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Wednesday, 19 October 2011 12:53

Transgender arts festival to launch in Liverpool's famous Adelphi Hotel

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I see Mandy on my bus all the timeTRANNY HOTEL FUNDING SUCCESS

Following the recent announcement of the UK premiere of international Transgender arts festival, Tranny Hotel, to be held at Liverpool's iconic Adelphi Hotel from Fri 11 – Sun 13 November, organisers were delighted to hear that the project has been awarded an arts council grant.

The funding has enabled the festival to produce a series of workshops, which will take place in the week leading up to Tranny Hotel on the 7th 9th and 10th of November, at the Bluecoat, led by Transgender artists including organiser Mandy Romero. The funding is also allowing organisers to run a performance workshop as part of the festival weekend with renowned performer, author and journalist Adam Lowe.

Further details below

The workshops will examine gender, identity and self – presentation, combining discussion with creative expression to produce objects and actions in various media (writing, collage and performance). Through asking questions of those in attendance such as 'How do I express myself fully as a person? Do the words "Male" or "Female" define me well enough? Is there an "in-between" and do I belong there? And what does "transgender" mean to me? 'The groups will use their creativity to communicate their gender experiences in a safe, fulfilling and enjoyable way, which will be shared during Tranny Hotel.

Adam Lowe's workshop, entitled 'Cut Me Up Good' will take place from 11am – 1pm and 4pm -6pm on Sun 13 November. Exploring themes of gender identity, cross-dressing, celebrity culture and body fascism, Adam will lead participants in devising a new performance about all things queer. Participants will be guided in the creation of a 'literary cabaret' of sketches, poems and spoken word. Texts will be torn up, re-imagined and rewritten in a powerful synthesis that blurs genres and forms, which will culminate in a short performance as part of the closing performance on Sunday evening.

Festival Organiser Mandy Romero said: "I was delighted to hear that we had received the funding as it is adding a whole new outreach and education wing to the project, allowing us to go into and interact with the community so that we can work with them in addition to performing. One of the aims of the festival is to raise awareness of Transgenderism and through these workshops we will be able to communicate a clear message of what it is to be a trans person, allowing us to educate the wider community and highlight issues which the trans community feel need highlighting."

For more information or to book a workshop, please call 07815 078 219. Individuals and groups are both welcome to book.

Tranny Hotel will see over a dozen transgender artists, both male to female and female to male, from across the globe, perform a wealth of different works in numerous spaces around the hotel from bedrooms and suites, to staircases, hallways and function rooms including accomplished Scottish transsexual playwright Jo Clifford, Spanish artist REgina Fiz' who will perform her critically acclaimed piece 'The Ritual Wedding' Norwegian artist Ane Lan, who brings the most personal of experiences to the hotel with her piece 'Irma's Room', which is inspired by Sigmund Freud, Canadian folk artist Rae Spoon, cabaret and performance artist Jonny Woo, Tom Shaw and American artist Lazlo Pearlman.

The event forms part of the Europe wide Exchange Radical Moments! Live Art Festival, to take place on Fri 11 November, or 11.11.11, across the continent. The aim of the Exchange Radical Moments festival is to use extraordinary Live Art projects such as Tranny Hotel, which interrupt our usual routines and thinking patterns, leading us to pause and ask new questions of ourselves. The festival asks a number of questions of its audience, are we ready to engage extraordinary moments of exchange, moments of real meetings? Live Art projects have been created over the last 18 months by more than 30 participating international artists.

It will also be a part of this year's Homotopia Festival of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender culture. More information on the festival entitled 'Cruising for Art' can be found at www.homotopia.net. For Homotopia's teaser trailer for Tranny Hotel, please click on to www.homotopia.tv .

Tranny Hotel is supported by Exchange Radical Moments! Live Art Festival and Homotopia. The Tranny Hotel workshop programme is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

For more information go to www.11moments.org or http://tranny-hotel-liverpool.11moments.org

FESTIVAL INFORMATION

TRANNY HOTEL

Fri 11 – Sun 13 November

Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool

Weekend Pass £20

How To Book: Go online to www.tranny-hotel.com

WORKSHOP INFORMATION

TRANNY HOTEL WORKSHOPS

Mon 7, Wed 9 & Thu 10 November

7pm-9pm

The Bluecoat

FREE

Call 07815 078 219 to book

ADAM LOWE AT TRANNY HOTEL

Sun 13 November

11am-1pm & 4pm – 6pm

Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool.

FREE

Call 07815 078 219 to book

EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS

Fri 11 November

11 Cities across Europe

For more information go to: www.11moments.org

Read 1272 times Last modified on Wednesday, 19 October 2011 13:01