Queer Up North has developed a number of successful participation projects including 2007’s queer hip hop project Beyond the Box and the anti-bullying theatre project FIT. Produced with Stonewall, FIT reached over 10,000 teenagers in the UK. This year a DVD version of FIT is being produced for schools.

The launch of BLAZE in 2009 built on these achievements, with the appointment of a dedicated worker to develop and manage projects. This was made possible by a grant from the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA).

Working with themes from Chris Goode’s piece The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley, young people from Lesbian and Gay Youth Manchester and Albert Kennedy Trust created new pieces of text, photography, video, and animation and presented it at Contact Theatre during the 2009 festival.

A group of young people from Salford worked with theatre and puppetry to tell their own stories, inspired by the work of marionette maestro Ronnie Burkett. The Lowry on Walkabout and Salford Youth Service supported this project.

Juliana Snapper’s underwater opera featured a local chorus specially brought together for this event at Victoria Baths. The broad-based community project was open to all-comers and invited participants to work with soprano Snapper, with an option to get in the water too! Members of the choir prepared for work on the opera through sessions with beatbox vocal artist Jason Singh, exploring unexpected ways of using the voice.

The 2009 festival’s Artist in Residence Taylor Mac led a two day intensive workshop with a selected group of young and emerging artists, sharing some of his approach to performance making and offering an opportunity for participants to develop new work.

For more information on any aspect of BLAZE, contact Nicki Dupuy, Participation Co-ordinator