Crossroutes 51°

On Thursday 19 January, rehearsals for the Crossroutes 51° project began at the New Theatre Royal.

The project brings together countries to perform pieces in Duisberg, Germany in July. All towns that are taking part are twinned with Duisberg: Portsmouth, Calais, Vilnuis, Perm and Gaziantep.

The aim of the project is to celebrate the connection of the countries, demonstrating the idea of a common world.

The performance is to be devised by a group of 15-19 year olds under the supervision of Jamie and Claire of Jam Jar Dance. The group, first formed on Thursday, must use their performance strengths be it acting, dance or production design to create 20 minutes of material to show in Duisberg in the summer.

The group will stay out in Duisberg between 5-22 July at a camp shared with all the other participating countries, encouraging bonds to be built and friendships made. Each country will perform their piece, and then the group will be mixed to create a larger scale piece to perform.

For the first workshop, the group of 15 teens had the chance to get to know about the project, and more importantly about each other. A series of activities and games took place to introduce themselves to each other and to begin the early stages of devising the performance they want to take to Germany.

The first activity was a particularly fun one. The group sat in a circle, and passed around a toilet roll, tearing off as many sheets as they wished. This activity was met with some confusion and nervous laughter. It was then revealed that the group must share one fact about themselves for each sheet they tore. The one group member who tore almost half the roll soon regretted that decision! The ice was soon broken, and everyone knew enough about the others to begin some fun games and begin brainstorming.