A postgraduate student has turned to social media to help fund her first ever dance and music show in the Gulbenkian.
Chrysanthemums, to be staged on Tuesday 21 April at 7.30pm, combines music from Monteverdi to Philip Glass with Argentine tango dancers. It is being produced by Jane Seaman, a part-time student in MSc in Science, Communication and Society, with donations from two crowdfunding campaigns.
Jane is fundraiser for The Mirabai Project, a not-for-profit collective of musicians, composers and performers, mostly from Kent, who stage innovative events to introduce audiences to new works by contemporary composers.
Jane says: ‘Being a new venture, funding was a challenge so I ran my first ever crowdfunding campaign, which was going well – until the crowdfunding platform we chose went bust eight days before we reached our target!
‘So I tried again, this time with Ideas Tap, and thanks to amazing supporters we reached our target. The show will be mesmerising and a first for Kent.’
Performers include Canterbury-based Leon String Quartet, harpist Ruby Aspinall, singers Elizabeth Fulleylove and Anna Bartlett, Tunbridge Wells saxophonist Richard Melkonian, dancer Natalie Bond. A highlight will be dazzling Argentine Tango dancers, Elena Velasco-Pena and Luis Rodriguez, who will interpret a brand new tango for harp by Barry Seaman (from his opera Mirabai) and Two Songs from singer/songwriter Mariam Al-Roubi.
Tickets can be booked through the Gulbenkian box office, in person, telephone 01227 769075 or online.