Festival Primavera 2000 was the first festival for Leyburn promoted by Leyburn Light and included a diverse blend of professional performances suitable for all ages.
Picture of Howard Firth promoting Primavera 2000:Richard Doughty
Leyburn Light would like to thank Awards for All, Rural Arts North Yorkshire and Richmondshire District Council whose support enabled the festival to take place and transform Howard Firth's original idea into reality.
Extract from Darlington and Stockton Times Friday March 3rd:
Arts Festival all set to spring into life.
Leyburn's very own spring festival, Primavera 2000 gets under way on March 21, thanks to grants from the Millennium fund Awards for All, Richmondshire District Council and the town council, plus sponsorship from North Yorkshire Rural Arts.
Wensleydale School is providing the venue for the first event on March 21, by the RJC Dance Company. It is sponsored by ther Rural Arts millennium project Boundaries.
RJC stands for reggae, jazz and contemporary and the seven professional dancers will be using club dancing, music, film and the spoken word to create a feeling of unrestricted boundaries.
On Saturday March 25, the Navajo Chinle Valley Singers fro the US will present music, dance and folklore of their tribe during an afternoon performance at Wensleydale School.
The Leyburn Light millennium project plans to light up Leyburn with entertainment for all ages between March 21st and May 17th. One of the organisers Mr Howard Firth of Leyburn said that they started planning last November and many businesses in Leyburn were supporting them by placing adverts in the programmes.
Tickets for all events cost £4 (£2 for children, pensioners and concessions) and are available from the tourist information office Leyburn and at Specials. For events at the Elite tickets can also be bought from the cinema.
The first event there is on Sunday April 9, when Talia Teatrum presents the story of a First World War clairvoyant entitled Is There Anyone Out There?
On April 16, two internationally renowned musicians Maire ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman give a concert of harp and guitar music at the Elite.
Offbeat Stories will appear at the community centre on April 12 and on May 17, Blaize presents the musical Fish and Chips - the Musical
TUESDAY MARCH 21ST @ 7.30 PM
WENSLEYDALE SCHOOL
RJC DANCE PERFORM 'VIBE'
The following is the Darlington and Stockton Times Report which appeared on the 24th March 2000
Festival leaps into action with energetic show
Leyburn's first Primavera Festival got off to an electrifying start on Tuesday at the Wensleydale School, thanks to the RJC Dance Company.
The audience was transfixed throughout the high-energy performance which included reggae, break dancing, salsa and street dancing, backed by projected video scenes.
The dancers showed that it was better to have a natural high than to seek one through taking drugs.
This was done so well that their audience responded by clapping and cheering.
Tommorrow at 2pm the festival continues at the Wensleydale School with the Chinle Valley Singers from the States giving a concert of traditional native American Navajo singing and social dance.
SATURDAY MARCH 25TH @ 2.00PM
WENSLEYDALE SCHOOL
CHINLE VALLEY SINGERS
Direct from the Navajo Nation, USA.
A unique opportunity to gain an insight into traditional Navajo Indian dance and culture. See the stunning and skillful Hoop Dance
The following is the Darlington and Stockton Times Report which appeared on the 31st March 2000.
Pow wow in the dale
Brilliant hoop dancing by one of the male Chinle Valley Singers at the Wensleydale School on Saturday afternoon helped to lift a performance which at the beginning hit some interesting cultural barriers.
The Navajo Indians from America are definitely not circus indians, but had come to share their culture in what they called a pow wow. But they were more used to doing this in cosier venues where they could get to know their audience first.
Up on the stage at the school, they took time to adjust to such different circumstances, and so it became an evening of reaching across cultural barriers and learning about each other.
By the second half, these gentle, quite shy people had relaxed and soon their audience warmed to them. The grass dancer was spectacular, not only for his dancing but also his traditional head dress and costume.
The hoop dancer expertly used his arms and legs to create birds, butterflies, shells and the sun and moon.
Afterwards the group mingled with the audience and shared more about their culture, showing off their blue-turquoise jewellery. One person commented afterwards that they had all learned something that afternoon.
SUNDAY APRIL 9TH @ 7.00PM
ELITE CINEMA
TALIA TEATRUM
Is There Anybody Out There?
by Matthew Cameron Harvey
For one night only, Lance Corporal Henry Hargreaves, clarivoyant, hero and survivor of Flanders battlefields, will appear to reveal secrets from beyond the grave.
Specially commissioned for small rural venues, "Is There Anybody Out There?" tells the story of soldier Henry Hargreaves whose fantastical clairvoyant show toured rural England during the troubled times of World War One.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 12TH @ 7.00PM
LEYBURN COMMUNITY CENTRE
APRIL 16TH @ 7.30PM
ELITE CINEMA
Find out more about Chris, Bridget and Graham
MAIRE NI CHATHASAIGH AND CHRIS NEWMAN
A breathtaking blend of traditional Irish and Scottish music, Hot Jazz, Bluegrass and Baroque combine to ensure a superb evenings entertainment.
The following is an extract from the Darlington and Stockton Times Report which appeared on the 21st April 2000.
Primavera, which is part of Leyburn Light Millennium Project, was particularly memorable last week thanks to two very different programmes.
Chris Bostock with his Tall Tales and Short Stories had his audience spellbound. He created the illusion of a large sitting room in the community centre, drawing his listeners around him as he wove his stories and took them into different worlds. He was well supported by musicians Bridget Enever and Graham Raine.
At the Elite Cinema on Sunday, harpist Maire Ni Chathasaigh and guitarist Chris Newman won many new fans with their often moving and superbly diverse concert.
They share a true spirit of adventure often producing a breath-taking blend of traditional Irish and Scottish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque. The audience was often stunned by the brilliance of their musicianship.
MAY 17TH @ 7.30PM
WENSLEYDALE SCHOOL
BLAIZE PRESENT 'FISH AND CHIPS- THE MUSICAL'
An Epic Tale, with music and songs inspired by the Great British Institution!
A rousing end to the festival and especially memorable by the appearance of the mobile Fish and Chip van at the end of the performance!
Click on the Fish and Chips sign to view the programme notes:
