March Malago Meeting

Ladies, all the ladies!
Clear your throats, please, in preparation for the March meeting of Malago WI!

Wednesday 25 March will have us projecting, booming, and commanding, as we take part in a voice workshop. Selina Keedwell, director of interCre8 (creatively learning through
drama), is a drama artist, performer and facilitator, specialising in teaching physical theatre and drama to students of all ages and abilities. Selina has performed in, devised, facilitated and managed creative projects in diverse settings, from taxi drivers in Indonesia and doctors in Torbay, to dancers in New York and young mothers in Devon. She firmly believes that learning through drama can have huge benefits for all, helping to gain confidence, develop positive self awareness, and the ability to work with others co-operatively by exploring and accepting ourselves as individuals.

The workshop allows us to explore our voices while discovering new ways of communicating confidently with an audience, at work or play. Using breathing, relaxation, diction, projection, rhythm & pace, use of pause, body language and delivery, we will develop a better understanding of ourselves as communicators, and of our voice as a useful tool. The voice workshop is a fun way of working together to explore our abilities in a supportive and creative way, and is designed for all levels - no experience required. We hope you enjoy it.

You may have noticed that www.malagowi.co.uk has had temporary makeover, in celebration of the forthcoming MWI exhibition as part of the Southbank Art Trail (9 and 10 May 2009). There will be a sign-up sheet at Wednesday's meeting - we'd like as many members as possible to take on an assignment (despite the onerous-sounding name, assignments are really very easy and straightforward, we promise!). The nature of the Learning To Love You More project means it's open to all - whether you consider yourself an artist or not (yet). It's an art project of a most democratic nature. And it's a whole lot of fun.

Don't forget: if this will be your third meeting and you're not yet a member, then it's time to cough up. Membership is £29 for the year - see Jen, our treasurer, at the meeting.

April Meeting
Malago WI hopes to provide a few tips and ideas for beating the credit crunch at our April meeting, with interesting information provided by not one, but two speakers. Kath Kelly author of 'How I Lived on Just One Pound a Day' will be talking about how she survived her self-imposed penury by revealing where to look for cheap clothing, food and toiletries, along with offering novel ideas for socialising and gift-giving.

We are also joined by Dave Hamilton, co-founder of www.selfsufficientish.com and author of 'The Urban Guide to Self Sufficiency'. Dave is an expert in all things organic and will demonstrating how to make environmentally friendly cleaning products at home as well as supplying us with tips on how to garden, totally organically and on a budget. He also has a wealth of knowledge on the type of vegetables that can be grown in space-strapped gardens.

Ooh, it's all shaping up nicely.

Until Wednesday, adieu,
MWI

A Spring update

February's meeting was fantastic. With more members than ever coming through the doors, there was a real sense that our humble group is becoming properly established.

Steve Humphries from Testimony Films spoke to us with passion and conviction about his 25 year career in oral history documentary-making. We were treated to clips of his world-changing programmes, with women speaking candidly about their experiences of orgasms, sex before marriage, and unconsummated marriages in the twentieth century. Without Steve and his team, much of this wonderful material would have been lost in the mists of time. We're very glad Testimony exists.

Alice and Lottie spoke about the Southbank Art Trail project, for which Malago WI members will make assignments from the Learning To Love You More project. If art's not your thing, we're also looking for donations of cake and a few hours over the weekend, to help run the fundraising cafe. Email jointhewi@gmail.com for more information, and we'll have a sign-up sheet at the March meeting too.

Talking of which, the programme for March will be a voice workshop, presented by Selina Keedwell of interCre8. The workshop is about having fun exploring our voices whilst discovering new ways of communicating confidently with an audience, at work or play. By exploring breathing, relaxation, diction, projection, rhythm and pace, use of pause, body language and delivery, we will develop a better understanding of ourselves as communicators, and of our voice as a useful tool. We're sure the voice workshop will be a fun way of working together to explore our abilities in a supportive and creative way.

See you in March,
MWI