Introducing WAF's Grant funded programme 2023

Wandsworth Arts Fringe returns with a new programme of supported projects, bringing playful, joyful cultural opportunities to SW London’s vibrant and diverse festival. 

WAF returns from 9-25 June with 17 jam-packed, belly-laughing, awe-inspiring days of art, dance, theatre, comedy, circus and street performance. Tickets and full programme information will be live from Wed 26 April 2023, but here is a preview of some of the amazing stuff coming to your doorstep this summer.

As part of our commitment to supporting artist development, and creating meaningful experiences for local audiences, the Wandsworth Arts Fringe (WAF) Grants help artists, makers and community groups realise their creative visions for the festival and engage with Wandsworth communities. For 2023, Wandsworth Council has distributed over £36,000 among 20 organisations, including homegrown creatives and internationally acclaimed artists, for projects taking place over this year’s festival. 

Festival-goers are encouraged to try something new, from awe-inspiring circus by Zirkus Morsa to verbal gymnastics from performance poet Alice d’Lumiere. Contemporary circus show Tipping Point by Zirkus Morsa mixes acrobatics and balance board in a performance that pushes balance to the limit. Speaking Out and Fitting In!  by Alice d'Lumiere is a  performance of striking poetry, disarming comedy, and a celebration of Gender Fluidity from a part-time Transwoman playfully establishing her voice.  

Independent tap dancer Petra Haller will take over the National Opera Studio with a week-long celebration of tap dance, while Artistes for Autism, led by MovementWorks, brings together autistic young people in the collaborative creation of a dance piece. Aged 11 – 15 years, these young dancers will meet at a new weekly Dance Club to create their performance and the final piece will be showcased as part of the larger Community Day of Dance hosted by the  Royal Academy of Dance. Elsewhere, Hallomai Dance present Joy is Ours, an outdoor interactive dance performance for families in local housing estates. 

The borough’s young musicial talent will have the opportunity to shine with Wandsworth Street Concerts set to fill the streets of Wandsworth once again with music, in a series of free outdoor classical concerts, staged in the beautiful portico of St Anne’s Church. World Heart Beat Music Academy will work in partnership with The Oracle Collective, a creative agency of 35 young artists, in their project World Heart Beat Presents: The Oracle Residency held at their brand-new venue in Nine Elms. They will programme a series of masterclasses, workshops and performances to support and develop young musical talent in the borough. 

Opera lovers will be able to get their fill – with performances of Gaṅgā  by Jataneel Banerjee and Carp Leaps over the Dragon Gate by Kathy Hall and Jose Navarro. Gaṅgā, a chamber opera in Sanskrit language, will premiere at the National Opera Studio and the Royal Academy of Dance, and tells the story of a celestial river goddess. Carp Leaps over the Dragon Gate, a Peking Opera dance-mime paired with recorded opera percussion music, is based on the legend of the carp known in many regions in China inspiring folk dances, drawings and lantern festivals. The short performance will be followed by a public workshop. 

Theatre and spoken word fans won’t be disappointed either, as I'MNOTAROBOT Productions presents Wandsworth New Writing Fest, a two-week festival of new performance at The Arches at St Mary’s Church in Putney.  

Youth theatre company Group 64 also focus on happiness and well-being with a powerful, thought provoking and timely piece of theatre devised by 14 young people, sharing their experiences of being young and seeking joy in this chaotic modern world.   

There will be a chance to learn a new skill or pick up some local history - London Independent Story Prize is organising a series of free creative writing workshops during the festival open for all levels of writers. And festival-goers can explore the art, architecture, history, future and lived experience of Battersea Nine Elms with History Speak on a guided walking tour which transforms the neighbourhood into an immersive outdoor gallery. 

Several projects will explore how creativity can support health and wellbeing. WAF fan favourites, The Baked Bean Charity, who work to promote education and social inclusion for adults and children with special educational needs and disabilities, present an unmissable film festival run and curated entirely by people with learning disabilities. Beans on Film will bring you tongue-in-cheek shorts, vibrant cameos, and some personal stories along the way. Goddess Power Fashion & Art Show, by Fée Uhssi,  is an art and catwalk show aiming to promote self-empowerment and community cohesion by involving women of Battersea to take part in the project, incarnate a mythical goddess of their choice, and model the collection on the day.

St George’s Hospital Charity’s Arts Team will host a celebration of the work of their three resident artists through an interactive exhibition, intimate performances, arts activities and a display of short films documenting the artists’ time on site. The showcase will provide a valuable insight into the impact of arts in hospitals. 

An exciting festival programme will also be popping up in Wandsworth’s local churches, All Saints Church in Tooting is hosting All SaintsTooting Arts Festival – a series of performances designed to embrace a variety of styles and performers focussed on building community through the arts. 

There’s plenty of fun in store for all the family, even for WAF’s littlest visitors. Returning for it’s fifth year is Hazelfest, run by Work and Play Scrapstore, promising an afternoon for the whole family to get crafty on the Hazelhurst Estate. Families from Roehampton’s Alton Estate will have the chance to get involved in London’s first community-led social and colour therapy sculpture, Happy Puffs, led by artist Sol Golden Sato, and Vintage Vendetta Productions will also return with Meg in the Magic Toyshop, an interactive theatre show for under 5s which will delight young audiences with storytelling, songs and dancing in local libraries.  

WAF 2023 Grant Awards Listings: 

Alice d'Lumiere 

Speaking Out and Fitting In! 

Striking performance poetry, disarming comedy, and a celebration of Gender Fluidity from a part-time Transwoman playfully establishing her voice 

Alice d’Lumiere generally prefers to go unnoticed; she wants to be an ordinary person on the train. She's happy to be anonymous; a sensible, middle-aged woman. However, she's also a Poet and Performance Artist; and cursed with an occasional, but irresistible desire to speak up, stand out and sometimes be the fairy on top of the Christmas tree! 

This is a show in verse and prose, with flashes of cabaret and aerial burlesque, in which Alice playfully explores her wonderful, occasionally counter-intuitive, position, striving to both fit into another gender, whilst at the same time yearning to establish a unique, personal voice. 

Speaking Out and Fitting In!  is a celebratory show about how delightfully queer life can be when you decide to step beyond your birth gender. 

Location: National Opera Studio, Wandsworth Town 

Website: http://www.alicedlumiere.co.uk/ 

 

All Saints Church 

All Saints Tooting Arts Festival  

The All SaintsTooting Arts Festival is designed to embrace a variety of styles and performers with a range of experience together in an event focussed on building community through the arts.  The Church is a venue with excellent acoustics which will be opened up to a range of performers and audiences including jazz, classical, contemplative music and a celebration of local community events. 

Location: All Saints Church, Tooting 

Website: http://www.allsaintstooting.org.uk/ 

 

Group 64 

JOY 

JOY was originally devised by 14 young people and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe 2022. A powerful, thought-provoking and timely piece of theatre that shares the experiences of a young person in 2023 and asks whether they can be joyful in this chaotic modern world. The mental health of young people is at the core of all Group 64’s work and they are tackling this head on in this beautiful show which comes from the hearts of this young generation. Group 64 are known for creating challenging, and high-quality shows with young people. The performance will be followed by a chat and pizza with the cast and crew and follow up workshops for local young people. 

Location: Putney Arts Theatre, Putney 

Website: https://www.g64.org.uk/ 

 

Hallomai Dance 

Joy is Ours 

Hallomai Dance will be touring an outdoor interactive dance performance Joy is Ours across Housing Estates in Wandsworth during WAF2023. Exploring the themes of connection, community, and playfulness, the 20-minute piece is aimed at early years children (6 months – 4 years) and their families. 

Location: Alton Estate, Winstanley & York Road Estate, Doddington & Rollo Estate, Hazelhurst Estate, Henry Prince Estate 

Website: https://www.annanicholls.com/hallomaidance 

 

History Speak 

Art and Architecture Walking Tour of Battersea Nine Elms 

History Speak invite audiences on a guided tour to explore the largest regeneration project in Europe. Discover iconic architecture and public works of art in Battersea Nine Elms alongside historic landmarks. They will explore the past, future and lived experience of the area in times of rapid changes. The experience will transform the neighbourhood into a gallery. Bring your camera or sketch book and let the city inspire you! 

Location: Rainbow Plaque - My Beautiful Laundrette 

Website: www.historyspeak.co.uk 

I’MNOTAROBOT Productions 

Wandsworth New Writing Fest 

An exciting festival of new theatrical performances at The Arches in Putney! Supporting emerging artists and creating a vibrant new arts scene, complete with plenty of laughs, captivating storytelling and a riverside bar. The diverse double-bill programming encourages the audience to see multiple performances and gives creatives a chance to support each other. 

The two weeks will be packed full of entertainment, from theatre, to spoken word, to scratch nights, all nestled under Putney Bridge, providing a platform for new voices. 

Location: The Arches, St Mary's Church, Putney 

Instagram: @imnotarobotprod 

 

Jataneel Banerjee 

Gaṅgā  

Gaṅgā, a chamber opera in Sanskrit language, will premiere at the National Opera Studio and the Royal Academy of Dance as part of Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2023. 

The story of Gaṅgā: a saga of heartbreak, promise and love. Gaṅgā is a powerful, yet helpless, celestial river goddess, whose womb becomes the medium to fulfil the higher purpose of gods and men. Cursed and doomed to be born as mortals, the eight Vasus choose Gaṅgā to be their mother. She promises to release all but one from the curse; the last must live on earth. Gaṅgā chooses her beloved Shantanu, mighty king of Hastinapur, to be the father. But, to keep her promise, she must also break his heart. 

Location: National Opera Studio, Wandsworth Town & Royal Academy of Dance, Battersea 

Website: www.jataneel.com 

 

Kathy Hall and Jose Navarro 

Carp Leaps over the Dragon Gate –A Peking Opera Dance and Mime 

London Chinese Opera Studio proudly presents 'Carp Leaps over the Dragon Gate - A Peking Opera Interlude' 《鲤鱼跳龙门-京剧小品, a 6-minute performance of Peking Opera dance-mime paired with recorded opera percussion music, followed by a 40-minute workshop. The newly devised work by Kathy Hall and Jose Navarro is based on a legend known in many regions in China inspiring folk dances, drawings and lantern festivals. The story follows a carp striving to swim upstream to jump over the Dragon Gate and turning into a dragon free to roam the heavens and the seas. The finale will be the dramatic transformation of the carp into a spectacular dragon! 

Location: National Opera Studio, Wandsworth Town 

Website: https://londonchineseoperastudio.co.uk https://josenavarrotheare.com 

 

London Independent Story Prize 

Creative Writing Workshop 

London Independent Story Prize offers a series of free Creative Writing Workshops, open to all levels of writers, from beginner to experienced. Amal Chatterjee, who teaches fiction at Oxford University, will give online Creative Workshops. Jessica Andrews, an award-winning author, will give a hybrid Creative Writing Workshop at the gorgeous Royal Academy of Dance. 

Location: Online & Royal Academy of Dance, Battersea 

Website: https://www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk/ 

 

MovementWorks 

Artistes for Autism 

Artistes for Autism, led by MovementWorks, will bring together a group of autistic young people in the collaborative creation of a dance piece. The young people, aged 11 – 15 years, will meet weekly at Dance Club to create their performance.The final piece will be showcased as part of the larger Community Day of Dance at the prestigous Royal Academy of Dance.  

Location: Royal Academy of Dance, Battersea 

Website: https:// works.org/artistes-for-autism/ 

 

Petra Haller 

Wandsworth Arts Fringe Tap Dance Days 2023 

Petra Haller, an independent dance artist and tap dancer based in London,  curates the first Wandsworth Arts Fringe Tap Dance Days. Each day will be a celebration of tap dance from all angles. Her one week run at National Opera Studios consists of 9 unique concerts featuring film installations, spoken word, improvised music, jazz standards, a Wandsworth Arts Fringe partner day, a tap dance immersion day, 3 zoom panel talks during the week, and 2 live talks. 

Location: National Opera Studio, Wandsworth Town 

Website: www.petrahaller.net 

 

Fée Uhssi 

Goddess Power Fashion & Art Show 

Goddess Power Fashion & Art Show is an art and catwalk show showcasing Fée Uhssi’s Art of Fashion Wrapping ethical capsule collection alongside bespoke upcycled jewellery and accessories created with a group of women from Battersea/ Wandsworth area. The project’s aim is to promote self-empowerment and community cohesion by involving women of Battersea to take part in the project, incarnate a mythical goddess of their choice, and model the collection on the day. 

The main event will also showcase the Goddesses from the world upcycled dolls project by Fée Uhssi and an Art of Fashion Wrapping installation at the Nine Elms Pavilion.The catwalk show will be followed by a community party with music and the audience will be invited to join a dancing session. 

Location: Nine Elms Pavilion Riverside Walk 

Website: https://www.artoffashionwrapping.com/ 

 

Sol Golden Sato 

Alton Happy Puffs – Immersive Colour Therapy Installation 

This summer, artist Sol Golden Sato and the people of the Alton Estate  will make London’s first community led social and colour therapy sculpture, in a series of fun family workshops. Happy Puffs at the Alton estate will be made using colourful mesh fabric to create an immersive colour therapy installation that you can walk in and bathe in colour.  

Location: Alton Arts Club, Roehampton 

Website: https://www.lux-mag.com/sol-golden-sato-art-and-identity/ 

 

St George's Hospital Charity 

Arts St George’s Resident Artists Showcase 

St George’s Hospital Charity’s Arts Team  host a celebration of the work of their three Resident Artists through an interactive exhibition, intimate performances, arts activities and the display of short films documenting the artists’ time on site. The event will also showcase the St George’s Staff Choir, who meet weekly to sing together to enhance their wellbeing, led by acclaimed Choir Leader, Georgia Duncan. 

This event will be developed over the coming months, in response to input from the hospital community. The final showcase will provide a valuable insight into the impact of arts in your local hospital. 

Location: St George's Hospital 

Website: https://www.stgeorgeshospitalcharity.org.uk/the-difference-we-make/arts-st-georges 

 

The Baked Bean Charity 

Beans on Film 

The Baked Bean Charity are back (with a new name, too!) for another year at the Wandsworth Arts Fringe. Spread across 4 days, Beans on Film is a film festival not to be missed. Run and curated entirely by people with learning disabilities, Beans on Film will bring you tongue-in-cheek shorts, vibrant cameos, and some personal stories along the way. 

The Baked Bean Charity is a performing arts and education provider for people with learning disabilities. Going 26 years strong, the Charity prides itself on creating fantastic opportunities with inclusion, social integration and celebrating diversity at the forefront of their work. From musical theatre and dance, to life skills and art, they have it all on offer.  

Location: The Exhibit, Balham 

Website: https://bakedbeancharity.com 

 

Vintage Vendetta Productions 

Meg in the Magic Toyshop 

It’s first thing in the morning at the Magic Toyshop and Meg the doll can’t find her best glove... She needs your help! With timeless children’s classics from the era of Danny Kaye and Shirley Temple, Meg in the Magic Toyshop combines the warm, cosy feeling of childhood days gone by with whimsical fun for today – fabulous entertainment for children and adults alike!  

‘an educational 40 minutes that ignited the imagination and engaged even the toughest critics below the age of 5 - a lovely interactive Fringe production that is ideal for families with young children.’ (The Serenade Files) 

Location: Wandsworth Libraries 

Website: https://www.vintagevendettaproductions.com/ 

 

Work and Play Scrapstore 

Hazelfest 

Hazelfest is an annual community event which provides a free afternoon of arts and crafts-style fun for all the family. Work and Play Scrapstore uses recycled materials to provide 16 activity stalls on the green outside the Hazelhurst Estate, including facepainting, CD portraits, magic butterflies, Lucky Dip, Paint a Tree, Plant a seed, Wish Tree, Weaving, Crafts & Crowns, Junk Kites, a Listening Cart, storytelling, the Pollock painting Rooms, football training in the estate’s ‘cage’ and three live performances – usually dance, a choir and live music. 

Location: Hazelhurst Estate 

Website: https://www.workandplayscrapstore.org.uk/ 

 

World Heart Beat Music Academy 

World Heart Beat Presents:  The Oracle Residency 

World Heart Beat Music Academy will work in partnership with The Oracle Collective to programme a series of masterclasses, workshops and performances to support and develop young musical talent within the borough.  

The Oracle Collective is a creative agency of 35 young artists, led by emerging singer, songwriter and producer Anjelo Disons. The Oracle Collective has a strong following and has gained a reputation for putting London’s freshest Jazz, Soul and R&B talent on the map. As part of the collaboration The Oracle will present Endz Jazz Soul, a night at showcasing the best emerging musicians from across London.  

Aspiring young musicians from across the borough will also be able to take part in an accompanying free workshop series exploring music and radio production in World Heart Beat Music Academy’s state-of-the-art media studios, have a go at song writing and learn about the music business from The Oracle’s professional young musicians. 

Location: Embassy Gardens, Kimber Road 

Website: https://worldheartbeat.org/ 

 

Zimmermann Band 

Wandsworth Street Concerts 

A summer series of 6 free classical music concerts held outdoors in the beautiful portico of St Anne’s church, Wandsworth. 

Lukas Bowen and the Medea String Quartet will be returning with the Walton Viola Concerto and more Laura Marconi; Richard Robbins performs Britten’s five Canticles accompanied by horn, harp and piano; and the Zimmermann Band will present three Bach cantatas, including Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring and closing off with Monteverdi’s Tirsi e Clori on the series finale. 

Please bring a friend, a chair or picnic blanket and refreshments will be available, including Wandsworth's favourite Victoria Sponge. 

Location: St Anne's Churchyard, Wandsworth 

Website: https://www.streetconcertswandsworth.com/ 

 

Zirkus Morsa 

Tipping Point 

Tipping Point is a contemporary circus show mixing acrobatics and rola bola (balance board), silence and uproar, curiosity and tenderness. With their fresh, simple and poetic approach Zirkus Morsa question human behaviour by using circus technique, dance and (object) theatre. In Tipping Point, Zirkus Morsa push balance to the limit through their amazing hand-to-hand technique on the rola bola.  

Stranded on stage, on an island, exiled, two characters start over. Despite the failures, they continue to look for precious moments of(f) balance, however small they are, the moments when everything is going well, when they feel alive, without conditions, together or alone. Only to lose this fleeting feeling again and start their search all over again. 

Location: Kimber Skate Park 

Website: http://zirkusmorsa.de/