Back again to the Peacock Theatre, one of the wonderful houses of dance in London. From my first experience in ‘the hood’ where urban myths unfold on stage, to a cultural, vibrant and full of life story of Bollywood vs Traditional Indian dance.
The story follows the relationship between a granddaughter and her grandfather and the distance caused between them with his want to keep tradition alive and her eagerness for fame and the Bollywood scene.
We encounter flashbacks vs the current storyline, emphasised by the narration of the progress of the story. With this and the occasional comical and melodramatic scene, we are given the sense of Bollywood humour; an almost Shakespearian technique of throwing in comic relief amongst serious storylines. There is also a slight hint of satire, not just at Bollywood, but of all films across different cultures – pointing out the basics of storylines and how underneath the differences that producers give to a film, they are fundamentally the same.
Majority of the storylines they pick on are girl meets boy romances; the obstacles they face but the ultimate reunion of the characters, conquering all with love. This is mirrored cleverly itself with the storyline of the production – the main character reuniting with her childhood sweetheart after being whisked away by fame and fortune. A cross-culture concept of tradition vs modernisation and the affect it makes on heritage is also picked upon by highlighting through dance and costume the current trend and the more traditional.
The Merchants of Bollywood is full of life and colour – the energy brought to the stage through dance is palpable; the music is catchy and enjoyable; the characters are well formed in their blocks of serious characters and the comical relief. Some of the more serious moments become a little hammed up and caused laughter rather than an emotional expression. I continued to think of this, comparing it to the rest of the production – from my little knowledge of Bollywood, it does have a sense of melodrama and the Soap Opera tint on its stories and characters. By adding these moments to that ideal and taking account of the audience members who this made a positive impact on gauging from reactions, it would seem that playing off the over dramatic Bollywood genre is well constructed by imputing this through these moments; another satirical but celebratory nod to the film genre.
Overall I love The Merchants of Bollywood. As westerners, we have this concept of India as a beautiful, colourful place, steeped in history and tradition, but also in some aspects moving with the times. The story and construction of the production emphasises all of this; coming away without having a good time is pretty impossible.
It is late but still light in Cardiff Bay. I am rushing back to the foyer to regain my handbag from the cloakroom, when I am stopped by another member of the Black Stuff audience: what did you think of it? You want me to be totally honest? Yes. Ok, I am hungry and I was bored. Me too, she says, I was watching the audience to see whether it was just me. So was I, I say.
Why bored when there is energy – this unrelenting, grubby energy in the piece?
The manic desire of 4 performers to activate their audience in the filthy black, broken building of Cardiff’s coal black past begins with the usual introduction of the heroic industrial past, the rise of hateful capitalism and the loss of jobs. A facile, lazy, predictable position.
A loose plot of past characters all real and one still living, uncomfortably atop a wonderful, surreal story of miners and hangmen.
Hard to understand, hard to hear the words, hard to follow the perambulatory plot through the rotting rooms. Gratuitous fire and semi-nakedness with a moment of light with Anna Karenina and a cricket match in a corridor over rail tracks. Oh and some nervous amusement over the dining table. Smashing. Grim.
Let me just run over a couple of scenes.
One. A big dark room smelling of damp is lit by a flame at a far corner. 3 men mine lumps of dusty coal from a thick layer of the black stuff neatly carpeting the floor around us. They writhe in it, dance in it, they move it across the space like rocks in Bent. Their movements are assured; working hard and fast, balletic and athletic around our living, Spanish centrepiece and she is glorious in her command.
Another. That dining room with that dining table. Our coal streaked men of nations sit around a polished surface in high backed chairs. They philosophise. They are served soup slopped into their bowls by their opinionated lady. They eat and talk and slaver and drool their words and food dripping over them. Bowls are there for smashing.
So much effort goes into this production and it feels so cruel to be so cold about such a hot topic. But, sometimes theatre can be too clever, sometimes effects override a good story. The location is impressive, the ideas are sound and the performers are exciting – they don’t need to try so hard to impress us for so long. It is exhausting. It becomes monotonous, dull in its efforts to share that energy.
After the finale of rolling and crashing big blue drums around a collapsing ballroom of an office, the applause from the people backed against the walls is long and loud.
In the foyer, I ask another person what she thought: I am reeling, she said, it gave me so much to think about. She is happy and fulfilled by her experience. She is probably not alone. Not bored at all.
Theatre / performance art/dance
Black Stuff
Wales Millennium Centre, Cory building
Tue 17 May 2016 to Sat 28 May 2016
Directed by Paul Davies
Movement Director: Catherine Bennett
Design: Cadi Lane
Lighting Design: Ben Stimpson
Production Manager: Dan Taylor
Performers: Rhys McLellan; Neal McWilliams; Barbara Sarmiento Araña; Aled Bidder
Video: Erin Rickard
Original Sound: Adam Howell
Thanks to Betty Rae Watkins, Sarah Pace and the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru – See more at: http://www.volcanotheatre.co.uk/whats-on/black-stuff#sthash.45gW7ytc.dpuf
Our project coordinator recently spoke to Gwen Davies, a young Welsh dancer with Ballet Cymru.
Hi Gwen, can you tell me how you got involved in your area in the arts?
I started dancing after a nursery teacher suggested to my parents to take me to ballet classes, because I was always active and loved dancing to music. At the age of four I took up classes locally in Cardiff at Chapter Arts Centre and then at 11 received a scholarship to attend Elmhurst School for Dance in Association with Birmingham Royal Ballet where i spent a further 7 and a half years training. I suppose I was immersed from a very young age in the arts and was lucky that my parents would take me to go and see various performances of all styles of art, from this I had an avid interest at a very young age.
You are currently working with Ballet Cymru, can you please tell us more about your relationship with the company?
I first got involved with Ballet Cymru after taking part in their Riverfront Summer Dance at the age of 8. After that I haven’t missed a single one of their summer school to date! I also took part in the workshops in Abergavenny which the company hold. Once I was training professionally the company were also really supportive in letting me partake in company class during the school holidays. I found it really helpful to be able to have access to professional standard classes from the age of 15. Something which is quite rare and it has definitely been invaluable to me in my development as a professional dancer.
Was there a moment when you thought this is the career for me?
I don’t think I have had one single definitive moment which made me decide it was the career path for me, but more the unfolding of events and opportunities I was given. I have always loved to dance but I don’t think I seriously considered it as a career until after I started vocational school in Birmingham where you then begin to have an understanding of the training and hard work required to make it professionally. Even then I think there is always an element of doubt as to whether you are actually good enough to make it after all the training. I think my mind was totally made up after getting more professional performing opportunities with Birmingham Royal Ballet. After getting a taste of working with the company when I was 17, in La Fille Mal Gardee and later Romeo and Juliet, there was no going back really. I don’t think I could find anything that could replace the feeling of performing to an audience especially when it’s with a live orchestra.
When you aren’t dancing or watching dance what do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to watch rugby in my spare time and have been an avid supporter of Newport Gwent Dragons, and I make it down to Rodney Parade as often as I can to watch matches! I also enjoy going to watch live music and any other kind of performance art to be honest.
Are their any individuals or organisations that helped support you once you realised a career in dance was for you?
In Wales my biggest support came from Ballet Cymru. They were really helpful in giving me advice when I was auditioning for schools and companies and really valued the opportunities, and improved in their classes. I’ve also been really lucky to have some inspirational and supportive teachers in Birmingham which I definitely wouldn’t have succeeded this far without. I have also been very lucky in receiving funding from the Elizabeth Evans Trust towards my training and also Cardiff Council who also funded an invaluable trip for Ballet Masterclasses in Prague for a fortnight which I learnt incredible amounts from and was an amazing experience to work with so many other professional dancers from all over the world.
What are the opportunities for those interested in dance as a career in Wales?
There are many companies across Wales which offer workshops and have associate classes. Ballet Cymru being one of them for classical dancers, and also National Dance Company Wales offer associates which focus on contemporary dance.
How do we get involved in your dance projects?
We are touring Roald Dahl’s Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs across Wales this season, opening on May the 20th in the Riverfront, Newport and continue to perform until early July. It will be a really fun performance to watch and is great for all ages! The company will also be teaching workshops in some of the venues we are touring to so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved! We are also performing Romeo and Juliet for a small section of the tour in Portsmouth, Llanelli and Stevenage which will be a contrasting production to the more lighthearted Red Riding Hood.
Do you have any advice for anyone interested in following your career path?
To work as hard as you can but also to enjoy every moment of the process. It’s a career which requires a lot of determination and you will always encounter a lot of setbacks but the rewards always make every moment of perseverance worth it. I would also say to take every opportunity given to you, even if you think it might be relevant to what you’re interested in, but you would be surprised! I would try as many different styles of dance as possible but also to experience other art-forms to broaden your mind and experience something new. It’s always invaluable to have as much experience in anything you can, as you never know what will be thrown at you either in choreography or as a character in a production!
Within current theatre, diversity is a huge conversation topic and issue in the industry.
When you hear ‘hip hop’, ‘street dance’ and ‘the hood’ our minds across the board think of stereotypical urban scenes, characters and storylines. ZooNation are a fantastic company – from difference in race, ability, gender, body types, the troupe of dancers range in all these aspects, and not to make a point but because they are talented, passionate and perfect for the roles.
It is refreshing to see that there is comedy played on the stereotypes that is thought of urban areas and ZooNation uses the ‘Into the Woods’ story to transform a once predominantly white European Grimm Fairy-tale–esque story into a modern and comical production.
As a former street dancer, I have noticed over the years the transformation of the industry. Coming from a popular era where street dance was fluid, to the past few years where popping and locking has become more common, ZooNation combine not only choreography that you cannot take your eyes off, but they introduce contemporary dance, break dance, even 1920’s flapper moves. This with the combination of a range of music from the more hard core hip hop, to 70’s favourites, the company creates a clever illusion of this fantastical world.
It is usual that a play has one main character, or a performer who stands out. Into the Hoods Remixed makes this decision hard. The concept of the story line – a fairy-tale land where we meet all our favourite characters from Cinderella to Rapunzel [Or in this case, Spinderella and Rap-un-zel] the principal characters are abundant – and so are the performers. Not a single performer is unable to embody whatever character they are, and this is implemented through their dancing, never breaking character. This troupe not only compete for the limelight, forcing us to love them all for each individuality, but also show that as a team and a dance group, they connect well and play off one another with great skill.
The set itself is fantastic – well constructed visuals of tower blocks, cartoon characters running through the backdrop and minimalist prop and staging helps us to create the scene. In addition to this, the voice over narrator occasionally setting the scene and the performers brilliant execution, Into the Hoods Remixed does nothing but leave you astounded and with a huge grin on your face.
In this darkened room at the bottom of the Southbank Centre, an intimate setting with a small audience feels like a secret space for a spiritual group. 4 poles lit up, one with a hooded robe draped on it and boxes that remind me of some form of religious set, there’s a serious feel to the atmosphere, cleverly set by this staging and lighting that we are made to feel anxious for the performance to commence.
A physical theatre piece, the biblical story of Abel and Cain is the premise for this beautiful piece of work. For those unknown to the story, as I was myself, these two brothers are the direct descendants of Adam and Eve. Eventually, Cain murders his brother Abel which is unclear in the bible as to why. Many have understood it as it was through jealousy and envy in God’s attention to Abel and not Cain. Unfamiliar to this story, a piece made of physicality and sounds and no speech, Animikii Theatre did a fantastic job in telling the story.
We are introduced to these shirtless characters, who play with one another using the space to give the initial build-up of the brotherly connection. Using laughter, sounds and imitation of actions through avant garde physical metaphors, the audience giggle along with the almost caveman-like attitudes and relationship. This is all set in the concept of Cain’s memory – switching from fun memory and obvious timeline of events, to Cain’s switch into turmoil at this reminiscence.
The movement and choreography of the piece brings us into mystical interpretation of what leads to Cain’s mental destruction. A wonderful dreamlike state, Abel’s loveable and fun character turns into a devil like character in a red robe, who tricks Cain into false sense of securities. It’s unclear who this character is until we return to ‘reality’. The performers do well to switch from positive to negative, to evil to innocent and while we know the final out come from the initial physical summary at the beginning, it is still a shock.
The lighting in this dark room is versatile, and while we should base physical theatre pieces of the movement, the contouring of the body and interpretation, the lighting plan highlights the men’s bodies in these states to render us in awe at their physical abilities.
Origins creates the right atmosphere and does well to use physicality and sound to bring this ancient story to life. We are pulled into the biblical story without a feeling that we are being forced religion upon us. We relate to the relationships and actions which is in your face but not negatively.
Patricia is part of the Time Credit network supported by Spice. She accessed her tickets through volunteering in her local community.
(5 / 5)
Many volunteers and Spice Time Credit users recently had an unexpected and very welcome trip to the ballet Sleeping Beauty. Wales Millennium Centre had generously offered tickets to be used by members of the community who could ‘pay’ with their well earned Time Credits. The tickets were quickly taken up and many had to admit that they had never seen a ballet and some had never visited the WMC before so what an opportunity this was to get close up and personal to a fabulous performance.
But this was no ordinary Sleeping Beauty. The Matthew Bourne production was full of colour, movement and energy performed to the well known music by Tchaikovsky. It was a gothic tale for all ages, a love story fraught with curses and spells. The costumes were outstanding, from the very first scene setting the christening of Aurora with a life-like puppet of the baby girl drawing in the audience from the beginning. We watched as the familiar fairy tale of a young girl cursed to sleep for one hundred years was enacted and danced through various scenes.
As Aurora grows up, we were taken through the fashions of the day, including a genteel tennis game followed by afternoon tea on the lawn, watching the antics of her suitors as they tried to gain her attention. Years later, when Aurora wakes up, we are in the modern world, still beset with many temptations and sinister goings-on.
It was an outstanding performance, full of magic, fairies, vampires, love and romance, danced by incredible dancers . There was certainly no falling asleep during this performance.
Thank you once again to the Wales Millennium Centre for giving us the opportunity to experience a beautiful and amazing ballet.
Hi, I am 10 years old and this was my first ever trip to see a Ballet. Before we went I expected there to be three good fairies that went to live with Sleeping Beauty and keep her safe so the evil witch couldn’t get her, just like I’d read in the story.
The show was at the Wales Millennium Centre, the venue is spectacular, inside and out. After a short amount of time in the queue we exchanged our time credits for tickets and went to find our seats. We had fantastic seats only a few rows from the front with lots of space and a great view of the stage.
The show was really good with lots of really great parts in it, lots of music and amazing dancers. The dancers took us on an emotional journey of excitement, laughter, fear, sadness and delight. I was surprised how they managed to tell the story without using any words.
I really liked the puppet baby at the start particularly when it was climbing up the curtains. I also liked it when the evil and good fairies were dancing around the baby in the night. I would definitely recommend this show.
Our project coordinator recently spoke to Alastair Sill who provides Audio Description for a range of theatre companies in Wales.
Hi Alastair, can you tell me how you got involved in your area in the arts?
After finishing my degree in English, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to be involved in drama. I started writing to a few theatres across the country and the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry was one of the theatres I contacted. It just so happened they were looking for a marketing assistant to train up, so I went along and was lucky enough to get the role. I was a general marketing assistant so distributing posters, general office support etc, which was fine. Whilst there I was chatting to a colleague about other roles available in the theatre. She mentioned that she was involved in Audio Description and would I like to come and have a listen to it and see what I thought? I said yes and went along. At the time Audio Description was a voluntary service so there would have been about 6 audience members who were interested, this must have been about 15 years ago, things have changed since then. After meeting everyone I was keen to get involved, in-house training was provided by a member of the Audio Description Association. I enjoyed the training but was really interested in acting and applied and managed to get a place on the drama degree at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff and completed this course in 2003.
After qualifying I saw an advert for a training course in Audio Description at the Soho Theatre in London. Which I applied for and got accepted. The final exam was to AD a Christmas show at the Soho Theatre, which was the Big Bad Book by Lauren Child, which as you can imagine was very nerve wracking. The production was brilliant with lots of animation and live performance. It was difficult to capture in AD the style of the animation in the show but it went well and I passed the course. I continued to develop my acting career but the AD started to drip-feed into my work, mainly through friends based in Cardiff. who had their own theatre companies. I think one of the first productions I provided AD for in Cardiff did was at The Sherman Theatre called The Minotaur in Me by Paul Whittaker. The Sherman then asked if I could do the Christmas shows and then a few more shows a Sherman.
So how did you employment as an Audio Describer develop from there?
I then went to work at the Torch Theatre. Peter Doran the Artistic Director said they had accessed some additional funding to provide moreAD for their productions so I spent an autumn season there, which was really nice. I provided AD for a Christmas show and a play called Accidental Death of an Anarchist, by Dario Fo the play is a farce. That was a challenging piece for me to AD as it was difficult to keep up with the timings. When you are describing different types of theatre you have to change the AD to fit appropriately.
I wonder if you would mind explaining your actual process when you are asked to Audio Describe a production?
I spend quite a long time with the work; firstly I go and watch the play, with the audience. Then I come back again and read the script and often watch it from the audio description booth, which is the space I am usually in when providing AD for a production. I make notes on the script, pauses in the dialogue and perhaps the facial gestures of the cast. It’s important to note relationships between the characters and how lighting helps to tell the story. Then I come back again and watch it for a third time and will often have been given a video recording by the theatre or production company. This helps to really focus on what I need to be prioritising when providing AD. I can pause and rewind, which you can’t, do in real life! In total this process can take about 5 days to a week.
Could talk a little about your actual approach to live AD during a production?
OK so most importantly you cant talk over what’s happening on stage! This means you might create a sentence that you think describes perfectly what’s happening on but then when the actors are performing you might not be able to find the gap. This means you have to condense everything down to tell the story. This can be difficult as there are often lots of different things happening at the same time. You have to try and focus the AD down to the essential elements that convey what’s happening on stage and are most important for the audience.
There are moments when there might be a pause or a silence and the AD disrupting this can spoil this silence and the drama of the moment. Essentially AD is about choosing when to talk and not to talk! The AD audience and non-AD audience share the same space and the same moment in time, you have to feel what’s happening on stage. When it works, you feel connected to the world on stage; it’s a strange sensation as though you are on stage with actors.
Then there are also moments which frustrate me and I am not alive to the situation and I speak over what the actors are saying and that annoys me as I want it to be as good as it can be. Sometimes I get a bit carried away and get too descriptive. There is only so much information the audience can assimilate in their heads. It’s really important to get to know your audience.
So what companies in Wales have you been working with most recently?
I have worked with new writing company Dirty Protest on the play Parallel Lines written by Katherine Chandler and directed by Catherine Paskell. Catherine and the team were very helpful. Everyone was interested in the AD provision, I was aware it was a piece of new writing and felt a responsibility to describe it correctly. I spent quite a long time in rehearsals which was beneficial to the final AD for the production and also provided AD in a variety of venues when the show went on tour.
Alastair providing AD for Taking Flights production of A Winters Tale
I have also worked with Taking Fight Inclusive Theatre Company as a cast member and provided AD. Taking Flight often perform outside for their production of ‘A Winters Tale’ I played a character who was sort of the court audio describer and I was referenced during the play by the cast and was visible to the audience, which I am usually not. There were moments during the production when I would provide live AD with a microphone to an audience who are using headsets and then moments when I would speak directly to the entire audience That was really great to be able to integrate AD in this way.
I have recently just started to AD dance, for a production called Jem and Ella. I am developing my dance vocabulary and getting working on getting the emotional feeling across as much as the technical vocabulary. I had a lot of support from Jem Treays and his daughter Ella who are the performers in the piece. They helped me develop my vocabulary to AD the movement in the show, I found Rudolf Laban’s quality of descriptive movement helpful as well.
As you mentioned AD provision is becoming increasingly common, more creative use is being made of artists working in this field. What do you personally think the future might hold?
Well in Wales there are more companies and venues supporting the provision, which is great. Some venues really support AD well but I think it needs to start from the top down. Awareness of audiences need to start from that initial entrance to the venue and meeting the Front of House staff right through to the actual performance, inclusion should be the norm. Venues often don’t know when someone blind is attending so if possible they should aim to have an inclusive attitude for every show.
Personally I am interested in creating my work with AD at the heart. Also I am not aware of anyone that provides AD in the Welsh Language in Wales and wonder if that is something that could be supported in the future?
Next up I am providing AD for Theatr Fynnon for a production called Pupa, which will be performed at Chapter Arts Centre on Friday 20 May – Saturday 21 May. Then National Theatre Wales and a production called Before I Leave at the Sherman Theatre. I think the AD for that production is on Saturday the 11th of June at 2.30 pm. I am also working with Hijnx Theatre Company and their Unity Festival. And of course Taking Flight who are performing Romeo and Juliet this summer.
On the 26th of April, I was lucky enough to see Sleeping Beauty at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff. I haven’t really seen a ballet performance, besides the odd Nutcracker performance at Christmas, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was absolutely blown away, it was incredible.
I love the Disney interpretation of Sleeping Beauty, but I think I found my favourite in this performance. It followed a similar structure, but it was so unique. The fact that the Princess didn’t fall in love with the prince was a breath of fresh air. I also liked the fact that the gardener and the Princess were already in love. It can be sluggish sometimes if you watch two characters fall in love. My favourite part would be the fact that the evil queen died before the curse came true. It was the son who made sure that it happened, and I just found it so interesting. It was different. The story was in the gothic genre and as I have studied it, I loved watching what aspects of the gothic were in the performance. It was dark and eerie. You kept wondering what was going to happen next, even though you knew how it would end up.
Ballet is such a beautiful form of dance, each move had such grace and elegance to it. I could not take my eyes off of the performers. I liked how each character had a performance that was unique to them, so you could define between each of them. As ballet is silent, the performers had to express so many different emotions through their performances and they did not disappoint! You could feel the emotions they were feeling, especially the Queens when Sleeping Beauty was put to sleep. It was almost as if you could hear the words that they weren’t saying. They are all incredibly talented.
The set was simple and sweet. There was not too much on the stage at one time, but you still got the feeling of elegance within the castle, and you got the sense that this was a gothic love story. The costumes were just incredible! They were so detailed, and unique to everyone. Each Faery had a different costume so you knew which was which. They reflected the personalities of each character, which helped you understand more about the story and what was happening. They also reflected the gothic nature of the story and the fairytale elements.
I loved this production and it definitely has inspired me to go see more ballet. Whilst it was confusing to begin with, it wasn’t long until I understood what was going on. The different interpretations were really interesting to me as both a literature student and someone who loves going to the theatre. I was left speechless when it finished. I recommend people who love the story of sleeping beauty, ballet and theatre to go see it.
(Although I do recommend not taking someone under the age of 10 as there are parts which could be disturbing.)
We are so used to the Disney versions of our traditional fairytales that we forget they come from a dark place. Tales of babies being cursed at birth, young women being locked away or made to sleep for 100 years. I am, it has to be said not a natural lover of ballet. I sometimes find it a little sterile for my personal tastes, however there is something about Matthew Bourne’s productions that I absolutely adore.
The theatre is plunged into darkness, a crack of thunder sounds and the menacing outline of Carabosse appears, played superbly by Adam Maskell. This is a lavish production, a return to the gothic roots of this fairytale. Bourne takes us on a journey from 1890 ( the year this ballet was first performed) through to the present day. It’s a twisting turning adventure through a dark ride. From the birth of the baby Aurora and her subsequent spiriting away to an underworld where she sleeps for 100 years, everything is beautifully choreographed. There is not one wasted movement. The thing I particularly love about this production is that the stripping away of some of the traditional elements of ballet puts the dancer’s skills totally in the spotlight. I can see the muscular physicality of their movements, the sheer hard work of their effortlessness, the way they communicate with every single part of their bodies. It is a stunning feast of dance and the dancers themselves are superb. The title role is played with elegance and power by Ashley Shaw and having watched her on stage I can only be excited at the prospect of her taking the lead in Bourne’s next production The Red Shoes which will be coming to the Wales Millennium Centre in 2017. Ashley is more than ably supported by Dominic North as Leo and Christopher Marney as Count Lilac together with a cast of exquisite dancers.
This stunning production uses a lush opulent set design to convey a dark gothic Victorian age and an Edwardian garden party before thrusting us into a stark underworld and a sinister costume ball. The use of puppetry for the baby Aurora is a stroke of genius introducing some lighter notes of comedy at the beginning of the ballet before unleashing a duel between the fairy kingdoms with a vampire thrown in for good measure all swept along by Tchaikovsky’s score. The whole production is a wonderful spectacle returning the tale of Sleeping Beauty to the place it truly belongs.
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw