Photos from the Summer School 2005

The first photos from this years event have started to appear in the new gallery. If you have any nice shots please upload them to the 2005 Gallery - its very easy to do - just register for the gallery/noticeboard (if you haven't already) and upload. Full instructions in the Gallery FAQ, but you probably won't need instructions at all!

STOP PRESS... 21/8/05

We are very sorry to announce that due to a family bereavement Hassan Erraji will not be able to join us at the Summer School, our hearts go out to him. Salah-Dawson Miller will be teaching Advanced North African and Arabic Drum in place of Hassan's scheduled workshops. Salah-Dawson has been playing percussion for more than 25 years, performing and recording with a diversity of bands, dance companies and composers.

Arriving At The Site Info

People can arrive on site from 4pm on Tuesday at the earliest. Please do not arrive earlier than this as we do not want vehicles to be blocking the road at the entrance.

Website Improvements – Doris Mailing List

Our mailing list has just had an upgrade. Subscribe now to keep up to date with the latest announcements, early news and unmissable info sent to your email account. Subscribe here>>.

Website Improvements – Doris Photo Gallery

Our Doris Photo Gallery is now back online in its new and improved form. Our 'send a postcard' page has been removed – you can now send any photo in the gallery to another Doris friend as an epostcard. If you are already registered with the Noticeboard you are already authorised to use the Gallery – if not it is easy to become a member, simply register and use the confirmation link in the email you will receive. Members can also rate photos, post comments, organise their favorites and upload their own images for inclusion. There is now a direct link from the main menu, so check it out, and remember to upload your best photos when you get back from the 2005 Summer School.

STOP PRESS... 14/7/05 !!!Sold Out!!!

If you do not have a ticket already we are very sorry to tell you that all tickets for the Summer School have now been sold. Please do not come without a ticket as we will be heartbroken to have to turn you away.

NO MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
A big thankyou to everyone who has volunteered for the Intercultural Summer School 2005. We now have plenty of people booked in and a big reserve list so we do not need need any one else. (16.6.2005)

Teachers and Workshops Announcements

We are very fortunate to be able to welcome back Javanese ritual dance teacher Parmin Ras. All those who were at the Summer School in 2001 will remember his powerful and graceful ceremonial style. We look forward to working with him again this summer.

Many people asked for Rose Moore from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation to return to Doris. having experienced her extraordinary workshops, and we are really excited to announce that she will be returning to teach at Doris again this year. You can read about Rose and her work on her website.

We also are honoured to welcome Amel Tafsout, the renowned dancer from Algeria and Palestinian singer Reem Kelani who will also be teaching at Celebrating Sanctuary in Queen Square, Bristol (see below).

To see a comprehensive list of this years teachers please go to the Teachers and Workshops page on this site. You can also read about the teachers who came last year by downloading last years programme (1.1Mb).

Tribe of Doris 2005....

Dates for 2005 will be 24th to 29th August. Mark it in your diary now! This year's brochure is available for download as a pdf (1.2Mb, right click the link to save to your hard disk). We have also added downloads of the 2004 programme (1.1Mb) – very useful if you haven't been before and want to get an idea of exactly what happens.

A big thank you all who came to Doris last year, for making it one of the best ever. Please revisit soon to see pictures and read about how wonderful Doris 2004 really was. Visit our noticeboard to see what others are saying about it, and to tell us your thoughts and feedback. We will update the rest of the website as soon as we can.

REFUGEE WEEK in Bristol
Doris will be running a free, family friendly day on Sunday June 19th from 11am to 7.30pm at Queen Square, Bristol for International Refugee Day. Workshops, performance, art, poetry, games, food and information from Palestine, Zimbabwe, Chile, Somalia, Tibet, Ivory Coast, Eastern Europe and more. This year we are honoured to invite Reem Kelani, a Palestinian singer, and Romani Rad, a twenty strong troupe of exuberant Roma musicians and dancers. There will also be the world premiere of a specially commissioned piece by Colombian composer Juan Gabriel Gutierrez, formed in collaboration with refugee musicians based in Bristol. Come and celebrate our shared humanity and the contributions made to our city over the years by refugee communities. Everybody welcome.

IMAYLA
Doris is working alongside Imayla, a sister organisation that is raising the funds for a permanent Intercultural Centre for Participatory Arts in the rural South West. Please see their website at www.imayla.co.uk for further information and also to access their excellent Doing Something Different – innovative inspirations for youth and community activities – where to go, what to do, who to use, how to do it safely.

The sale of the programme in 2004 allowed us to send £203 to Send A Cow. This bought a water storage tank, a days training, a shared fishing net for 4 farmers, 70 hens and a cockerel, a bee hive and thirty fruit trees for old people, orphaned children and families in Rwanda, Uganda and Lesotho. For further information on this brilliantly effective charity see www.sendacow.org.uk

We also sent £415 to "Playgrounds for Palestine". They are building play equipment for children who have grown up in a war zone. For further information see www.playgroundsforpalestine.org

Take a look at Vickey Jassey and Jon Hall's new website - Hot Ashes - The Art of Percussive Theatre. They have a video to view online and a DVD for those who require more info before booking them. Of course, most Doris regulars dont need to see the video to know that they are well worth booking!

Whilst you are online check out Chas Whitaker's expanding website. You will find information about Chas, his band and other projects, as well as the Arabic drums and self instructional material he has for sale. There is also the latest information on his workshops and other teaching information including comprehensive information on other teachers of Arabic, North African and Middle Eastern percussion in the UK and how to contact them - very useful.

Although we can not accommodate everybody we are always looking for exceptional teachers, so if you want to recommend anyone to us please send their details or a website address.

If you want to link your site with ours please send us your info and we'll see what we can do.

We are looking into running accredited courses at other times than the Doris summer school. Please get in touch with us for further information and to let us know what you would like to learn.

A destinytv.org.uk community video team came to the Doris Refugee Week 2003 event on College Green, Bristol and made this video report. See it on the DestinyTV website. And have you seen the DestinyTV videos in our Past, Present & Future Gallery? Make sure you look through the photos before you leave the site!