,.~.I {My e a.“ U .L::h§§’§§1§§§§itv,
Barry Shelb 's raging abou ourbad behaVIour
PAGElO
Elias ..
Scottish Ballet a step closer to new HQ
Tramway project further boosted by additional funding pledges. Words: Allan Radcliffe
he proposals for Scottish Ballet's state-of—thc-art
new home at Tramway have been given the green
light by Glasgow City Council's Planning Committee. Meanwhile. the Scottish Arts Council‘s announcement of a £3.75m National Lottery Grant. together with the commitment of up to £2111 from the Scottish Executive and additional funding from Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and Glasgow City Council means the project has already secured £75m towards the total £l 1m costs.
Cindy Sughrue. Executive Producer of Scottish Ballet. welcomed the council‘s decision and the funding announcement. ‘This is an important day for Scottish Ballet and it takes tls a step closer to realising our ambition to create a fitting home for the company.’
The company plans to build its new premises on an unused part of the existing Tramway site and by renovating sections of the existing building. The new premises have been designed by Malcolm Fraser
Top-lit rehearsal spaces are just one enlightened feature of Malcolm Fraser's design
Architects. the firm behind such highly regarded arts buildings as Dance Base in Edinburgh‘s Grassmarket. and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. which has been shortlisted for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland‘s (RIAS) 2006 Andrew Doolan award for the Best Building in Scotland. The building will feature three large rehearsal studios. health and fitness areas as well as dance studios and an education suite. intended to allow the company to reach out to the wider dance community and provide community educational facilities across the spectrum of dance and performance.
‘We are very excited about the potential for the future as the bespoke building will create a platform from which Scottish Ballet can fulfil its potential in so many different ways.‘ says Sughrue. ‘Tramway is a leading alts venue in Glasgow's inner city and placing a large-scale producing company within a dynamic international arts centre and community resource will create a range of opportunities.‘
EAST MEETS WEST FOR HOGMANAY BASH
I Chart troubling Scottish band The Fratellis are to play both the Glasgow and Edinburgh street parties at this year’s Hogmanay celebrations. The audacious collaboration between the two rival events will see the Glasgow band entertaining their home crowd in George Square before rocketing along the M8 to take their place on the Waverley Stage at Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. The dual appearance
is set to top off 2006 in style for the meteorically rising young stars, who most recently supported The Who at the Roundhouse in Camden in London as part of the BBC Electric Proms. ‘We’re really pleased that we are able to perform at both the Edinburgh and Glasgow Hogmanay celebrations on the same night, which is amazing. It’s a
great way to end what’s been an incredible year for us.’ (AR)
Glasgow writers’ festival joins in Britain’s biggest ever reading project
Aye Write!, the Glasgow book festival inaugurated
in 2005, is to participate
in Britain's biggest ever reading project. Small Island Read 2007, which
is set to attract tens of thousands of readers, from the West Coast of Scotland to Cornwall, is based on Andrea Levy’s (pictured) Orange Prize-winning novel Small Island. 50.000 copies of the novel, which describes the experience of black Jamaican immigrants arriving in post-war Britain, will be distributed free of charge in Glasgow, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the passing of the Slave Trade Abolition Bill. Two books for younger readers, Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee
Boy and Mary Hoffman’s Amazing Grace are also being used to attract all age groups to the project. An extensive website — www.smallislandread.com — will provide news.
Karen Cunningham, director of Aye Write! is excited about the festival’s participation in the project: ‘Aye Write! has already established itself as a leading literature festival,’ she says. ‘All of the partners are committed to promoting reading and literacy, at the same time as encouraging learning about the past. We are confident we will achieve both of these aims with Small lsland.’
The festival takes place in Glasgow's Mitchell Library, Fri 16—Sun 25 February 2007. (AR)
16—30 Nov 2006 THE LIST 7