A year full of stories, connecting people across thousands of miles!

2019 has been a whirlwind of activity that saw Adverse Camber projects connecting from Leeds to Australia, Wales to Norway and even to the Moon! In March, we were thrilled to be asked by Leeds Carriageworks Theatre and Leeds Lit Fest to create a weekend packed-full of storytelling. Rising to the challenge, our very first Storytelling Takeover was filled with valuable conversations about the transformative power of storytelling, to the glorious MYTH OFF, to uncovering fairytale secrets of Leeds' streets with Ursula Holden Gill's City Centre Story Walk, to a multitude of wonderful storytelling performances from some of the UK and Europe's finest storytellers - a perfect mix of events. The Takeover also saw us broadcasting our very first live-streamed storytelling event, with Tim Ralphs! STORYTELLERS IN CONVERSATION COMING SOON... One of our favourite bits of Leeds Storytelling Takeover was engaging in so many fascinating conversations over the weekend! We invited Takeover audiences to get in on the action, putting their questions to storytellers with the help of a goldfish bowl, then we paired up storytellers, sat them on the sofa with a camera rolling and off they went! In the New Year, we'll be sharing these conversations with you - catch the series on your chosen platform - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Youtube to watch, enjoy, share and most importantly join in the conversation! AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURES In April, the Dreaming the Night Field team packed their bags (plus the harp of course) and headed to the other side of the World, for a 3-week tour and residency in New South Wales, Australia. Thanks to Arts OutWest, Wales Arts International, Riverside Theatre, BMEC and our partners at Felin Uchaf, our residency ranged enormously from main-house performances in arts centres to intimate performances in living rooms, galleries and churches; to workshops and cultural exchanges, to visiting some remarkable landscapes and even having a tour of the Parkes telescope, the very place that received the footage from the 1969 Moon Landing, which leads us very nicely onto our next highlight... All in all, it was an incredible adventure, read our producer, Naomi Wilds' fascinating summary here. WE HAVE LIFT OFF! In July, we launched our Heritage Lottery Fund project, Moon Stories at the Derbyshire Records Office on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing to the tune of Fly Me to the Moon performed live by Jamie Joseph. This exciting project driven by young people in care and care leavers will see Derbyshire people's stories and memories of the Moon Landing recorded and archived as a lasting legacy. You can read all about the launch here. DREAMING THE NIGHT FIELD'S EPIC FINALE In August, our Welsh tour of Dreaming the Night Field came to a magnificent close at Felin Uchaf, the very place where the show's journey began. Here we celebrated the connections between important strands of our work as the young people we worked with on our Stars and Stories project joined us on the Llŷn Peninsula as special visitors to the tour finale. Here's the write-up about this significant event. THE PERFECT START FOR MOON STORIES! In September, we had our first outing for Moon Stories, collecting Moon memories under the light of Luke Jeram's Museum of the Moon at Derby Cathedral, part of Derby Festé! Throughout the day, the young people discovered some amazing artefacts including a book signed by Buzz Aldrin, learned some valuable new skills and recorded their first set of Moon stories - it really was the perfect start to the project! UNRAVELLING THE LAYERS OF ANCIENT NORSE SAGA... In October, we spent five days in residency at SEANSE, a cultural centre in the west of Norway. Here we worked with one of Europe's most formidable storytellers, Mimesis Heidi Dahslveen and electro-acoustic musician, Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad on a new piece, Vår: the story of Hervor. Learning more about this little-known Viking Warrior woman and how this ancient story connects to themes of family, memory and identity was an amazing experience. After the residency, Vår premiered at Litteraturhuset in Oslo and we hope to tour this show in the UK in the future, so watch this space! Read more about our time in Norway here. FOUR TALES TO SAVE THE WORLD

November saw us supporting Welsh singer-songwriter and storyteller, Gwilym Morus-Baird and four of Wales' best short story writers -  to R&D a new show called, 4 Tales to Save the World. Expect more news on this soon, but in the meantime you can find out more about Gwilym, the new show and check out his unique sound here!

2020 is going to be an exciting year for Adverse Camber, with new and continuing projects underway. Once again, we look forward to working with our brilliant artists, project teams, partner venues, funders and associates, and to celebrating our work with both audiences and participants! Wishing you all a peaceful and story-filled festive season and look forward sharing more stories with you in 2020!

The Adverse Camber Team