For the past 18 months, my residency with Findhorn Bay Arts has given me the opportunity and the pleasure of working with the children and staff at the Ladybirds Development Group in Lossiemouth.
The Ladybirds is a specialist nursery that provides one-to-one care for children 5 years and under who have a range of complex support needs.
My work as a theatre maker has involved and evolved in creating theatrical arts experiences for early years children and babies. I have done lots of this work over the years, including making performances for this very youngest of audiences.
My relationship with The Ladybirds began in 2023 when I emailed all the nurseries in Lossiemouth, offering to run creative play sessions with the children. The Ladybirds responded immediately, and I was delighted but also a little bit nervous about what I could offer.
Before I led any activities, I spent several weeks popping in and hanging out, getting to know the staff and the children – some of whom had been coming with their mums to a baby group I’d been running in Lossie through another aspect of my FBA residency.
It was a delight to recognise these children and see how they were thriving in this environment and to spend time with the children with whom I did not have a prior relationship.
I began leading sessions using art materials I thought would be accessible, such as large stickers, paint, cardboard boxes, tubes and balls. Over the sessions, I introduced other objects, such as puppets and various sensory objects, with a focus on ensuring that the objects I picked were open-ended (not traditional toys) and aesthetically beautiful.
Collaborating with other artists is important to me
As with all my work, I like collaborating with other artists, so I brought in embodied learning specialist and dancer, Ruby Worth, and in another session, multi-instrumentalist, Adam Csenzki. It was a joy seeing how the children responded to what these artists offered and how they interacted.
One of the aspects of this residency that has worked well is the opportunity to dovetail with the work of my own theatre company, Frozen Charlotte. In summer 2024, we were developing a new show for babies and ASN audiences called ISLAND. We were able to bring in a ‘first draft’ of the show to share with the children and staff at The Ladybirds. A dancer, harpist and visual artist performed what we’d been working on in rehearsals. This mutually beneficial experience provided us with feedback on the show from the children and staff and also gave The Ladybirds an intimate performance experience they would not have otherwise had.
The Ladybirds have brought groups to other sessions and shows that have been offered. An outdoor drumming session at Lossiemouth’s Station Park with percussionist Carol Scorer, a gorgeous performance called Club Origami by London-based dancer and choreographer
Takeshi Matsumoto and, most recently, Frozen Charlotte’s production of Too Many Penguins? at Lossiemouth Town Hall.
Currently, I am working with filmmaker Jason Sinclair to create a short film as a celebration of the Ladybird children and staff that will be made available to the parents and families.
For the remainder of my residency, I am using my time to see performances created, especially for children with additional support needs and meeting with artists who have experience in making these shows. My ambition is to create performances for this audience that are accessible, meaningful and worthy of them.
Working with the Ladybirds has been one of the most interesting and fulfilling experiences of my 20-year-long career and I can’t thank FBA enough for allowing me to work in such a gentle way over a prolonged period.
Building relationships and trust always takes a long time, but rarely in the arts do we have an opportunity to do it with financial stability and with the support of such a brilliant organisation as FBA.
