having over 15 years experience organising Jaminaround events, Olly will oversee that all aspects of the course run smoothly. Olly is also the son of Jake Keen, the original architect and creator of the Ancient Technology Centre. Olly grew up in the village of Cranborne and also had a hand in building some of the structures on site.

Barnaby Sutton

Our resident chef for the week. The popularity of Barnaby's food at Jaminaround events rivals the popularity of the music!