We can’t believe it’s already December! With 2022 nearly at an end, we asked our Highly Sprung family for their favourite moments from across the year. From touring our final shows of Urban Astronaut, to featuring on Sky Arts, to dancing with some very unruly corgis in Central London, we’ve covered a lot of ground! We hope you enjoy reliving some of the special memories below.
My highlight has to be the obvious one… becoming the nation’s corgi lady! Having the most fun with the brilliant Sprungs dancing our way round the jubilee parade with the crazy corgis and the incredible feeling of being a moment of living history! My other favourite moment has to be the moment I saw our beautiful butterfly fly against the backdrop of a full moon in Castle Vale as part of Taking Flight and Festival of Flying… when dreams become realities, thanks to our amazing team of seriously creative collaborators ☺️
Sarah Worth, Executive Director
My highlight comes from both tours of Storm this year. I loved seeing the children’s faces when they realised the performance moved around the library, and was an adventure! Another particularly magical moment for me was seeing their reaction when our umbrellas (made by the wonderful Vortex) turned into jellyfish. The awe and amazement in their faces made me so happy!
Emily Robertson, Senior Associate Artist
Having been lucky enough to have been part of the Urban Astronaut crew for the past two years, pushing the rig in different towns and cities up and down the country, this year I got chance to wear the infamous suit and helmet. Flying through Mansfield and seeing the reactions of everyone below was really special. I may not have been quite as high as Armstrong and Aldrin but it is definitely an experience I will never forget!
Jacob Lander, Performer in Urban Astronaut and Associate Artist
A highlight of 2022 for me was the work we did with Munira Thobani around diversity and inclusion. Across two workshops, we brought together member of the Board, the leadership and operational teams as well as artists and associate artists – working with such a diverse group of people, hearing everyone’s lived experience and sharing aspirations and ideas has enabled Highly Sprung to take our approach to diversity and inclusion to a completely different level.
Amanda Campbell, Chair of the Board of Trustees
For me the highlight of 2022 was watching the performance of Castaway with my two granddaughters. We were all captivated by the story and the drama provided by the flying rig. My granddaughters were enthralled. I will remember that sunny afternoon in Coventry for a long time!
Claire Singleton, Board Member
My 2022 highlight has been bringing together the 10 fantastic young people who applied to be a part of our Youth Advisory Board – we have so far had 2 meetings with them and it has been so enlightening to get their views on Highly Sprung and our work and look at how we can feed their opinions, experience and ideas into what we do.
Zoe Drinkwater, Project Administrator
Top moment from Out Out has definitely got to be when the cannons went off and the wind blew all the confetti away, felt very powerful 😎
Jodie Stewardson, Performer in OUT OUT
Out Out was so special because it not only allowed me to express my queerness and create some awesome work whilst doing so but also allowed so many other people to be able to share their stories… good and bad. It brought together many LGBTQIA+ people from across Coventry and Warwickshire and felt so important whilst we were filming/rehearsing.
Mai Worth, Performer in OUT OUT and member of Sprung Advance
Sooo I’d say a highlight for me was being able to do Urban Astronaut as my first job. Being able to go to places around the UK l’d never normally visit. Holmfirth being my favourite, after that long drive and sitting down to have a home cooked meal & meeting the lovely folks who were so kind to take us all in for the evening. Out-Out’s highlight was listening to the track for the first time together, with the verbatim quotes, and noticing the silence in the room. It felt like what we were making would make people stop and listen.
Seb Chambers, Performer in Urban Astronaut and OUT OUT
THANK YOU to our team and to all the wonderful Sprung family of artists, freelancers and young people that we have privilege to work with. Here’s to an even busier and bolder 2023!
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