Step Outside
Song written by Chez Dunford and Young People at the Music Works.
Community Singing Sessions led by Kirsty Abraham.
Produced by Wyldwood Arts for FOD Fringe 25.
A two part project building on and developing previous community singing sessions held last year as part of FOD Fringe 24.
In the spirit of creating new contemporary folklore and passing this across communities we began work on an intergenerational project for FOD Fringe 25. It explores the passing on and gifting of a story through song. This project is still in a development phase, and will continue to be developed post festival.
Step Outside
Wyldwood Arts commissioned Chez Dunford to write a song that could be passed on and learnt by others throughout the FOD Fringe 25. We wanted this song to be representative of modern day experiences in the Forest of Dean, so we chose work in collaboration with The Music Works and their youth sessions.
Chez held two collaborative and accessible song writing sessions with young people to feed into the creation of a song called Step Outside.
The sessions brought up a variety of topics around day to day life including vapes and wanting to live outside of the lines. The final composition is written as a three part harmony.
Get Singing
During FOD Fringe, Kirsty Abraham led a number of accessible singing groups - open to everyone, of all abilities.
During these sessions, Step Outside (alongside other songs selected for the festival) were learnt and sang together in a variety of community settings across the Forest of Dean. These were held in The Wesley (Cinderford), Lydney Community Center (Lyndey), Worcester Walk (Coleford) and the finale in the Yurt at Dean Heritage Center.
CREDIT/WITH THANKS
Workshop leaders and artists: Chez Dunford and Kirsty Abraham
Partners: The Music Works, and singing groups; People Singing, and Breathe in Sing Out (for people with breathless conditions)
Young People from Music Works
Documentation: Drabble & Co
Venue: Dean Heritage Centre
To view the photo gallery for this event, please click here to visit www.fodfringe.co.uk